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Sooke Adventures

Part II

By Prestige Adventures

August 18^th, 2015

The Adventures begin

It was a calm morning, the sound of a few gulls overhead, signaling to the fishermen getting ready to go out on the dock and that they would still be here when the hardy souls returned with their catch of salmon and halibut. The gentle lap of water slapping the dock as men, women and a few young sons and daughters made their way down the dewy pathway of cedar that took them to a variety of small vessels tied up to the dock this morning. With cups of coffee in hand and a few arms filled with small dogs, it was the start of the day in front of the Prestige Oceanfront Resort.

Sooke Adventures

I was up early, 5:15 … my wife gives me a “you’re crazy” look and turns over in the bed, pulling the duvet over her head trying to block the morning light that starts to leak through the blinds. For me, this is the time of the day I love. The light is soft and the ever-changing hues hold my interest as I sip my first coffee and walk the dock carrying a camera (a Canon 5d Mark III), a tripod and try not to trip and fall into the harbour.

I would be traveling more tenuous paths later in the day, but at the moment, this was a great way to wake up and start the day.

The waterfront in front of the Prestige Oceanfront Resort

Before I get too far down the road I should explain Sooke and where it is. It’s a small town, situated on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada, about a 45 minute drive from the capital city of British Columbia, Victoria.

Sooke‘s popularity as a scenic tourist destination has existed for generations. Well-known destinations in Sooke, such as Whiffin Spit Park, the Sooke Potholes Regional Park (which I explore later) attract visitors both locally and from around the world. The area‘s popularity has increased as a base for visiting the wilderness parks of Vancouver Island‘s southwest coast — the West Coast Trail and the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park which includes the now highly popular Juan de Fuca Marine Trail.

The T‘Sou-ke Nation, a Coast Salish band, lived off the land and bountiful sea. Salmon, clams and the stickleback fish that gave the people their name were plentiful at the mouth of the Sooke River where the band continues to live. Some claim T‘Sou-ke means “the beginning.”

By the mid-1950s, the total population in Sooke and region was a little over 1,200 people. Mom‘s Café opened four years later for locals and a new generation of roadtrippers. In 1990, Sooke celebrated the bi-centennial of the first European contact in these waters made by the Spaniards in 1790. A statue of Spanish commander Manuel Quimper was unveiled on a grassy point at the start of the Whiffin Spit breakwater and to this day surveys the passing parade of hikers, dogs and pleasure boats with a stony eye.

For me, this is an area that is proving more and more addictive. Every time I visit, I grow more comfortable as I explore the nooks and crannies of this small town on the coast.

Back to my adventures … part II.

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Sunrise at the dock behind the Prestige Oceanfront Resort

Fishermen get their boats ready with the Prestige Oceanfront Resort in the background

Cobwebs greet the morning light

Hiking the East sooke park

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The East Sooke Park Trail

East Sooke’s coast trail is considered one of the premier day hikes in Canada, a west coast wilderness experience within easy reach of Sooke. The 10 kilometer trail is rough and winding, a challenging 6 hour trip even for experienced hikers. One moment you travel across a bluff of windswept pines, the ocean crashing at you feet. Next you enter a dark rainforest at the end of a ravine. Turn a corner and you’re back in sunlight, at the edge of the sea.

There is more than one entrance to the trail. I chose as my first starting point: Anderson Cove. Anderson Cove is the starting point for hikers heading to Babbington Hill, and Mount Maguire. On these hilltops, bald eagles, and red-tailed hawks join you for sweeping views of the Olympic Peninsula. That sounded to me like something I wanted to capture on camera. I grabbed my Canon, fixed with a 70-200 lens (with a doubler on it) and headed up the hill. I’m going to be honest with you - I’m not much of a sign reader. There was a guide map at the trail head but, to me, it was a little confusing. Undeterred I decided to press on up a small incline going ever deeper into the woods.

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A pathway into the woods in Sooke

Moss growing on the old forest in East Sooke Park

I love the detail and texture

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Ayland Farm section of the East Sooke Park Trail

The Aylard Farm Trail is an easy hike that meanders through an old apple orchard and an open farmer‘s field and leads to a sandy pocket beach. It takes only 10 minutes to get to the shore where you can enjoy a picnic on the white sand beach amongst huge driftwood husks.

This is a family-friendly area. I reached the beach to find two families throwing blankets on the beach, while their kids built sand castles on the shore. After taking a short breather (still sweating from my trek through the dense forest on the previous pathway) I pulled out my wide angle lens to grab a few frames and could hear over my shoulder a group of 15 kids (about 8 years old and younger) coming down the pathway singing camp songs while holding on to a short rope connecting them all. They reminded me of a human caterpiller snaking on to the white sand.

Off in the distance a woman was throwing a bright red ball to her Lab who seemed to have boundless energy, tearing off into the water giving chase to everything she threw. This was an escape I was looking for that was only 20 minutes from my home base at the Oceanfront Resort.

