Vancouver Island

The city of Victoria is indeed the most popular destination on Vancouver Island, but we blew right past the tea and crumpets and a wonderful opportunity to pretend we were British. And Old. And Aristocrats.

Rather, we drove to the China Beach campground and enjoyed some Canadian microbrews. I had a fine nap while Lauren took Scout to the nearby beach, and in the mean time the camp host delivered a nice bundle of firewood right to our campsite. This campground boasts some very nice spacious sites and is a short hike from China Beach with views of the Olympic Peninsula. From this beach you can hike to the start of the 30-mile San Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, which follows along the coastline. It is very popular for backpacking, and with a hike of only a few miles you can camp directly on several beaches.

We did the stretch from China Beach to Mystic Beach on a trail that was adapted to the heavy deadfall. At any time we could have been on a North Shore mountain bike trail with all of the wooden bridges and ladders that carried us over old stumps and fallen trees. There is even a cable suspension bridge that crosses a deep ravine. Scout was not a fan of the metal grating on the bridge and instead decided to take the more difficult route down into the ravine and back up the steep side.