Journey Staff Room

I surveyed a jumble of seaweeds that Diane Bernard—aka the “Seaweed Lady”—was spreading out on a rock at Whiffin Spit: a stunning, almost-neon-green “sea lettuce”; one with the texture of a bath loofah, another like seersucker.

Victoria, B.C., might be known for its colorful gardens, but the southern Vancouver Island coast “has the wildest garden going on,” said Bernard. Some 300 species of seaweeds grow in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Bernard harvests them for culinary use and for her Seaflora line of 40 organic skin-care products, manufactured right here in Sooke. For 13 years, Bernard has been leading 1.5-hour tours on this beach for groups of 10 to 100 people: Visitors don boots and tromp out into low tide to hand-harvest seaweed themselves, while Bernard shares her enthusiasm for and knowledge about these nutrient-laden plants.

A tour with Bernard is one possible adventure on the 158-mile Pacific Marine Circle Route, which showcases driftwood-strewn beaches, gigantic trees, and artisanal agricultural products. The loop drive follows the West Coast Highway 14 from Victoria to Port Renfrew, heads northeast to Lake Cowichan, and then loops back to Victoria on the Trans-Canada Highway via Duncan and the fertile Cowichan Valley. Road improvements in the last few years mean all cars can now easily traverse the entire paved loop, so you could zip around in one day or meander, as I did last July.

Taking all day to drive the 70 miles from Victoria to Port Renfrew allowed me to spend the morning in Sooke with Bernard; check out the nostalgic vibe at the Point-no-Point Resort; sample mead at Tugwell Creek Honey Farm & Meadery; hike the wooded trail to China Beach; and watch an eagle swoop down and perch in a tree across the cove from my cabin at Port Renfrew Resorts.

The second morning found me hiking up a footpath with TJ Watt of Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) to “Canada’s gnarliest tree” in Avatar Grove, about a 15-minute detour off the circle route from Port Renfrew. In 2009, Watt and a friend discovered the grove—home to huge and strangely shaped red cedars and Douglas firs—and, through AFA, led a successful campaign to protect this 145-acre old-growth forest from logging.

“It’s good when everything’s messy like this,” said Watt, as we scrambled over a fallen log and he pointed out the forest’s luxuriant understory of plants, ferns, and wide mossy limbs on 400-year-old trees. “An old-growth forest is much more than a stand of trees. It’s a full-fledged ecosystem that hosts an abundant amount of wildlife.”

On reaching the red cedar, we marveled at its size, nearly 12 feet in diameter, and fantastical shape—flat and hollow in back, with an enormous burl protruding off the front. A red squirrel chirped his presence as we examined each side of the tree.

“Finding these giant trees is like a treasure hunt for me. It’s amazing how over thousands of years this complex tapestry evolves. And how quickly it can be lost,” said Watt, noting that 90 percent of Vancouver Island’s productive valley-bottom old-growth forest has been logged.

“Big tree” tourism is becoming a draw for misty Port Renfrew, which also boasts the San Juan Sitka spruce and 250-foot-tall Red Creek fir in the vicinity. The Ancient Forest Alliance website features directions to the area’s trees, and Watt plans to lead tours to Avatar Grove starting this summer.

By early afternoon, I had cruised into the sweet seaside village of Cowichan Bay for lunch. Enjoying a sandwich at Hilary’s Cheese & Deli, with a view of the houseboats in the marina, I marveled at the diversity of terrain I’d experienced in just two days on the Pacific Marine Circle Route.

Fall was in full swing last week when I visited the Olympic Peninsula with a small group of journalists: Olympic Cellars Winery in Port Angeles had just finished crushing 7-1/2 tons of lemberger and cabernet sauvignon grapes when we arrived at the boutique winery for a tasting. I ran my fingers through cool, silky-to-the-touch grains, recently harvested at the Nash’s Organic Produce 80-acre farm near Sequim. And we watched as Steve “Bear” and Nancy Bishop of Port Townsend’s Alpenfire, the state’s only producer of certified-organic hard cider, began pressing their first shipment of heirloom apples. The apples gently wobbled down a chute into the chopper, emerging as a chunky pomace that Nancy piled up and pressed into juice, filling the air with a sweet, sharp—truly autumnal—scent.

