This is a mostly non-bike post about our family (Aimée and I plus the two pups) trip to a cabin in Port Renfrew. The last time we had a proper vacation like this was last October to Ucluelet / Tofino, so it has been a year. Next year we’ll endeavour to get a spring as well as an autumn adventure in. We chose Port Renfrew because it’s an area of the island we hadn’t been before, and we knew from last year’s trip how much we liked the west coast of the island with the big waves and beautiful and secluded beaches.
Since I got into birding last December, this year also included taking some kit to do some birdwatching along the way too – I was excited that there were opportunities to see stuff I wouldn’t likely see back home. Leia’s at 13 years and 7 months of age now and her health is not what it once was, so we also wanted to make sure she could enjoy another adventure – hopefully not her last. This would be Sunny’s second road trip with us.
The drive out was pretty uneventful; we got the upper deck on the ferry which meant we could stay in the car if we wanted – a really big plus with the dogs. On the other side, we stopped briefly in Victoria and Sooke along the way before the final stretch – about an hour of winding highway around the southwest corner of the island and up. It was quite fun to drive, though the road was really bumpy in sections and pushed my car’s overloaded suspension to the max. Below is a view just past Jordan River.
We arrived at the cabin with some daylight to spare. I brought along the Bike Friday because I wanted to ride up to see Big Lonely Doug, located about 17km from town up some logging roads, and it sounded like my car might not be sufficient to get there. Also, check out those fat tires – I recently replaced the original tires and sized up to get a bit more ground clearance – which was really appreciated on this trip!
The cabin itself is small but modern, and importantly includes a fire pit and hot tub. I also appreciated it had a covered outdoor area but we never had rain during the day on our trip, thankfully.
When I say small, I mean it – it was around 380 sq ft I believe including the bedroom and bathroom, which left only a bit of space for the kitchen/dining/living area. Cozy and all we need, but it did get cluttered up quick with the dog beds and all our stuff!
The first morning, we both got up pretty early and walked down to the pier a few blocks away with the dogs. It was colder than back home – about 7C – but sunny and clear. I saw a red-throated loon, so got to add that to my birding ‘life list’.
After breakfast we drove to Fairy Lake nearby, home of the ‘bonsai tree’ in the lake which is pretty well known. Despite its small stature, the tree is apparently about 50 years old!
There is also a campground on the lake with some quite massive trees throughout – and just a beautiful bit of forest to walk around. Of course I did some bird photography too – a heron, stellar’s jay, juncos, sparrows, and I heard a pack of red crossbills (not yet on my life list) repeatedly but never got a look / photo. That’s a bird that has been on the top of my list for a while and I have failed numerous times to see! They tend to stay up high and move quickly.
After lunch we headed to Botany Bay, a short drive but fairly long walk from the parking lot down to the water. Botany Bay reminded me a lot of Ucluelet with the dark rocky shoreline and big waves. Both Sunny and Leia really enjoy being at the sea shore and had a great time.
We ended up staying until sunset and made the ~1.5 km hike out in relative darkness. Aimée and I both took a million photos, but I’ll stick to sharing just a few here.
The rest of the day was spent making dinner and soaking in the tub, along with uploading all the photos of the day. This had been the first of three full days of the trip.
The second day started out with a drive up to Avatar grove, an area with some old growth trees just outside town. It used to have boardwalks, but they’ve all been destroyed as the grove is technically closed since 2022 and unmaintained since 2018. What this meant for us is that it was a lot more challenging to hike than expected! Aimée very nearly didn’t go in, with the first part being a really steep and slippery slope, but we both managed to get down to some of the big trees and back out without a fall.
First though we stopped along the water just other side of the river:
We headed back to the cabin for some lunch and rest, and realized during this time that Botany Bay, which we’d visited yesterday, was not the same as Botanical Beach – the latter located a little ways south. Botanical Beach was the spot we knew we wanted to go, so we checked the tides and realized we had to get there ASAP.
