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| Pachena Beach near Bamfield. |
It’s not easy to get to, but that’s part of the appeal.
The first time I tried driving to Bamfield from Victoria in
my Suzuki SX4, I turned around after 10 minutes. The 80-kilometre dusty logging
road west of Port Alberni felt more like driving through a rocky farmers field,
giving my poor little car a beating.
Several months later, I returned to Bamfield by boat on the
MV Frances Barkley after completing a short paddling adventure through the
nearby Broken Group Islands. I had an hour to wander along the village’s
boardwalk and get a feel for the place before the four-hour journey back to
Port Alberni. All that experience did was make me want to come back since I
knew Bamfield’s beauty lies beyond the village’s borders.
Now here I was three years later, bouncing along the rough
logging road that had previously forced me to turn around for the health of my
car. I finally managed to convince a friend with a Nissan Xterra and heavy-duty
tires to go to Bamfield for the weekend and spend a night camping at Pachena
Bay.
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| Brady's Beach. |
A smile is glued to my face as we meander through the mountainous
backcountry where clearcutting is visible throughout the landscape. We pass a
few vehicles with flat tires on the side of the road and a small herd of elk
standing in a clear cut. An hour and a half later, we arrive on the paved roads
of Bamfield, which feels like an oasis after such a bumpy ride.
Located in the picturesque inlet of Barkley Sound on
Vancouver Island’s west coast, Bamfield is a secluded, sleepy village of about
200 residents. The people of the Huu-ay-aht First Nation have lived in the area
for thousands of years. European settlers arrived in the late 1800s and
established a fishing community and outpost for fur trading. A few sport
fishing charters now operate in the area.
The community is divided by an inlet. West Bamfield is only
accessible by a five-minute water taxi ride and has a boardwalk that connects
most of the homes, businesses and docks. The east side contains most of the
commercial businesses and community amenities, such as the school, fire
department, health centre and the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, which was
established by a consortium of five western Canadian universities in 1972 and is
the village’s largest employer.
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| The West Coast Trail |
There isn’t a lot of things to do in Bamfield itself – it’s
the region’s natural beauty that’s the biggest draw. Two of the nicest beaches
I’ve ever seen on Vancouver Island are located just outside of the village –
Pachena Beach and Brady’s Beach. The sprawling Pachena Beach is three
kilometres long and located at the western terminus of the West Coast Trail in
Pacific Rim National Park. Brady’s Beach is a 20-minute walk from the
government dock in west Bamfield and has unique rock formations that look like
a painting. Both beaches are devoid of crowds, making it feel like you have a
slice of paradise all to yourself.
There’s also several day hikes in the region, such as Cape
Beale Lighthouse, Keeha Beach and Tapaltos Beach, along with cultural tours to
Kiixin Village and Fortress National Historic Site – the only known traditional
First Nations village remaining on the west coast of southern B.C. Kiixin remains
a sacred site to the Huu-ay-aht First Nation, which owns several properties in
the village and is pushing for the road to be paved in an effort to boost
tourism and economic development.
As I sit with my friends around a small fire on Pachena
Beach at night, watching bats squeak and fly above our heads, I reflect on why
we drove four hours from Victoria to get here. Bamfield is a place that truly
feels wild and off the beaten path. It’s a place that feeds my thirst for adventure
and forces me to unplug, relax and connect with nature – something everyone should
do once in a while in our hyperconnected world.
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| Brady's Beach |