After waking up across the street at our campsite across the highway from Cameron Lake, we continued ascending the dirt road which we camped on last night, to the trailhead of the Arrowsmith Trail. We hiked a total of 10 km on the Arrowsmith Trail and Lookout Trail. About 3KM into the trail (and again at 7KM into the total hike) we walked across a bridge above MacKay River, which is a waterfall around the area of the bridge. After crossing MacKay river, the weather became very cloudy, foggy, cold, and wet. It was nice to be able to walk in the cold, refreshing weather during the steepest portion of the hike. About 5km into the trail, we arrived at a lookout point, overlooking Cameron Lake and the Salish Sea.
After hiking the Arrowsmith Trail, we walked across the highway to Cameron Lake, where we swam for about 30 minutes. The lake was beautiful, and it was nice to be able to swim to the wooden floating platform and lay down on the platform in the warm sun, before jumping back into the water and swimming back to the shore.
After dipping into Cameron Lake, we started driving toward Tofino. Right off of the main Highway, we noticed a small parking area fronting a river. We parked there and walked across the rocky formations and across the river, which weaves its way through the rocky formations, thereby creating alternating areas of slow-moving pools of water and fast-moving waterfalls and whitewater rivers.
After walking around the rocks for a few minutes, Rachel suggested that we should swim in the river. I was hesitant and definitely wouldn’t have had I been alone, but I’m never a person to shoot down someone’s adventurous idea. Before I knew it, we were in our shorts, counting down to jump into the water at the same time at the end of 3..2…1 countdown. Before we knew it, Michel was also jumping into the water and we increased the height of our jumping from 5 feet to 7 feet to 10 feet, until eventually jumping from a height of about 15 feet into one of the river pools. This was one of the highlights of the Tofino Road trip and it just goes to show and reinforce the importance of being open-minded, adventurous and going with the flow. As long as a situation, won’t lead to permanent pain/discomfort and doesn’t clash with your values/beliefs, then just go for it and it’ll be sure to be a wonderful experience. Discomfort is temporary, memories will be treasured forever.
While crossing the river and walking back to the car, I slipped and my phone was immersed in water. I immediately removed my phone from the water and stored it in a container of raw rice for 12 hours. Luckily my phone still works perfectly.
We then drove to Tofino and headed straight to Chesterman Beach, a beautiful expansive beach in Tofino. Chesterman Beach is also one of a couple of beaches in Tofino where bonfires are allowed. We found a nice spot, gathered (wet/inefficient) firewood, and created a fire. A nearby group/family noticed we were struggling with our fire, and offered a few pieces of large, dry firewood which helped us build a great, lasting fire for a couple of hours. After a couple of hours, we drove to the “Emergency Landfill Campground” in Tofino, a free campground which very few people know about, where we set up camp and spent the night.
