Lens Artist#163: Walking Wickaninnish

Sandy

We are back in Vancouver Island and it’s just as beautiful as when we left two years ago. The first treat for our return was this sunset over Ucluelet. Isn’t that a fine way to close out a day?

Whenever I’m in the city I am hardly motivated to take a walk. When I’m surrounded by scenes like this, who can resist.

For this week’s Lens Artist Challenge #163: Amy invites us to “Keep Walking“

Come along and join me on my walk and first look at Wickaninnish Beach.

It’s August in Ucluelet and that means the weather is unpredictable. Foggy and overcast in the morning; clear and sunny in the afternoon; vice versa and often all at the same time. We’d left Ucluelet with clear blue skies but by the time we pulled into the parking lot twenty minutes later, it was clouding over.

All is forgotten when I turn the corner and enter the beach. Nothing feels like as refreshing as a blast of cold Pacific air. Nothing sounds like the roar of the wild Pacific Ocean. Nothing compares to experiencing it all after a long long time away.

The tide is out and flat sands stretch for miles. In a few hours the beach will retreat and the space between sea and land will narrow. Until then, I will have tons of shoreline to explore rocks and barnacles exposed by the tides. Mussel shells are everywhere. Remnants of dinner by sea birds, coastal wolves and humans who know better than I.

Along the shore there are patches of washed up seaweed and kelp. If I can, I stay clear of those heaps of rotting vegetation. They are spongy and swampy, attracting insects and flies. Beside one such pile, I see a darker mass. I think nothing of it until I see a second, larger deposit on the sand.

What is it? I’ve never seen anything like this on the beach before. I look a little closer.

It’s a loose and organic black mush filled with bits of grainy, berry like matter. Bear scats. Fresh and recent. Yikes!

Maybe it’s time to head back. Looks like I’m not the only one appreciating the view.

Wick Beach, Vancouver Island. September 2021

19 Comments

  6. How nice for you to be back there. Must seem like a very different world to the one you’ve been confined to this past year or more. Those west coast beaches on the island are such wonderful places to explore. Enjoy your time there. Will you be staying through the winter?

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    1. It is certainly different! We always enjoy our time here but we’ll be heading back before full winter sets in. The village is lovely but pretty much everything shuts down for the season.

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