In 1899, artist Emily Carr travelled to Ucluelet via a steamship. During subsequent visits, she drew a series of illustrations. Many of those drawings reveal remote First Nations communities and cedars too big to hug amid the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean. It’s an enchanting place, in which the nautical, historical and cool surf vibes permeate everything, including the fiercely local breweries and distilleries.
Ucluelet
Known as Ukee to locals, Ucluelet sits on the western edge of Barkley Sound on Vancouver Island. With a population a little over 2000, one main street, and St. Aiden’s church, now the Ucluelet Brewing Company, it’s a welcome port in the storm. It’s the kind of cheerful place one heads to after battling the rain in a fishing boat. Inside, the giant wooden beams look like the mast of a fierce tall ship from bygone days. Residents tirelessly fundraised in the ‘80s to renovate and restore the former Anglican and United church, which was then redesigned by local Leif Hagar in 2011.
Today, the long wooden pine bar is full and the sun streams through the large windows. Views of the harbour reveal hawks and eagles dive-bombing the ocean looking for dinner.
The brewery, full of nautical ropes and photos of waves, is inspired by the landscape. This ocean vibe is apparent in the beer offerings, too. Party Wave, the Hazy IPA, is an East-Coast style IPA which tastes like a hoppy light Radler. Juicy and cool, it evokes the surfin’ vibe. Outside in the parking lot, most cars have boards attached to the roof. Another favourite is South Swell, the 6.5% West Coast IPA that offers is a blend of Northwest hops with a hint of pine. We wash it down with a salty pretzel for a snack before heading out on a hike.
Before the sun dies down for the day, we take a short walk through the nearby Ancient Cedars Loop trail (one kilometre), part of the eight-kilometre Pacific Rim Trail. The giants of the forest tower above us: old-growth Sitka spruce, western hemlock, and giant red cedar trees. Within the forest, two of the giant cedars are over 800 years old! Looking closely, some of the trees have chunks missing, or swaths of bark removed. Traditionally, the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ First Nation would remove only what they needed from the tree, which meant it could still grow. Today, these culturally modified trees (CMTs) are protected under the Heritage Conservation Act. Rare giants of the forest, it feels special to be among them.
The gravel path is smooth with offshoot routes that lead to epic ocean views. Each tiny enclave has a bench with a memorial plaque and dedication. It’s a peaceful place to watch the waves crash over the craggy black rocks and then swirl into tiny pools, which are often hangouts for sea lions. A short drive away to the southern tip, the lighthouse loop is similar (2.6 kilometres).
Leaving Ucluelet, we drive through the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. This land includes the ḥaḥuułi (traditional territories) of the Nuu-chah-nulth people.
Nuu-chah-nulth, or “along the mountains and sea,” encompasses the territories along the 300 kilometres from Brooks Peninsula in the north to Point-no-Point in the south, and to the Vancouver Island Range in the east.
This corridor includes so many beaches! One of my favourites is Florencia Bay, named for a ship that capsized here in 1860, killing four men. We walk down a series of steps to a shoreline of driftwood on to an expansive crescent beach. A foursome of teenagers make their way into the shallow waves with their boards. After several attempts, one of them catches a wave and the rest of them scream joyfully.
Walking back to the car, in the parking lot, we notice a grey-bearded man. He smiles at us. “Good surf?” I ask him.
“It can never be bad — not with a view like that.”
Finally, the sun has come out just as the day is ending. From above we can see the tiny specks of wetsuits in the rolling waves; the sun casts a silvery glow onto the ocean. Dude’s got a good point.
Tofino
We drive into Tofino and park near a former industrial area. The distillery and the brewery are neighbours. Bonus! Inside the Tofino Brewing Company, it’s game seven of the Stanley Cup playoffs and the brewery is packed with Edmonton Oilers’ orange-and-blue-coloured jerseys. The high ceilings and open space, coincidentally, feel like a hockey arena. Everyone is cheering at the projection screen with the game playing in full swing. Outside, the patio is a bit calmer with benches and flowers. I settle in for a taste of the island.
I start my tasting flight with the Spruce Tree Ale; made from handpicked Sitka spruce tips, it has been brewed for over 10 years and no surprise, it tastes earthy. “It’s like a springtime walk in the forest,” says the website. Only brewed in spring and summer, it’s also one of their most popular. The Tuff Session Ale is hop-forward and the first beer they ever brewed. We chat with two brothers from Arizona who have come north to surf—one of them is a photographer and can’t wait to explore. He sips his kelp stout beer and coughs a bit: “Wow, that’s really kelpy!”
Next door, the scene at the Tofino Distillery is quiet. There’s a wall of paintings and photos of ships, nautical buoys hanging everywhere and a cabinet straight from grandma’s dining room. The distillery offers tastings of their spirits so I order shots of absinthe, limoncello and jalapeño vodka.
