Blogtober Seventeen: Did Summer Return?

 

After yesterday's "tree day" in the forest, today was "beach day" on Sombrio Beach, part of the Juan de Fuca trail that runs along the southeast coast of Vancouver Island. There is access to the trail at various points along the road. We packed our lunch and backpacks, and were quite shocked to see how full the parking lot was. We soon realized that everyone else was there to surf! After walking 500 metres to the beach, it became clear that we were the eldest people on the beach by far. 

At least two dozen surfers spent most of the day in the water (wearing wetsuits), and trying to catch the waves. Family and friends were on the beach to watch. It felt almost tropical.

After watching the surfers, we walked south along the beach and watched waves crashing over rocks. Mesmerizing. 

A pale empty urchin shell posed very nicely on a piece of driftwood.

A number of golden-crowned sparrows spent the day flitting about the beach, alighting on rocks and driftwood. A large colony of gulls floated on the water just past one group of surfers. Perhaps they were watching, wondering what the strange creatures with boards were doing. A gulp of cormorants perched on a large rock, impervious to the waves crashing around them. I find collective nouns so interesting and wonder how they came about. 

I'll let a few images of this sunshiney magical day speak for themselves.

Tomorrow an atmospheric river is heading this way. Summer is definitely over. We're heading homeward and should miss the worst of it until we arrive home. It's been a lovely little getaway visiting forests and beach, seeing wonderful west coast scenes.