Sooke Potholes, Vancouver Island

When I think of travel, I usually think of going abroad. Or at least far away from where I live. I forget about the things in my backyard. Like the Sooke Potholes. What a great way to spend the weekend! If you enjoy, hiking, cycling, swimming or camping then Sooke is for you. And if you're feeling adventurous its a great place to try cliff jumping!

I don't drive which can be a real pain while traveling but the Potholes were SO accessible. I packed my gear, met up with a friend, hopped on the bus and an hour later we were hiking towards the park. The walk to the gate takes about an hour and its another hour to the camp site so I would recommend just sticking out your thumb and hitching a ride in. We didn't realize how far it was but a nice fellow stopped and gave us a lift. For you nifty cycle folk, the galloping goose takes you straight there. The Goose is beautiful and reasonably flat most of the way. Plus, its only 50km! Make sure you bring a patch kit though as the Island is riddled with blackberry bushes and you will most likely get a flat somewhere along the way.

The hiker biker site at Sooke is amazing. Its so spacious and has a communal fire pit as well as a covered picnic area. It's also only ten bucks. We were extra fortunate in that there were no other hiker bikers on the Friday night so we had a massive site all to ourselves. We got to the site just before dark so there was no one around to sell us wood. This gave me the opportunity to test out my ghetto fab cook stove. It was just a stainless steel dish with a grill over top. We grabbed whatever sticks we could find and lit a fire in the dish. We had boiled water in about 5 minutes. Not bad if I do say so myself. This was also my first chance to try re-hydrated dinner. It wasn't quite as bad as I had imagined. Just after we finished dinner the park ranger rolled up, sold us wood, and we ditched the weenie camp stove. After sitting by a roaring fire for a while and sippin bevies it was time to turn in.

The next morning I woke up to a bit of a surprise. As I rolled over to grab my sneakers I was surprised to find a 7 inch banana slug sliming across my left shoe. That may not be a big deal to you but where I come from anything over an inch is freakishly big. I was disgusted. I decided that I didn't really need shoes that bad after all and marched towards the toilets. As I walked along a little kid came up beside me and asked "Why don't you have any shoes"? I explained about the nasty mother on my shoe and he casually said to me before walking away, "You should really try to get over your disgust". Thanks kid. I'll work on it.

Breakfast was rehydrated and looked pretty terrible. It tasted about the same. I really wouldn't reccomend it. I've since realized that Oatmeal is just as easy and tastes way better. After breakfast we went to find a place to swim. An easy trail runs along the river and there are plenty of little swimming holes. There are also 3 proper beaches. We went to beach #1 which is busier but has a great place to cliff jump. The water is SO clear and SO deep. After watching a few people, I had to do it. I climbed up to the cliff where my friend had already been sizing up the jump. I peered over the edge, asked if it would hurt, hummed and hawed and went for it. What a thrill! It felt like it took forever to hit the water! It does hurt the toosh a bit if you don't jump straight. Totally worth it though.

After the jump, my friend left and I had a night on my own in Sooke. The hiker biker site filled up that night by about 5:00 and everyone there was super friendly. They gave me tips for my next adventure (the Juan de Fuca trail) and about better foods to take camping. Seems I'm not the only one that dislikes re-hydrated foods. Whoda thunk? Tips they gave me included taking oatmeal with little boxes of rice milk, pasta or rice for dinner and wearing proper shoes (which I most certainly did NOT have).

That evening I went swimming in a pothole quite close to camp. Both times it was entirely deserted. It was so peaceful. The water was beautiful and I could see and feel little fish brushing up against my legs. I turned in early and hitch hiked out the next day towards the Juan de Fuca Trail. I would have loved to have spent more time there and would go back in a heartbeat. If you are on the Island this is a MUST DO. I promise you its well worth it.

Special thanks to Ashley for the pics <3