An Adventure of Sights and Sounds……
Welcoming our Netherlands friends, René and Hanny Gijsel to San Josef Bay promised to be an adventure especially during May, a time of natural flora renewal after long cold winter months… invigorating aromas, colourful vibrancy, and subtle forest sounds captures one’s auditory soul and visual imagination… San Josef Bay… a world renowned historical treasure situated in Quatsino First Nation Traditional Territory, is known for long sandy beaches, rugged rock formations, and wild ocean surf.
The wonderful Pacific Ocean Bay is located in Cape Scott Provincial Park on the northern tip of Canada’s Vancouver Island… We began our 60 kilometre journey to the Bay driving west from the small warm community of Port Hardy, through the hamlet of Holberg, then northward slowly on a rough dirt and gravel logging road called the San Josef Main. Christine and I have visited the Bay many time before over the past forty years, each trip as exciting to us as our first adventure.
The drive takes one through a variety of wonderful evergreen conifers in various stages of regrowth… some young, some old… growing beside a potholed road sided by vibrant orchard grasses, cattails, deciduous alder trees, emerging purple Salmon Berry flowers, and dark green Salal leaves. One passes numerous slow moving salmon and trout bearing water courses. Here and there yellow skunk cabbage flowers rise up, and pinkish fawn lilies add contrasting colour to draw our eyes like sign posts…. Clear indicators one is in prime wildlife foraging habitat where Black Bear, Deer, Cougar, or Elk sightings are very possible.
Cape Scott Provincial Park is a remote area renowned for rugged trekking through a mix of natural Pacific coastal old growth rainforest conifers… the San Josef Bay portion is accessed via a 2.5-kilometre trail from the Provincial Park’s main trailhead. The path is well maintained and winds through a variety of rich ecological systems of thick green forest foliage, waterways, grand towering Sitka Spruce, Western Red Cedar, and Douglas fir; some hundreds of years old. Under the canopy is a striking visual odyssey… an understory containing nature’s garden of Sword Ferns, purifying Lichen, Bracken, Salal, mosses, a world of fungi, and much more, thriving in the copious rain of the Pacific’s temperate rainforest climate.
The walk to San Josef Bay never disappoints… but can be challenging if large wind downed trees lay across the trail.
Spending a day in friendship to visit this natural west coast wonder offered new exciting experiences to our European companions as they joined in rural West Coast hiking culture. Vancouver Island is an ideal location to form lasting memories of unique coastal forest ecosystems. Lush moisture covered thick undergrowth, and tall evergreens are amazing, while at the same time offer glimpses into the damp isolated hardship yesteryear’s pioneer and indigenous people faced when carving out an existence.
The desolate beauty and vastness of Canada’s remote North Pacific coastline is truly inspiring. Perhaps equally amazing is a forest walk is not only a sensory feast for the eyes! It is a relaxing serenade for the ears, offering an auditory tapestry that echos nature’s harmony. To hike through a coastal rainforests is to step into a world alive with subtle, yet deeply resonant sounds; a world where the hum of life forms a constant, soothing backdrop to Mother Nature’s existence. It is a noticeable mysterious hum that pervades the senses with a blend of natural sounds, breezes, water phenomena, and biological insect and wildlife activity. One feels a composite of delicate vibrations in branching vegetation, insect buzzing and drones, the melody of a brook, a birds pleasing song; each tone harmonizing with the next creating an organic orchestra. From a gentle rustle of leaves to distant trickling water, every element every nuance contributes to an enchanting soundscape. The rainforest hum wonderfully evolves with the changing seasons spring, summer, fall, winter…. bringing unique seasonal tones to this natural symphony.
We walked amongst ancient firs and spectacular lichen coloured in a variety of greens that enveloped like a warm wool blanket. The distant call of an owl harmonized with the visual and olfactory beauty of the day, creating an inviting atmosphere vanquishing our urban cares, replaced by the perfect balance of natural ambiance.
