My trip to the west coast of Vancouver Island began with grey clouds and cold temperatures, with rain not far behind. My very small campsite had a big view: the boats tied up at the small craft harbor. I walked down to the boat ramp on the other side of the campground that evening, where the water was flat calm despite the dark skies overhead.
The next morning, I was all set to find the lighthouse, but something made me turn right instead of left out of the campground and I found myself back at the boat dock, looking at flat calm waters and a slight, light-grey break in the clouds. I pulled out the kayak and was on the water in ten minutes flat.
Before I could get to the small craft harbor, I had to paddle by the big fishing boats on the outside. They were all tied up, nowhere to go, waiting out the storm that was clearly on its way.
I rounded the corner into the small craft harbor and spied a tiny trailer. My tiny trailer! Look hard at the photo above, and you can see it, waaaaay off to the right, under the trees, and just about as big as a bug.
The water was beautiful, and the reflections were fun to play with. But soon enough, I could feel the wind picking up and I barely made it back to the boat ramp before I felt raindrops on my head. Still, an hour’s paddle was worth a bit of damp at the end.
Bad weather makes for good photography.
Ansel Adams
Thank you so much!
When are you coming to Seattle? We need to catch up.
Thanks, Collette! I try to take my readers along for the ride, so I’m so pleased you could imagine being there <3
I was at Ucluelet campground, they have a mix of hookups and dry sites. It’s close enough to walk everywhere except the lighthouse trail, and if you get one of the sites down by the water facing the small craft harbor, you might be able to pull in their wifi. I was, it was $4 a day and well worth it.
Thanks, Jenny! I’m struggling a bit, the screen on my photography laptop died so I am mostly doing iphone photography until I can get to WA and pick up a new one (yeah, Mac fangirl here). I’m amazed how good the iPhone camera is, but I do miss editing in LR.
Thank you for the wonderful post. What a wonderful moment – that hour. I can just imagine being there from the words and beautiful photos. Aahhhh..,
Love these black and whites Annie. You’re a good photographer. You don’t let the moment pass you by!
Where did you camp? I’ve been interested in exploring that area but so far haven’t found positive info on good camping options, didn’t seem to be many.