The seaplane ride from Vancouver International Airport’s South Terminal to Bedwell Sound on Vancouver Island is utterly spectacular on a blue-sky day. Our aircraft ascends over a pod of seals basking like large lizards in the June sun, and before long we’re sailing over densely forested slopes that rise to snow-capped mountain peaks. Turquoise lakes dot the landscape and a river snakes through the valleys. Soar over this sheer expanse of rugged wilderness and you feel awestruck by its immensity, grateful to soak up a view that’s barely changed since the beginning of time.
Photo by Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge
Our destination is the Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge…
…in Bedwell Sound, a UNESCO biosphere located midway through Vancouver Island. With no roads in and no roads out of this forested, mountainous region, the only access is by seaplane or an hour’s boat ride from Tofino, BC. Forty-five minutes after takeoff we begin our descent, the aircraft weaving through a valley that opens dramatically into Bedwell Sound, the ocean visible only minutes before we touch down in the choppy water.
Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge is an off-grid, luxury property where 25 cozily outfitted tents are ensconced in the forest and perched on the edge of the Bedwell Estuary. Inside they feature king beds, gas stoves, outdoor, private cedar showers and a feeling of total seclusion in nature. At night I wake to the sound of an owl in the trees and the wind whipping around my tent. By day the view from my deck changes constantly as the estuary ebbs and flows with the tide.
Visits to the lodge are all-inclusive…
…of a wide assortment of activities and a culinary menu that belies the remoteness of Clayoquot’s location. We dine on tortellini with nettles and thyme cream, braised oxtail with pickled celery root and spruce tip ice cream with pine nut biscuits. Each meal is first-class dining, and when you consider the logistics of building, outfitting and maintaining a lodge of this caliber, it boggles the mind.
Photo by Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge
Photo by Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge
We arrive to an itinerary packed with two experiences each day, and filled with activities that keep us inspired, challenged and invigorated. Our first day we board a boat and head into the channels around Bedwell Sound, weaving between islets on a quest to view wildlife. A marine ecosystem teaming with aquatic life, there’s no shortage of sightings off the coast of Vancouver Island.
We stop to admire a raft of 50 sea otters somersaulting playfully in a line, their curious, whiskered faces alert and attentive. “We call them the puppies of the sea, but they can be vicious,” warns our marine guide, Derek Kyostia. Hunted to near extinction 40 years ago, the sea otter population has rebounded and today the rafts are frequent sightings in the channels between Meares and Vargas Island.
The grey whales have also made a comeback since the whaling ban, and we turn off the engine to watch one feeding 350 meters away from our vessel. Every few minutes a massive, barnacle-encrusted back emerges from the water like a large boulder, delivering a breathy exhalation through its blowhole before it disappears back into the depths.
Around the next corner a herd of Stellar sea lions rests on a rocky outcropping, unperturbed by the fierce waves that crash over the rocks, sending rivulets of water cascading back to the ocean. Breeding season is over and these two-ton bachelors growl at each other as they vie for space on the rocks.
En route home we stop to watch a black bear forage for food on the rocky shoreline, his thick coat glistening in the afternoon sun as he effortlessly excavates large rocks on the beach. The remote wilderness of Clayoquot is prime black bear domain, and we see another a day later, this time while kayaking through the estuary. We paddle gently past as the bear explores the shoreline just meters away.
Over the next few days we power through the trails on electric bikes and hike through the fragrant rainforest to nearby waterfalls. We cross bubbling creeks, traverse a suspension bridge over the river’s deep, turquoise water and cool off by dipping our heads into the flowing glacial currents of the Bedwell Falls.
Back at the lodge, thoughtful touches are constantly delivered to guests: a coffee thermos arrives at our tent flap early in the morning, and yoga and stretch classes begin each day. Hot water bottles warm our beds at night and sumptuous meals punctuate our activities with culinary treats.
On our last day we succumb to a massage in the Healing Grounds Spa, fully aware of how privileged we are to be guests of a destination that is so hard to reach, and so richly inspiring once you get here. This trip of a lifetime offers a complete disconnect from the world back home. Here, the ocean and forests bring serenity to the soul, rejuvenating the spirit and reminding us just how much beauty the Canadian wilderness protects and nurtures.
If You Go:
Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge is open May through September each year. Accommodation in one of the 25 luxury canvas tents is inclusive of meals and excursions.
Written by Lauren Kramer. A version of this article was originally published in Quest Magazine: kerdowney.com/quest