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Why won't he tire? Throwing balls to a lab on the East Sooke Park Trail

Easy walking on the East Sooke Park Trail

Overlooking the Juan de Fuca Strait

The spotted dog on the East Sooke Park Trail

After enjoying a break at the beach, I took a side trip to the Creyke Point outcrop which overlooks Becher Bay and the Juan de Fuca Strait. This was one of my favourite view points! Some of the people I met along the trail told me that you can often see seal, otter, and eagle - I only spotted the occasional seal sunbathing on a rock and a few birds but I wasn’t disappointed - the view was beautiful. The trail meanders through the second-growth forest that includes Douglas Fir, Hemlock and Arbutus trees that are over 100 years old. The path is well groomed with rock-shale. I imagine walking up to the rocky lookout can be a bit slippery when wet, but I found running shoes were adequate. This easy hike took me about 40 minutes as I went slowly, enjoying the views and occasionally taking a few ‘snaps’.

At one point, I met a young couple up from Victoria who had scrambled down a short rock face to a small perch overlooking the Strait. With fishing poles in hand, they were casting for salmon that were feeding on small fish just below them. Taking a break from their jobs in the oil patch in Alberta, the couple told me “this is the life” and were making plans, trying to figure out how to move from “the big city” to this area where they could kayak, hike and fish every chance they could on their weeks back home from the job.

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Sooke Adventures

Fishing for salmon on the East Sooke Park Trail

Sooke Adventures

Bird life on the East Sooke Park Trail

THE ELECTRIC BIKE TOUR

I’m an avid biker who usually tries to get out at least a couple times a week riding the pathways by the lake where I live in Kelowna, B.C. so when I read there was a Sooke-based company (Rush Adventures) that ran bike tours in the area, I instantly signed up. What was even more intriquing was that they were guiding all levels of cyclists on ELECTRIC bikes. I was in.

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Robert and Linda Taber

Joseph Steiner gives tips about our electric bikes.

One of the trestles along the Galloping Goose Trail

Robert Taber and his daughter Rachel peer into the gorge

Rush Adventures uses a ‘local’ (well, it’s just across the strait to Vancouver) bike with a small battery attached just behind the seat. Using a locally-made product fits into my mantra of “eat, drink and buy local.” Brodie bicycles are the brainchild of Paul Brodie. Originally an artist and motorcycle fanatic, he began painting and brass-welding frames for mountain bikes in 1985. It wasn’t long before he invented and trademarked the Vancouver sloping top tube, launching a brand of bikes bearing the Brodie name. In 2005 Paul was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, creating an international fan base for the Vancouver brand. In a market of mass-produced “everything”, Brodie is proudly one of Canada’s last independent bike brands. Over the years they’ve carved out a niche for themselves in a highly competitive market by being true to their vision of building real bikes for real people.

I hopped on to the bike with my fellow travelers, the Taber family from Las Vegas who were staying for a week in the Sooke area. Our guide, Joe Steiner, quickly showed us the ‘ins and outs’ of the electric bike. He told us that the bikes could seamlessly analyze our pedal rate and torque to apply electric assistance which would create a smooth and relatively easy biking experience. “If you’re about to go up a steep incline,” Joe told us, “hit the red button.” The red button, I would soon find out, became my best friend.

Our destination would lead us along an old railway trail now dubbed “The Galloping Goose.” The ride took us through a stunning fir and red-cedar forest crossing multiple wooden trestles where we stopped to gaze over the rails to see the Sooke River winding its way into one of the local landmarks - the Sooke Potholes.

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The Taber family from Las Vegas stop along the Galloping Goose Trail

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Letting the bike do the work along the Galloping Goose Trail

Robert and Rachel reflected in Linda's glasses

Sooke Adventures

Sooke Adventures

People swim in the Sooke Potholes

the sooke potholes

About 40 minutes into our ride we came upon a local landmark, “the potholes.”

The Sooke Potholes is a provincial park located in the backyard of Sooke. Formed during the last glacial period 15,000 years ago, the potholes are a series of polished rock pools naturally carved out in the bedrock of the Sooke River. I had wanted to make the trip here from the resort, after they told me “it’s only a 15 minute drive away.” The bike ride was actually a nice way to get to this spot.

All of us peered over rocky edges, looking deep into the gorge wondering how the heck people made it down to the bottom to the pools. I could see little pathways down at some points (and some areas were definitely ‘off limits’ based on a couple of warning signs I spotted) and people of all ages had made their way to the swimming holes, lounging on towels when they weren’t leaping off cliffs into pools of water shafts and small ponds. It looked exhilarating and peaceful at the same time.

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Glacial action during the last ice age is responsible for the rock formations in the Sooke Potholes

Resting between dips in the Sooke Potholes

Kids make their way along the rocks in the Sooke Potholes

Contemplating a dive into the Sooke Potholes

The Sooke Potholes is a popular local spot to test your inner action hero

At the end of the day, after getting back to Rush Adventures, I asked Joe (our affable bike guide) to pose for “one last shot.” It’s not an electric bike, but I wasn’t about to ask Joe to hoist a bike with a battery on it after leading us on a 3-hour tour.

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Rush Adventures guide Joseph Steiner

sad to leave

I end my days at the Prestige Oceanfront Resort as I started - with an early morning coffee, watching the fishermen head off for another morning of angling. It’s peaceful as the gulls once again make their presence known to the fishermen. Motors sputter to life, dew is wiped from the windshields and they head off as the sun rises hoping that today will be the day they catch “the big one.”

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Footnotes

I used the Prestige Oceanfront Resort as my 'staging ground' for my adventures in, and around, Sooke BC.

FootNotes

I used the Prestige Oceanfront Resort as my 'staging ground' for my adventures in, and around, Sooke BC.

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