The bartender watches as I sip the absinthe. With the tagline, The Psychedelic Jellyfish, I brace myself. My mouth goes dry immediately, and I squish my face up. “That’s 73%,” he says, laughing. No kidding. The drink harkens back to Sherlock Holmes’ days; and true to its history, it’s made with wormwood, anise and fennel. Tofino’s version won a bronze at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition this year. I smooth it out with a refreshing sip of limoncello. Then, my final, the jalapeno vodka. If I was boxing, this vodka would be the knockout punch.
The next morning, feeling a little foggy in the head, we decide to ride our bikes. The path that connects Tofino and Ucluelet by going through Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is called the ʔapsčiik t̓ašii (pronounced ups-cheek ta-shee) pathway. It means “going the right way on the path.”
Known as the MUP by locals, the 40-kilometre Multi-Use Path joins Ucluelet to Tofino, with 25 kilometres of the path cutting through the Pacific Rim Park. Completed last year, it cost $65 million. Riding the smooth, undulating path we ride through rainforests so thick with oxygen. Every few feet are tiny bridges, or amphibian tunnels, under the highway to help the northern red-legged frogs move from the bogs where they breed into the forest. Back in 1993, a nearby forest was also the site of the famous Clayoquot Sound protests, also called War in the Woods. At the time, 856 protesters were arrested protesting against clearcutting and logging. It feels sacred and precious in so many ways.
We’re hungry so we drive into Tofino. You’d never guess that years ago this place was a crab shack. But after a devastating fire, the owners went big. Real big. The new Shelter Restaurant is an elegant glass structure on the edge of the harbour overlooking the Tofino Inlet. We sit on the patio to absorb the view. Across the water, there’s a boat turned into a house and a smattering of tiny forested islands. As Tofino becomes more popular, this secluded inlet is a quiet oasis.
Inside the restaurant, it’s alive with large tables of families and couples cuddling up in cozy nooks. There are giant leather chairs and funky space-age fireplaces that hang from the wall—a far cry from its days of being the local crab shack with beer and chips. We start with Sakamoto tuna tataki: seared rare albacore sits on top of crispy rice, which oddly enough tastes like a potato. The cocktails are works of art so I order a special made with rose hibiscus gin from the Tofino Distillery.
We stop for a nightcap at the Bear Bierhaus and Courtyard. Part of the Historic MAQ Hotel’s revitalization, the Bierhaus is like stepping into a chic contemporary art gallery: stark white walls chock full of bright art. Outside on the patio, a giant orange bear bum. High art. I have a final cocktail—the Grizzly Smash is a sweet mix of bourbon, whiskey, lemon and a splash of maple syrup.
The next day is the highlight: a boat ride to Hot Springs Cove. It’s not cheap, about $300 for a day trip, but the hour-and-a-half voyage has lots of surprises. Accessible only by plane or boat, historically the cove was called Refuge Cove for all the sailors who took shelter during crazy Pacific storms.
As we speed through the inner channel of islands north of Tofino, the boat slaps the waves and bounces into the air. We pass a few fish farms harvesting Atlantic Salmon, then a a community (also known as a reserve) of about a dozen homes on Flores Island. Called Maaqtusiis in the Nuu-chah-nulth language, it is one of the primary settlements of the Ahousaht First Nation. Further on we see other small communities (reserves) from the Hesquiaht, and ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ (Tla-o-qui-aht) First Nations.
Zooming past more remote nature, the boat unexpectedly slows down. Captain Dave spots a whale. Everyone on board scans the sea. “There it is!” someone yells. The arc of an elegant smooth blue skin followed by a blue forked tail, then it’s gone in seconds. It’s a grey whale, says Captain Dave. Wow, we’re all silent, absorbing the rare and majestic sea beast, something none of us will forget.
After docking at the wharf, we walk along a boardwalk built into the forest. After half an hour, we arrive at a small stream with steam! After changing in the only structure built into the craggy black rock cove, I move slowly: with a newly broken arm in a cast, I lower myself between two rock walls into a shallow pool that is steamy, warm and stinky. Sulphur egg smelling stinky. Moving carefully down the rocks, each pool gets a little cooler. We leave steamed and refreshed.
Our final stop on the islands is an afternoon drink at the Hotel Zed just outside of Tofino. If you want to touch the void, feel like a rebel, sit in the pool of cool, head here. Inside the multicoloured exterior, which looks like a kid went wild with crayons, is a sunken living room with shag green carpet and lava lamps, complete with a kid doing laps on a scooter. There’s a disco room, a Moroccan room and out back, a VW van decorated in driftwood. I order a classic Negroni because I’m too overwhelmed. The sepia-coloured bubbled glass is uber funky, of course. We spend a few hours playing backgammon and soaking in the atmosphere—there’s no shortage of cool vibes in Tofino. It’s a place to linger, reflect and sip.
