Little Qualicum Falls PP – June 22-25, 2010

 Camping along the river
And here we are again… we like this campground especially in early summer, when the campground is still empty. Its close – it’s affordable – it has some really nice waterfalls and Flush toilets. Already the Park ranger remembers us that means paying takes longer because we talk.

 Evening at the falls
No question: even we only arrived today: we have to go to the falls – because they are so wonderful. And every year we are coming and wonder is the water higher or lower this year? But equal how: they are always amazing

 Good morning coffee in sunshine
A relaxing start to the day starts with a cup of coffee… and life is perfect when you can do it with the sunrays warming you up. And we were lucky because that’s what we had

 Our new Kayak on Cameron Lake
Originally we had a real nice large and comfy sea eagle inflatable kayak. The only down side it was heavy enough to carry around and was quite bulky to store in the camper. So we decided to sell it and buy the smaller one. And today is the day we get our new one the first time inflated.

To make sure we do everything right: Paul reads the instructions closely. And like the lake knows it: no wind and the water is smooth and who gets the first right to try it out: Ladies first right! So Gine did the first circle and then Paul… and yes it works – it’s so fast inflated and so light to carry and it goes so fast (ok we are not as fast as the real kayaks) but we can bring it along!

 Stop at the Cameron Lake Picnic Area
Another stop along the lake is at the picnic area: we like this part because there are so unique and funky trees around – and it has the perfect picnic table for a snack.

 Cathedral Grove
Or also known as the MacMillan PP, and we are here because Gine want to see the big trees again, Paul doesn’t think they are so special but:

 What’s so special about the trees here?

• It is an old growth forest: which is a primary forest or ancient woodland – in comparison to second growth forest which regrew after being deforested in the last 100 years
• Only 10 % of Vancouver Island still have unlogged old growth forest and some of it is still approved to get logged – and once it is gone, you can’t bring it back
• Here you can see the Giant Douglas firs: one measuring 9 m in circumstances
• Douglas-firs grow in the coastal regions and are the 2^nd tallest conifers in the world: they grow up to 120 m high and a diameter of 4-5 m
• A Douglas fir cut down in the Lynn Valley in 1902 was 126 m high and 4.34m in diameter
• On the other side you can see ancient Western Cedars near Cameron Lake: which grows up to 70 m tall and 3-4m in diameter, some can live up to a thousand years, the oldest being verified to be 1460 years old – the 2^nd largest one is on the Pacific Rim
• In Cathedral grove was a 71 m high and 4.5 m large Western red Cedar being 700 years old, when it was set on fire in 1972
• A legend from the Coast Salish said: a generous man gave the people what they needed, when the Great spirit saw this, he declared that when this man died a great red western cedar will grow where he is buried and the cedar will be useful to the people providing roots for baskets, bark for clothing and wood for shelter
• In a storm in 1997 several of the huge trees fall over

 We are lucky we still have the old growth forest:                     

• In the 1920s someone mentioned that name ‘Cathedral Grove’ as a description for this stately standing trees
• In 1929 the people of Vancouver Island petitioned the government to protect this old growth forest
• In 1944 Macmillan a well-known forester donated the 136 hectare for the enjoyment of the public

And so we start out to walk on the nice made trails to see the Giants of the forest: we saw a lot of the fallen over trees and then once in a while we came by one of those huge monster trees – and how do we know they are big: if I stand upright and the tree trunk is still taller, then they must we huge. Once in a while we had to climb up on one of them. When you come to the big
tree: yes it is big I mean huge!! Or we are tiny. Also the roots are huge. We walked all the way to the Cameron Lake and I think we saw nearly all of the Giants.

 Time along the river front
The best time to relax is when you can hear the sound of water: and that’s why we set our chairs close to the river… you can read or look and listening to nature. And its best done with a cup of coffee.

 A walk to the lower falls
Getting active again: after a quick visit on the playground we walk along the gorge to the lower falls. And there we start to explore the rocky areas. I thought it is so cool, that there is that old tree trunk fallen over, which serves us perfect as a little bridge to the next rocky outcrop. And after the walk we are back at the beautiful waterfall.

 We were here
Paul loves it to leave a memory from us: so whenever possible he brings a sharpie along and now we are forever in the tree.