ROMANCE AND A WATERFALL ON BEAR BEACH

Bear Beach is the second beach on the Juan de Fuca trail—a multi-day coastal, wilderness trail that runs along the south coast of Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada, from China Beach near Jordan River to Botanical Beach near Port Renfrew.

But there is some unexpected romance that goes beyond the hike through an old growth forest and the stunning ocean views. The Beach has a waterfall that cascades down the side of the cliff face, making the hike all the more worth it.

It’s an intense hike. The trail goes up, and then it goes down, and then it goes up, and then it repeats for almost the entire journey. The stretch between Mystic Beach is rated as moderate—so not the easiest and not the hardest 9 kilometres (5.6 miles) of the trail—but I was glad that I was only doing it as a day hike and had left all my gear at Mystic Beach.

My hike to Bear Beach adventure was actually a part of a bigger, two-day backpacking trip with my family and a friend’s family. We camped on Mystic Beach, and then day hiked to Bear Beach.

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While the hike was difficult, it was well worth it. The trail runs through old growth forest, and there are giant old growth cedars that rival the ones in the famous Cathedral Grove—which, if you didn’t know, was where some of the Endor scenes, in The Return of the Jedi, were filmed.

Each time the trail went down, we were treated to another magnificent creek—many of which had interesting bridges and waterfalls. Plus, every once and a while, the trail pops out of the trees to give stunning view of the Pacific Ocean.

If all of that wasn’t enough beauty and romance for you, then after scrambling down the steepest and most sketchy set of stairs I’d ever encountered, I stepped onto Bear Beach to discover that it had its own waterfall!

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The waterfall at Mystic Beach is well known—at least locally—and I’d been to Bear Beach before (back when my eldest child was little, and he’s now an adult), but I didn’t remember the waterfall!

It tumbles over the edge of the cliff and undulates down to a pool that just beckons you to put your feet in. Full disclaimer: the pool is FREEZING! Of course, that makes it perfect for dipping trail weary feet into.

There are places to camp on Bear Beach, but we didn’t go around to that section of the beach. We just rested our weary feet and ate our lunch on a sun warmed rock, before we made the journey back to Mystic Beach.

But I vowed that I would return. It just might be time to tackle the entire trail—once I get my stamina back up.

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If you haven’t “known” me for long, then you might not know that I suffer from chronic pain—it’s Fibromyalgia-like in the way that the symptoms present, but it also resembles the kind of pain that people suffer when they’ve developed PTSD after trauma, and my pain, at this juncture, remains undiagnosed.

My pain levels are manageable now, but there was a period of about three years where my ability to do any kind of physical activity was extremely limited, and likely to lead to a severe pain flare. Needless to say, I’m still working on regaining my fitness. It’s a process, but I’ll get there!

You can actually read a bit about my healing journey in my chapter of She’s No Longer Silent, a coauthor project that tackles the journey of women finding their voices and healing after being silenced by trauma, abuse, or social injustice. The book releases in October 2020, and you can find more information and the link to preorder a copy here.

But I digress.

You’re probably wondering about where Bear Beach fits in with my writing. Well… I have just completed a novelette—Enchanting Elaine—that is a bonus for my upcoming novel, Ginny’s Crush, West Coast Romance Book 2.

Both are scheduled to be released in September 2020.

Enchanting Elaine is the story of the fairy tale beginning to Ginny’s parents’ love story, and Bear Beach (and the waterfall) feature prominently in the story.

Happy reading and happy wandering,

This adventure took place on 18 June 2020