22 September 2016, Thursday
We sleep in until 8 am. Heavenly!! And no traffic to fight today. We cook up O’s favorite car camping breakfast – potato cakes with cheese and bacon jerky.
Today we begin exploring the various trails in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The reason it is called a Park Reserve is because ownership of the land is still disputed by the Nuu-Chah-Nulth people, the First Nation group which still lives here. Until ownership is settled, the Nuu-Chah-Nulth retain the right to hunt and trap using traditional methods.
O and I take one of the trails to South Beach and then take the Nuu-Chah-Nulth trail to another beach 2.5 km away. The hike travels along cedar plank walkways. Along the trail are occasional signs with explanations and stories of Nuu-Chah-Nulth culture. O and I find it interesting that they have no word for ‘wild’ or ‘wilderness.’ There is only home. They also have a belief, hishuk ish ts’awalk, everything is one.
We return to the Greeenpoint campground to prepare dinner, but first we hang our tarp as rain is forecast for the next two days. We have three days remaining to explore the area. There is so much to see! To complicate matters, we met another hiker earlier today who told us about a beautiful provincial park not far from here with an incredible stand of old growth sitka spruce. Hardly anyone knows about it or travels there. The only access is via a long drive on gravel roads. It may not be far distance-wise, but we have a feeling it will take a long time to drive there!