black bears and tofino...a fab long weekend

So last weekend was a creepy guy....July Long weekend was black bears. we joined up with 6 other friends and headed out to Tofino/Ucuelet for an adventurous camping experience. and adventure we had...after trying to take off around 6 we finally made at about - um...7:30/8 and on the way picked up one of our crew at the ferry in Nanaimo. along the way, just before arriving to our destination, we encountered a roaring fire at an industrial building. it was really awesome - fire is quite terrifying, mystifying, and captivating all at once. that was around 1 am. then we got to our parking area and hiked in to a spot on the beach.
morning came quite quickly, but brad and i ambitiously got up and explored the territory in the clouded gray moring as a fishing boat gently rode the waves of the early hours. we climbed over the rocky shore and watched the fascinating tides swoosh into the crevices, the vibrant sea anenomes wave their bright green tentacles, and an orange starfish creep along the rocky bottom looking for ...well i don't know what...breakfast?
i am getting way too detailed here. so i will cut it shorter.
we spent the day checking out Tofino and catching abit of a Canada Day skate tournament, then hit the beach. Long beach..it was loooonngg and fabulously sandy! we ended the outing at a rustically posh lodge to warm up a bit (lots of wind + the north west coast = chilly when the sun disappears) and have a drink. my drink of choice was water since we spent the entire day in the sun once the early morning fog burnt off- i was a wee bit deehydrated.
and then around midnight hiking into our campsite - it was bad news when we flashed our lights down and didn't see our tents. But the 2 missing were there all rolly polled up in a bunch snacked on and played with by mister black bear. we managed to set back up with the help of some handy ductape. our tent is most likely repairable, however our thermarest camping mats are not quite going to make it...well maybe one. so we slept and in the morning we decided to pack out our tents and stuff. we checked out Uceulet and then hit the beach, this time with our wetsuits and boogie boards. it was great! after a full day, we headed to find a new camp but with the long weekend at hand, we had to drive back east. we found a provincial park on a lake and a parkie kindly let us set up camp on the beach/lawn where we had a quiet serene sleep. What a difference compared to the constant activity and noise of the ocean! Monday held swimming and heading back home. But upon arrival quickly showered and headed to Folkfest to see Nekko Case perform. A great end to a great weekend --i'll take bears over creepy strangers!
(the bear pictured was actually seen on our north island adventure weekend. we didn't really see the bear that wrecked our tent, we just have the teeth and claw marks as evidence)