Little Qualicum Falls to Ucluelet, BC
Traditional territory of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council
Light rain that turned into a heavy downpour, then sun and cloud in the late afternoon
I camped along the abandoned railway east of Cameron Lake and stopped in Cathedral Grove. It was a nice spot for breakfast with shelter from the rain under the trees, but to be honest—although this sounds a little ridiculous—the forest was just a nice walk. I climbed through an old-growth forest at the base of Kings Peak, and those trees were wilder, bigger and belonged to a more enjoyable piece of the natural world. Cathedral Grove is blessed and cursed to have Highway 4 running through it. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t the rugged forest of Strathcona.
As I left MacMillan Provincial Park and started climbing over ‘the Hump’ to Port Alberni, the rain set in. I stayed warm enough on the way up, but my temperature dropped in the rain and wind of the long descent back to the ocean. I stopped in a Tim Hortons for a hot chocolate and I couldn’t tell if it was the lingering soreness from the hike or the bone-chilling effect of the rain, but I felt stiff.
Hot chocolate helped.
I hitchhiked from Tseshaht First Nation to the Pacific Rim Highway because I had been told by a number of locals that that stretch of Highway 4 was dangerous for cyclists. At first I thought to myself, come on, I could have cycled that. Then I thought to myself, that section might have killed me. So as I reached the west coast it was with gratefulness for safe passage and a certainty that I would be hitching a ride back. Arrive, as they say, alive.
Now I’m in Ukee enjoying the sight of the harbour on one side and the ocean on the other. Just a few days left of cycling and I’m nearly there.