We got down there to some fog and misty rain which added to the ambiance of the unique place.
Below, some harlequin ducks foraging along the shore:
The far end had the best tide pools as well as waves crashing into scalloped out sections of the rock:
Sunny is such a long dog.
Below is an example of the intricate tide pools; some were much deeper.
We made our way out in dusk once again, and when Leia started growling at something in the woods we realized we had two dinner-sized dogs in an area with cougars and wolves – so we booked it out pretty fast, bear spray in hand.
The next morning was our final full day of the vacation and with how physically active the first two days were, Aimée was happy to have a chill morning – my chance to head out and make the Old Lonely Doug pilgrimage. This tree is the second largest known Douglas Fir in Canada and has become an icon for old growth protection in BC the past 15 years since it was spared. Needless to say it was really important to me to see this tree up close in person.
I threw the Bike Friday in the back seat and drove up to Avatar grove, parking in the same place I did previously. From here it was another 8km or so up the logging road, across a bridge that spans a deep valley, then up a pretty rough and narrow road to Doug himself. The road was mucky from last night’s rains, and strewn with rocks, but the Bike Friday was a great little rig for the trip.
Up the final stretch I got my first breathtaking view of Big Lonely Doug:
The trail down to Doug is pretty short but quite technical; not a good trail to carry a bike down but a) I’ve made a bit of a habit of taking a bike to hard-to-access old growth trees and b) the Bike Friday is the perfect portage rig, compact and light and the single tube frame is at just the right height to be a lift tube.
The fact that Doug is surrounded by young growth gives him a unique presence. Photos cannot do justice of the presence this tree has, it’s really quite powerful. I’m very happy I made the trek. The largest Douglas Fir in Canada is the Red Creek fir which is located not too far from here also – but far enough out of the way it wasn’t happening this trip. I prioritized Big Lonely Doug because of its cultural significance and being a little easier to get to. Heck, I went home with a sticker of him!
I was back to the cabin by noon, and after lunch our next destination was Mystic Beach, a ways down the coastline. Today was meant to be a rest day, but we didn’t realize the hike down to the beach was over 1km of technical trail with lots of staircases, whoops!
The beach itself was lovely, however the unexpected time involved to get to it meant the tide was a bit too high to get all the way across. I risked wet feet just to get the photo below – note the little waterfall on the left.
Leia had a very adorable nap on the log, basking in the sun, while we watched waves and had snacks.
And don’t miss Sunny down below!
For our last evening of the trip we made sure to have a fire – something we didn’t bother to do the first two nights. We struggled to get it to keep going at first (no fire starter and the logs / paper were a bit damp from the rain overnight) but we used veggie chips as fire starter which did the trick!
Day five of the trip was our travel day home. Our ferry reservation wasn’t until 7pm, giving us time to make some stops along the way – one of them was unfortunately to a Victoria vet to get Leia’s eye looked at; turns out she got a scratch on it two days prior, we expect from a header into the rocks at Botany Bay. But we also were able to stop at another beach, this time Sandcut Beach a little further south than Mystic.
The hike down was shorter than any of our previous hikes, but still a decent amount of stairs / descending from the parking lot. It wasn’t a super interesting beach compared to some of the others, but the waves were good and the sun was shining.
Without a doubt the highlight for me was when I heard a pack of red crossbills again – and this time got to see them, and even get a few decent photos! After a few months of trying, it felt real good to check this one off the list. As the name suggests, check out how their bill crosses over itself – for prying open conifer cones.
The girls were getting used to beach relaxing at this point, as well:
Back at the ferry terminal for our boat we were treated to a heck of a sunset, including a bit of rainbow for good measure.
So that’s it, five days of Port Renfrew vacation, a great success overall. I bought this new fancy camera (Fujifilm X-T5) and lenses on a bit of an impulse right before the trip because I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to get to use it here and I’ve no regret about that – managed some very good photos. I’ll get the camera paid off over the next couple months .. before I get tempted by even bigger lenses for birding.
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