Gone from our mind were metropolitan ways dominated by the cacophony of human activity…. the forest’s hum provided an opportunity to pause, recharge, listen, and reconnect amidst a natural tranquility. An experience that lingers in the soul as a timeless memory crafted from the very heart of nature. Indigenous beliefs often regard the forest hum as the voice of ancestral spirits, a sacred resonance connecting the living with the wisdom and presence of those who walked the land before them.
Arriving at San Josef Bay the rainforest sound didn’t fade, rather it became embraced by salt air freshness and the visual appeal of beautiful sandy beaches. Bordering forest sounds melded with the symphony of ocean sounds. The cries of seabirds coursed across the sands traversing forest borders to greet us long before beach arrival. The rhythmic sound of waves increasing our anticipation of what we were about to encounter. The hike to the Bay became a full-body experience of laughter and amazement, where all senses converge formulating an unforgettable image of feelings of wellbeing.
San Josef Bay has a compelling history tied to early homesteaders who sought to establish settlements in the area. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, European settlers, primarily Danish, arrived on North Vancouver Island, drawn by the promise of free fertile land and abundant resources. The Bay was among several Island locations chosen for homesteads. In 1897 the first ship of Danish settlers arrived and by 1914 over 1,000 people lived in San Josef Bay. Settling families were compelled to work tirelessly to carve out lives in the rugged west coast wilderness, and by 1930 only a handful remained. The challenges of isolation, wicked harsh weather for 10 months of the year, and the lack of infrastructure made settlement efforts arduous. While homes were built, a store established, and a wagon trail constructed, day to day life faced a harsh reality of remote living far from established amenities and services. Accordingly, the inhabitants were dependent on their own resources fishing for seasonal salmon, hunting duck, deer, elk, bear and foraging wild fruits to enhance their diets. Black and red huckleberries, tall bush blue berries, river currants, and salal berries all grew in abundance.
There are so many legends and stories about the early Cape Scott homesteaders I find it difficult to keep this article to only 1500 words or so. Pioneering characters like Bernt Ronning a Norwegian horticultural enthusiast and Henry Ohlsen a Danish settler and entrepreneur are only two of many hearty and colourful personalities whose story would fill volumes. Henry built and maintained a store and postoffice near the San Josef River boat landing. In the photo below Henry is tending his San Josef store.
He and his family settled in the area 1905ish braving a rugged life in a harsh unforgiving west coast environment. He remained part of a handful of persist homesteaders until he passed away in 1944, and his death heralded the end of an era with the closing of the community store and post office. He is buried in an unmarked pioneer grave by his homestead’s Strawberry garden.
At the closing of the day environmental elements were too overwhelming forcing homesteaders to abandon their plans, leaving behind only trace remnants of their dreams in the form of old fence posts, planks, cement and steel remains in overgrown clearings. Today, visitors to San Josef Bay can only see glimpses of settler history, offering a poignant reminder of human impotence compared to the resilience and tenacity of rainforest regrowth.
Our adventure today was more than just a stunning Vancouver Island destination; it took us to a place of friendship and cultural exchange rich with natural beauty, ecological diversity, and historical significance we will always remember. Whether trekking through the parks lush trails, marvelling at its wildlife, or pondering the endurance of its early homesteaders, we were greeted by natural calming awesomeness that resonated deeply within our being. San Josef Bay and Cape Scott Provincial Park is an extraordinary testament to the tenacity and wonder of nature and human history; hopefully inviting exploration and appreciation for years to come. And yes, crowning our drive home was a stopover in the hamlet of Holberg. It has vibrant historical beginnings including a shipping supply port and connecting a wagon road to San Josef Bay and Cape Scott homesteaders… The pioneer settlement was established in 1895 by Danish immigrants and named after Danish writer, Ludwig Holberg. There we relaxed with the day’s memory by treating ourselves to a delicious dinner at Holberg’s historic Scarlet Ibis Pub & Restaurant… a wonderful Vancouver Island hidden treasure overlooking the spectacular Holberg Inlet.
Safe Travels
Gord
Photos ©️ 2025 Christine Patterson