Westward Ho!

Westward VIA Trail Earl Plato

Think big, really big! We travelled VIA Rail to Vancouver and back recently. We were four retired couples from Fort Erie. It was a trip of a lifetime. After a city tour of Vancouver we boarded the ferry for Victoria, Vancouver Island. We would explore this unique and beautiful island for the next five days. In our rented cars we headed north and reached Cathedral Grove. Elaine and I had been there in 1970. We had camped across Canada with our children. The Grove had been one of our highlights. Now here in 2006 we had returned with Fort Erie friends to walk the entire trails. We knew that it was a not-to-be-missed stop on Highway 4 to Port Alberni- a chance to be awed by nature. Think old. At Cathedral Grove there is a wondrous display of 800 year old trees. When Elaine and I were there in 1970 only a few trees were down. We had the children pose on one fallen giant. In January 1997 a severe windstorm damaged many of the ancient Douglas fir giants. There are short trails winding through some of the biggest trees in Canada. One Douglas fir in the South Loop Trail measures over 9 metres in circumference. Think almost 30 feet! Writer‘s note: We thought that Bert Miller’s giant local Tulip tree at Rosehill that measured 161/2 ft. was big. Look up. The tallest tree in Cathedral Grove is a Douglas fir 76 metres high. Amazing! That’s over 200 feet tall!
Among the many fallen trees lush growths of ferns and Red Cedar trees are interspersed in the under story. We walked in a wet area on a bridge made from a fallen Douglas fir. Friend Ken examined the sides of the bridge where the rangers had hewn out openings for the railing supports/ It as a long and strong bridge. Cathedral Grove is only a small part of MacMillan Provincial Park yet it is a most important part. The Park is still restoring other trails as a result of the 1997 storm. Cathedral Grove has been fully restored thankfully.
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The eight of us sitting in the observation dome of our VIA Rail car looked for animals on our way both west and east. Collectively we saw the following: elks, deer, bisons (buffalo), bear, mountain sheep or goats, beaver, bald eagles, ravens and crows. One of the most exciting views was that of seven mountain sheep beside our stopped train. Led by a large horned ram they made their way up the cliff and posed for us on the way..