Our tour offered a taste of the farm-to-table experiences that are making the Olympic Peninsula as rewarding for its culinary offerings as for its scenery. You can explore this delectable aspect of the peninsula at your own pace using the Olympic Culinary Adventure Route map—which highlights 30 farms, markets, wineries, cideries, creameries, bakeries and restaurants serving local fare.

I was impressed with the purveyors’ ingenuity, dedication and friendliness, and talking with them about their products and methods was almost as much fun as the sampling itself. Almost …

So, I’m excited for this weekend, when Port Angeles celebrates another facet of the region’s bounty—seafood! During the 11th annual Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival, October 13–14, more than 7,000 pounds of live crab get delivered straight from local boats to the city pier, where the crustaceans are cleaned, cooked and served whole, alongside fresh coleslaw and corn, during an old-fashioned crab feed (above). Local restaurants complement this feast with other seafood dishes, and you can try crabbing from large holding tanks in the Grab-A-Crab Derby, peruse craft booths and check out cooking demonstrations. Most of the action is under cover, so no need to worry about the weather forecast.

This species of crab was first commercially harvested near the Olympic Peninsula town of Dungeness—hence the name—and largely sold to restaurants far and wide. The desire to make this delicacy more accessible to the local community spawned the first Crabfest, and the event now garners national attention.

Photo courtesy of Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival.

For me, an evening in Roche Harbor is the ideal place to cap off an active day on the north end of San Juan Island. Maybe it’s the sense of history at this tiny resort—nestled against the slopes of a former lime quarry—that strikes a romantic chord. Toasting the sunset is popular with the boating crowd, too, who contribute a preppy nautical vibe to this rugged Pacific Northwest harbor town.

On a recent late-summer visit, my friends and I had fun discovering several activities clustered near Roche:

The 18-hole Roche Harbor Disc Golf course meanders through the woods, with some holes played across open fields. Out here, you’re almost always in the rough—which is half the fun. So be prepared to do a little bushwhacking after errant throws. As with golf, the point of the game, played with discs that are a bit smaller than a traditional Frisbee, is to complete the course with the fewest number of throws; at the end of each “hole,” you must sink your disc into a wire basket. This free public course, located off Rouleau Road, is well maintained by volunteers. So bring your own discs and start tossing.

Young Hill hike—From the trailhead at English Camp, the path meanders past distinctive madrona trees, with their crackly red peeling bark and smooth trunks, to a grove of oaks by a small cemetery for British soldiers who were posted on the island in the 19th century. The trail then heads steadily up through the woods to a clearing at the top of Young Hill. At 650 feet, the summit offers sweeping views overlooking Westcott Bay, and across Haro Strait to Canada’s Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands—so it’s worth the just under a mile of exertion to get there.

San Juan Island Distillery—In 2011, the owners (Richard Anderson and Hawk and Suzy Pingree) of prize-winning Westcott Bay Cider started crafting apple brandy and gins, too. Though you’ll have to wait another year plus for the first batches of apple brandy to finish aging in French oak barrels, the distillery offers an array of artisan gins and liqueurs available to sample and purchase. According to the Pingrees, their grain-based Spy Hop gin is in a “new American style,” compared to the juniper-forward London style. In addition to the standard gin botanicals, the crisp and flavorful Spy Hop includes island-foraged botanicals such as blackberries, lavender, rosehips and madrona bark. It’s delicious as a sipper over ice on a hot day.

The distillery/cidery tasting rooms will continue to be open Saturdays from 3 to 5 p.m. into late October. While you’re there, admire the gleaming beauty of the 200-litre copper German-made Adrian still, used to distill the brandy and the cider base for their Spy Hop Harvest Select gin. Or call the distillery at (360) 378-2606 to arrange a private tour if you happen to be on-island a different day or into winter. This coming weekend, October 5 and 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the distillery crew is hosting a cider apple picking party at their nearby orchard. Come by to help pick, or spot them walking in the Friday Harbor Fall Farm Parade on Saturday at 2:30.

In fact, October—with crisp autumn days and fewer crowds—is an excellent time to visit the San Juan Islands and sample the local bounty. Several events geared toward foodies and art lovers are ongoing throughout the month: Check out Savor the San Juans and the Great Island Grown Festival. Visit AAA Washington or the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau for planning a trip to the islands.

Photos by Karalynn Ott.