Fairy Lake, British Columbia, CanadaFairy Lake
Driving the Pacific
Rim Highway 14
We had a quick stop at
the Jordan River (which by the way was named so by the Spanish as Rio Jordan
when they came here in 1790) to have a view on the cloudy ocean and we found a
coral here!! Then we continued on the curvy Highway – sometimes we had nice
views down on the ocean: because it was clear cut. We drove through a lot of
forest and over some one-lane bridges. What was really funky in the middle of
nowhere was a huge sign: RV Rest stop. So there is that super fancy nice RV
rest stop with beautiful bathrooms (and if the weather would be nice a nice
view on the ocean and the Olympic Peninsula. At one part it was one line, since
the road broke away. In Port Renfrew we crossed the long one-lane bridge. Soon
after there was a gravel site road and if Gine would not have looked down and
saw something brown we would right bypassed it, we backed up and entered the:
Fairy Lake Recreation
Site
The road was super
narrow – not really Motorhome wide, that means our sides got brushed by leaves.
Once we saw the lake we stopped and walked a bit around to check out the
different sites. We took one big site where you could see the lake but it was
not really on the lake. Paul hasn’t even pulled in, when the host came and
collected the money (by the way she stopped with her pickup right in front of
our spot so Paul couldn’t go in).
We had to pull in
forward so that we were facing the picnic table and the first thing we did was
bring out the awning and then make a coffee. A short little walk to check out
the lake in the rain and then we checked with the host: guess there is no water
on this site: but you can get it in town!! Good thing we still have water in
the tank. The host also had some cute little fairy villages: wood and moss and
little toys which looked super cute (and I couldn’t believe it, but they only
have a tent there: it’s like a cute little dwarf town – and Gine wonders if
that is why it is called Fairy lake – or does the little tree in the lake look
like a Fairy?
Hummingbirds
The host had 3 humming
bird feeders and there were so many hummingbirds flying and swirling around
there were always several onces at the same time it was a lot of fun watching
them. They were flying around like little bees swarming. Guess we should put up
our hummingbird feeder again – maybe we get that too.
What to do on a rainy
afternoon
So there are several
options: we started with going through Paul’s little drawer with all
“important” stuff and decided what goes back in the house and what we need.
Paul went through his tool boxes, checked the lights and fuses… then we played
cards – had coffee under our awning and because Gine was cold she went jogging
around the campground.
We are in the
rainforest if
- It rains a lot (guess that is way it is rainy today)
- Everything is green
- There is no grass but moss everywhere
- When you look at the tree you see more moss than bark on the tree
- The moss shows you the directions
- The trees have huge moss curtains hanging around them
- Mushrooms grow on the trees
- The trees are huge!! And thinking about it that is all 2nd growth
- When the pine trees have more moss then pine needles on them
- Trees grow out of tree stumps
- When tree stumps are so huge, they are nearly bigger than our motorhome
- You can’t see the top of a tree because they are so tall
- Trees look like big ghosts with the moss
- When the tree’s have hair: Witch’s hair
- When we look tiny near those huge trees and the ferns are nearly the height of us
- even when it is not raining everything is wet
It is total fun to
check it out. The West coast rainforest is fascinating.
What’s to know about the Pacific Rainforest:
- It is the largest temperate rainforest on the planet
- It is along the West Coast of North America going from North California up to Alaska
- There is a lot of rain in some areas over 10ft a year
- Trees growing in it is the Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar and Shore Pine
- The 3 tallest tree species are found here
- Epiphytes and mosses grow on the trees
- The mass of living and decaying material of trees, moss, shrubs and soil is more massive than any other ecosystem on the planet: partly because there are nearly no wild fires
Witch’s Hair
- It is a lichen – sometimes classified as a fungus
- It grows draped or strung over conifer tree limbs in the temperate rainforest – in places where it rains a lot
- They prefer mature and old growth and wet conifers
- They are sensitive to air pollution (and can be used for air monitoring)
- It’s an epiphyte: that means they have no roots: it need to takes moisture and nutrients for air and rain
- It mostly grows in a canopy gap where the sunlight is reaching
- There are different species having different colors from greyish green to yellowish green
- First nations used the fibers to make baby diapers and bandages, to decorate masks, some even wove ponchos and foot wear
Let’s start up our
Generator
We have to check out
and make sure everything is working proper – so the plan was to start up the generator
and that did not work out as we hoped. First the batteries gave out – then we
run the truck for a bit – but it still didn’t start, so Paul started to
investigate and we were wondering if we flooded it – but maybe it is the spark
plugs. In the end it is good that we don’t really need it – because we couldn’t
get it to work – one more thing on Paul’s to do list (like filling up propane:
did I mention that we run out of propane for our BBQ!! Good thing we have
backup little refills).
Sunshine over the lake
We woke up because the
sun was shining in our face – chairs out and we were sitting in front of the
lake enjoying the beautiful view and the warm sun rays. Even more lucky we got
the sun on our picnic table right when we were ready to make breakfast. And to
top it off today was the big less stinky bathroom open đŸ˜Š
In the sunshine the
lake looks beautiful and the jWitch’s hair on the trees sparkles – it is
beautiful!!
Time to head out and
check out Port Renfrew: but we did had to take some pictures with our “small
motorhome” near the big trees.
2025-05-22