There’s a magical place here on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, one of those places that has something about it. It’s a presence, a mood; just a feeling that tells you it’s special. Located in Francis Point Provincial Park, it’s a park that even a lot of local people have never been to. To find the park you first drive to Madeira Park, sometimes known as Pender Harbour. It’s a zigzag drive to the parking lot of the Park but from that area the magic of Francis Point Peninsula begins.
A well-groomed easy trail, takes the hiker through a dark, cool rain forest past massive silent stumps of old growth forest long ago taken. Newer, younger trees tower overhead and in their very presence one can sense just how big their ancestors must have been. Not too far down, the trail opens up to the bright sunshine as it meanders across the rocks, unique lichens, mosses and grasses of the coast of mainland Canada. I think that part is lost on most. This is truly the western-most coast of mainland Canada. As you hike you look across the ocean waters of the Salish Sea to Texada Island and Vancouver Island beyond that.
Perhaps twenty minutes of hiking takes you on a final scramble over a ridge of rocks and down into a magical, calming ecosystem. The warm inviting red and orange bark of a forest of arbutus trees almost beckons you to come into its embrace. Each massive tree, the largest I’ve ever seen of arbutus, leans to the west. The entire forest bows in silent homage to the west.
Timing is so important in terms of visiting this unique forest. On this particular mid October day, Joy and I had loaded our backpack with a picnic. We’d timed our arrival to be there about an hour before sunset. The rocks were warm to the point of being comforting to sit on and we sat and watched as the warm day passed to cool evening.
Just five minutes before the sun dropped behind the ridges of Texada I took out my camera. The hot light of the setting sun set the bark of the leaning arbutus trees on fire with a glow that has to be seen to be understood. My artistic frenzy lasted all those five minutes and it was over. As we packed our bag and started up the trail for our hike back to the car I felt something I’ve felt from time to time in my past. It’s that feeling I’ve felt as I’ve left a very sacred, special place. It’s a feeling of reluctance, of my not wanting to go back to the “real world”. There’s a magical place here on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, one of those places that has something about it. If you’re lucky enough to be there at exactly the right time you too will know the secret, the secret that is “SUNSET AT FRANCIS POINT”.
