Day 5 - Nature Walks, Caving and the Beach

Hello Everyone! It’s Caroline and I’ll be writing the blog post today. 

The first thing we did today was drive to MacMillan park to see some pretty big trees. After a totally legal crossing of the road, we walked a short loop where we got to examine the very big, very old Douglas Fir trees. We also took a short stop at a nearby stream and climbed some trees (well I didn’t, but i found a very nice tree to sit on).

After walking along that trail a little longer, we stopped at the largest Douglas Fir in the park — it was so tall that we couldn’t even see the top. It is also taller the the Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

We then finished that walk and did the other trail on the other side of the very safe road. There we saw more trees and shrubbery and also stopped at the small stream. I swear every time we find water it’s like a necessity to stop for at least a little while. 

 

We then piled back into the van and drove to see the Petroglyphs at Sproat Lake. If your like me and imagine Egypt when you hear petroglyph, your going to be a bit disappointed. While the petroglyphs were very cool, they weren’t quite what I was expecting. It was still really interesting to see a piece of Canadian history that truly is ancient.

After our short walk back to the van, we headed to Horne Lake Caves. This was personally the highlight of my day. We arrived at the information building and began our walk up a hill towards the Riverbend Cave. Once we reached the mouth of the cave, we all put on our sweaters as the caves remain at 8 degrees Celsius all year round. 

We traversed down into the cave, learning about the different typed of rock, crystal structures and how dark it really can be when there is no surface light. We even got to experience what it was like in complete darkness and learned that when you strike quartz together, it creates a small light emission you can only see in absolute darkness. 

We then got a picture before heading back out of the cave where our group split. Some of us went down the hill, myself included, while the rest of the group went to the Main Cave. From all of their pictures I am slightly jealous I didn’t tag along, but I’m not a fan of a tight squeeze! They climbed up 3 waterfalls, used many ladders to climb up and down, went on Canada's only cave slide and went through a tight squeeze called the cheese grater.

The other group came down the hill and we all made a short stop at the gift shop (our favourite place) before jumping back in the van on the way to Lefty’s for dinner. 

After dinner, we went back to the hotel to grab our beach stuff before walking to the nearby beach. This beach was jam-packed with action though; hosting a country music concert, professional sand castle making competition as well as the opportunity to swim in the Pacific Ocean.

Many of us chose our own paths, though I really enjoyed seeing all the amazing creations that were just made our of sand, as well as dancing to “Fishin in the Dark” before taking a quick dip the in Pacific. 

 

We then did the usual end of day things; shower, lunches, blog comments (thank you all for posting! its so awesome to hear for everyone!!) and then writing the night’s blog.

Thanks for reading! All the love,

Caroline