We travelled from Victoria up the west coast of Vancouver Island, through Sooke, to the most northerly point on the road, Port Renfrew. Port Renfrew is in an enviable position. It's the connector between two very popular hiking trails. It's the southern terminus for the world famous 75 km West Coast Trail (originally known as the Dominion Lifesaving Trail). It was built in 1907 and is now part of the Pacific Rim National Park. It's also the northern terminus for the lesser-known 47 km Juan de Fuca Trail. Another gem located in Port Renfrew is Botanical Beach in Juan de Fuca Provincial Park. It's an easy hike down to the 'beach' and it's a geographical wonder. Smooth sandstone has been carved out over time by water action into innumerable tidal pools. As the tide goes out, these pools become accessible, tiny, perfect, little aquariums.
Each pool was different and contained different life forms. We spent a few early morning hours fascinated by the sights. It was like scuba diving from the surface.
Not much life in this one...
This one had a multitude of purple sea urchins and sea anemones in it...
Many more purple sea urchins in this crevasse. They actually end up digging a hole into the sandstone to keep themselves attached to the rock.
The big picture looked like this...
We were able to see many types of crab, sculpins, limpets, sea anemones and urchins among other things, but, alas there were no starfish to be found on this morning. Maybe next time.
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