After quite a dreary, foggy, and cold January, we have been treated to sunnier weather with blue skies, and almost double digit temperatures. So we have been taking advantage of the days when we can.

Paddling on calm seas, with friends, under blue skies are special days.

And some nice views along one of our favourite bike paths:

Today forecasted higher winds so we decided to do the ‘Circle Route’ and visit some beaches on the Juan de Fuca Strait. There are so many beaches to explore, and we have been to several, but we wanted to discover a few more.

Mystic Beach is a gem of a beach, but getting there was a 2 km mudfest of a walk from the parking lot. Up and down over wet roots, though lots of mud. Not difficult, but we were not expecting it. Being so close to Victoria, it’s a trail that is well used, and is part of the Juan de Luca hiking trail. It could definitely benefit from some trail maintenance. There was a lot of trail braiding as people find alternate paths around the mud holes.

And, it was unexpectedly crowded; many times we had to ‘pull over’ and let a group pass. There was a steady stream of people. People of all ages, from families with babes in backpacks and young kids hopping over the roots, to teenagers to young adults. I think we were the oldest ones, actually! It was dark and cool in the rainforest as we made our way to the beach, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Especially excited were the many dogs; all anticipating a romp in the ocean!

The walk was well worth it. At one end of the cobblestone beach is a beautiful waterfall. Tide was already starting to come in so we could not get right under it.

We enjoyed a leisurely lunch, basking in the warm sunshine and people/dog watching. We loved watching the rollers crashing on the beach and the rocks.

It was fun to explore the cave and arch at the other end as well.

We really enjoyed our time on the beach. We then went further down the highway to Sombrio Beach, which we explored last year. There is a really cool cave/waterfall there. But we could not even get close to the parking lot; the road was jammed with cars. This is February, not even summer, but we discovered that lots of other people had the same great idea we did; take advantage of a long weekend and great weather. We will revisit some other day, during the week, when hopefully it won’t be so crowded.

So we only got to one beach today, but it was worth it! We enjoyed a lovely sunset during dinner; a great way to cap off the day.