Restore Your Nature Deficit

Wild Side, Flores Island

The Wild Side First Nations Interpretive Trail all-day adventure delivers a greater range and variety of sights and activity than any other all-inclusive resort offering.  Start in the gear room, where you will be outfitted with outerwear to keep you safe and dry, then jump into a Zodiac, hard-bottom inflatable marine vessel, and head out in to the Sound.  Hang on!

Depending on the tides, you will stop first (middle, or last) at spot along the foreshore to watch for black bear flipping rocks in search of tasty crabs and other crustaceans.  Often mother bears and cubs are seen together – mum teaching, babies playing.  Great blue heron and bald eagles populate the sound and almost always venture near in search of remnant seafood.

Next, head to the ancestral village of Ahousaht on Flores Island.  The 11 km-long Wild Side Trail traverses ancient sitka spruce forests and two of the most spectacular and pristine beaches in Clayoquot Sound – Whitesand Cove and Cow Bay.   The trail route has been used by the Ahousaht First nation for thousands of years, for spiritual purposes, to gather medicinal plants and wild food, and to collect wood and bark for cultural uses and to make baskets and clothing.

Enjoy your gourmet backpack lunch, perched on a log on the beach, then continue on your way.   In preparation for your Wild Side adventure, consider reading elder Stanley Sam’s booked entitled Ahousaht Wild Side Heritage Trail Handbook, copies of which are in every guest tent.  On the scenic way home (or before, as sightings dictate), search for migrating or resident orca and/or gray whales feeding in shallow bays and along the coastline.

Over the past dozen years, humpback whales, known for their playful and animated displays of breaching and diving, have returned to Clayqouot Sound in increasing numbers.

Harbour seals and nearly-endangered stellar sea lions are abundant in Clayoquot Sound, and resort guides know just where to look. Be forewarned, as colonies can be very loud and very smelly!  Wildlife sightings vary with the seasons and the weather.  Clayoquot Sound is one of the most densely wildlife-populated natural environments in the world, where species of plants and animals unique to the Biosphere present Outpost guests and visiting researchers an opportunity to observe the web of life – in balance.