Part 15. Barkley Sound cont'd

So we left Eagle Nook lodge on a beautiful fall morning. The trip to Bamfield would take approx 30 mins. Once there the plan was to spend a little time looking around and then meeting the Francis Barkley for the return to Port Alberni.

Bamfield.
Bamfield was named after William Eddy Banfield who arrived in the summer of 1859 and was the first white settler in Barkley Sound. Those of you who are observant will notice a deliberate mistake (Banfield/ Bamfield). The change of the spelling was made after a cartographer's error in 1861.
Bamfield realised that this site would take advantage of possible lumber exports, a whaling station, good fishing for both herring and salmon and a better investment for English capital! Today it is a sleepy fishing village, the start of the West Coast Trail, and the home of the Bamfield Marine Station.
The West Coast Trail is known world wide and people come from far and wide to experience this rugged wilderness. The whole trail is 77Km long and a strict booking system helps to keep hikers safe.

The Bamfield Marine Station is a facility offering labs, classrooms, digital imaging facilities etc for schools, universities and other establishments wanting to study marine life. As you can see from the image above it is a large facility and used year round. Charlotte spent a couple of fun packed days here with her school a few years ago, mooching in rock pools and then in the lab looking at their finds.

Bamfield can be reached by both boat and road. The road, however, is not for the faint hearted, being approx 55km on gravel road!!
The village itself is situated on two side of the inlet. One accesible by road the other not. There is a store, post office, hospital, school, library and various houses and cabins including plenty of B and B's.
There are also the ' cat houses'. These house the group of semi feral cats who live there. It is quite the set up with a rotor of volunteers who sign up at the local store for feeding and cleaning duties.

Once you have pulled yourself away from these beautiful houses the people have just as lovely properties. There is a boardwalk that runs along the north side of Bamfield inlet, connecting this side with the road. It is a lovely walk viewing the many eclectic houses, boats and general scenery of the area.
There is also a Coast Guard Station which services the west coast and on call for the hikers on the West Coast Trail.

Back on board the Barkley it was full steam ahead to Port Alberni...Oh we did stop to pick up one man his dog and his boat that needed a tow! Yes it was the same man and dog from a few days before!
You never know what you will encounter on this interesting, working vessel.