Today is the last day in Tofino before I make the drive back to Nanaimo airport tomorrow morning.
I started my day the same way I was doing the past few days: with a walk on the beach in front of my resort. I noticed the size of the waves had dropped way off. My timing for my surf session couldn’t have been better. If I had waited til today, I wouldn’t really have caught many waves.
After my morning surf check, I went to Tofino’s Botanical Garden. This was a cool but strange garden. There were some creepy looking sculptures hidden amongst the plants. One of the sculptures was of a dude trapped in barbed wire. Another sculpture was a grotesque face hidden inside a log. Interesting art choices for a garden. It didn’t help that I was the only one in the garden that early in the morning. One of the trails in the garden did lead to a really beautiful view of the surrounding islands though. There were also a bunch of oyster shells on the ground, indicating something or someone had an oyster feast there (I’m a little jealous).
I then headed to the last thing on my recommendation list, 1909 Kitchen, for a quick bite and some coffee. Located right on the harbor, the restaurant allowed me to soak in the beautiful views while I enjoyed some smoked salmon and warmed up with a cup of coffee.
Afterwards, I wanted to check out a hike to a plane crash. This didn’t go as planned.
I didn’t realize that the trailhead would be very difficult to find. Not only that, but getting to the trailhead was exremely sketchy. At first, I couldn’t find the trailhead so I did some on-the-fly research and found out that you have to walk south on the highway and count 15 telephone poles to find the trailhead. The telephone pole marked with a “drawing” of a plane signifies the entrance to the trail. While I was walking and hoping some idiot wouldn’t run me over, some dude pulled over and asked if I needed a ride. Knowing that’s how horror movies begin, I politely declined. Also, the “drawing” is more like a 1in x 1in sharpie doodle drawn by a kid that you wouldn’t be able to see from the highway.
By now, I started to feel like maybe I shouldn’t be doing this hike alone. As I started to trek into the woods, I was a little sketched out that there was barely any visibility to either side of me on the trail because it was extremely heavily wooded. Also, I didn’t like that there was no telling if anyone else was on the trail based on the fact that there is no parking lot at the head of the trail. Eventually, I arrived at an abandoned building. Normally my thought process would be, “This would be a cool spot to do some ghost hunting,” but maybe not so much when I’m alone in a spot that’s a bit hard to find. At this point, I decided I ain’t going to get Tofino Chainsaw Massacred so I cut the hike short.
I made my way back to the resort and just relaxed on the beach, watched the surfers, and mulled over if it would be worth it to rent gear for another session in these conditions.
I didn’t surf again but I went back to Shelter to get dinner. I ordered calamari and a Meares Island chowder. I must’ve looked like a glutton with that mountain of calamari. The chowder was fantastic though. If I had to choose a favorite spot for food/drinks in Tofino, Shelter would be it thanks to the people working there. After exchanging contact information, I absolutely hope to return the favor of their hospitality if/when they come down to California.
It’ll be an early day for me tomorrow to head back home and back to reality. Saying this trip was awesome is a big understatement. After I process everything, edit more photos, and put together a video, I’ll be posting a recap of this trip. Until next time.
