Cathedral Grove

Located at McMillan Part near Port Alberni, on Vancouver Island, Cathedral Grove is amazing for its giant Douglas Firs.

H.R. McMillan donated136 hectares of land in 1944, and became a public park a few years later. My parents visited Cathedral Grove in the late 1940's, back when you could really touch the trees and hug the trunks.

All of this is beautiful, but is kept at arm's length from the public.

Some of these trees are 300-800 years old. Probably a good idea to keep people at bay..they might want to carve their initials in the trunk.

Old growth rainforests

Tree roots, gradually dissolving. When we were there, some little boy wanted to kow if he could break off a piece. People were swarming the fences to see the trees.....kindof lik army ants out on a mission.

Hard to believe that just off camera there were hordes of people all jostling for positions to see the 800 year old tree. I was thinking how great it would be if they would all leave, and all be silent, just for one moment and they would hear the trees creak in the wind.

Fallen trees from wind storms

The park had built a lookout.....kind of annoying, as kids were running up and down the ramp.

Loved the broken trunks with the light playing off them.

Another path through the old growth. A brief moment before a crowd of tourists descended on the lookout point.

The ferns were the luckiest of all.....they got to sit at the feet of the trees and just whisper.

Cathedral Grove is good to see, but be prepared for tons of tourists...mostly tourists who take their kids into the forest to run around and scream. Try and go when it is not prime summer months....Then you can stand and listen to the silence. We had a bit of that, this time, and it was amazing.