In a trip that we have made before, Julie and I headed to Tofino for four nights April 20-24. It was an opportunity to visit one of Canada's wild places, and the timing coincided with storm season. We new it would be windy and wet, but as the saying goes...'there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear'. The cameras and rain gear were packed, and Westjet got us as far as Nanaimo.
Heading off in a rented car, the challenges started well before we arrived in Tofino. On the Pacific Rim Highway west of Sproat Lake there is a  pass at 240 meters where we encountered heavy snow with about 2-3 inches of slush on the road. Every time a car passed in the other direction, our car was covered in slush. Fortunately it was only difficult for about 10 km. The road construction around Kennedy Lake is finished, so there were no delays.
On the afternoon of our arrival we did have breaks in the clouds with fleeting bright sunshine. That was the last sun that we saw. We stayed at Pacific Sands Resort on Cox Bay, which is the main surfing beach. The beaches were basically deserted except for surfers and a few walkers. The enthusiasm of the surfers was admirable - wet suits are mandatory but they are not that warm - the water temperature was 8C and the air temperature was about the same.
We had some excellent meals in Tofino at Wolf in the Fog and Schooner's; and one meal at the Wickaninnish Inn. We had great beach walks on Cox Bay, Long Beach (12 kms), Comber's Beach and in the Rain Forest. On Friday afternoon we went out on a guided trip in a 35 foot boat (twin 250 hp outboards) in 15 foot seas, to see if we could find migrating gray whales. We did... and managed to track one from a distance of 150-200 meters until it came up about 50 meters from the boat. All that you get to see is the backside with some appreciation of its girth, and maybe the tail. It is big.
The gray whale is the tenth largest whale, up to 40-45 feet long; averaging 20 tonnes, but can get up to 40+ tonnes (90,000 lbs). It migrates north from Mexico in spring then back in the fall. There are estimated to be about 20,000 in the North Pacific Ocean. It has been hunted heavily in the Asian waters and was hunted to extinction in the North Atlantic. Since being on the endangered list it is making a recovery and there are reports of sightings in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans. It is not a breeching whale. It is a baleen whale that is a bottom feeder (as opposed to the humpback that is a surface feeder). Typically it will take 3-4 breaths on the surface and then be gone for 5-10 minutes - but they are capable of staying under for up to an hour.Â
As I mentioned, we did pack the cameras and managed to keep them somewhat dry while making images. The skies were grey and wet so the images are mainly black and white. Because of the weather, most images were hand held so that I could get the camera under cover. The first 3 images are of the surfing at Cox Bay and the Lennard Island lighthouse. The next image is of Comber's Beach, followed by the Banzai Tree on the rocks west of Wickaninnish Island on the way into Clayoquot Sound. The sixth image is of Long Beach and the final image is Comber's Beach. Click on an image to enlarge it and then scroll through.Â
It is a wild place and it did not disappoint.Â