Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge
As summer is winding down this year, I find myself reminiscing on summers past. And last year — I said goodbye to summer in the most beautiful place I could ever dream of, Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge.
Nestled in the temperate rain forest of west Vancouver Island this hard to reach lodge is worth every second it takes to get there. I hesitate to call it a lodge, really. To me it was so much more than that — it was this all encompassing, full body, senses heightened place that commanded your attention. Untouched and overgrown trails, a surplus of wildlife, salty air with a hint of cedar, turquoise rivers, trees taller than you could ever imagine. In just a few days I learned a lot about the land, its wilderness, the people and wildlife that have called this place home for centuries. And while I learned a lot, I feel like just a few days could never even come close to scratching the surface of a place of such wild stature. So under the sunshine, and the rain, I leaned into what I had learned. I reflected on what just a few days can really do for you in a place like this. I took away every drop, every morsel, of its goodness. Like the last few drops of water in your cup on a hot summer day.
I’m grateful for wild places like this - the places that make me and all my problems feel so small.
I went back to revisit some of the photos I took while I was there and couldn’t help but reimagine them into black and white. There’s something so romantic about black and white photos. Maybe it’s the nostalgia, the obvious contrast of light and dark, the pure absence of color that makes your mind wander — or maybe it’s a bit of everything. Here are some of those photos. Thanks for being here.
Clayoquot Sound is the traditional home of the Ahousaht People.