Uclulet And Old Growth

We checked out Ucluelet just to say we’d been there but quite honestly it could have been “small town anywhere” . We did take a very short break and walk a small section of the Pacific Rim Trail to a breathtaking overlook. The waves crashed onto the secluded harbor and it would have been easy to sit on the bench provided and forget about the rest of the world, for a while. However there were "miles to go before we sleep" and so we made a stop for lunch provisions at a local grocery store and headed back to the eastern side of the island and our home away from home. We made stops to photograph eagles and I was reminded that my choices of lenses are lacking. My need for a 600mm or larger lens is even more apparent on this trip. I’ve just moved it to the top of my “when I get some money” list. The MacMillin Forest is beyond description. We were there for such a short time but I was spellbound by the immensity of these huge trees, some of which are more than 800 years old. They stand, a testament to durability and adaptation, against a world that threatens their very existence every day. And when one of them falls, it not only leave a huge gapping hole in the canopy of the forest but something majestic and irreplaceable is gone from the world forever. Left to time, the forest will gradually reclaim all of the behemoth and new life will spring from it’s corpse. Sadly, we will never see another giant in it’s place. We had a mere twenty minutes this afternoon but I could have spent hours there wandering from tree to tree in the fragrant shadows. We’re nearly back to the unit when Carl and I realize neither of us are feeling all that great.