Tofino Digs
I spent the last week teaching an archaeology course in Tofino which is on the west coast of Vancouver Island. I was extremely busy all day and in the evenings and thus could not get out for more than an hour during the entire week to take pictures, which was a bit frustrating since it is one of the most beautiful places that can be found at the end of a paved road.
However, this was compensated for by the view from my digs which I photographed from the patio outside my room. While working in the evenings on the laptop, this was the view when I looked up from the screen. It could have been much worse.
I stayed at the Tin Wis hotel which is owned and operated by one of the local First Nations – it is a very nice place to stay.
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Canon 5Dii, Canon 100mm/f2.8 macro (top) and SMC Takumar m42 200mm/f4.o lenses (bottom two shots), ISO100, f6.3 at 1/640th (top), f4 at 1/2500th (middle) and f4 at 1/320th bottom.
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burnt embers 
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Digs with a view – and what a view.
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Thanks Andy – it is a terrific part of the world. Only a 4 hour drive from Victoria, but I rarely make the trip.
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How gorgeous! Looks very Norwegian. You teach archaeology? What kind of dig was this? what did you find?
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Hi Anne – I was teaching a course for people that wish to be archaeological field assistants. More for work to find sites than to excavate them. We did find a few things – mostly trees that have had some of their bark removed by the indigenous peoples to make baskets and similar, or wood removed for making planks or canoes. We were more about learning methods than systematically looking for things. I have done the latter work very near to hear a long time ago now – on that project we found dozens of habitation sites (villages and campsites), remnants of fish traps in the streams and on the beaches (for salmon, perch and probably other species like herring), places where canoes were pulled up on the beaches, other places where canoes were made, and bark was acquired from red and yellow cedar, yew trees with limbs removed for making paddles or adze handles or whaling harpoon shafts, and much more. It was a fun project, very gratifying as there was so much to find and map.
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So very interesting! Archaology was something I was seriously considering earlier.
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I have recently made friends with a Norwegian archaeologist who was visiting this area. There seem to be many parallels in our coastal areas.
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I remember the first time I ever went there, in 1969 with my Dad on a research job. And it’s still beautiful as ever. Thanks for reviving a great memory!
BTW, @Patrick Mackie – no midges! A few mosquitos, but generally low on biting insects. And the long sunsets and twilights of late-spring and early summer are amazing.
Northwest coast of Washington and Southwestern BC are arguably the finest places to be in the northern hemisphere summer. Not too hot, not too cold, and low humidity.
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Hi Sam – I did my first job here in 1982 – 4 months in Clayoquot Sound doing an inventory of archaeological sites along the shorelines. I will never forget it. So many cool things, adventures, nice people and good times.
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It makes me very happy to know that you are teaching.
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Thanks Beth – it was a RISC course. Demanding and hard to fit into the time, especially as it was my first one. But that was OK, I had fun.
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Looks fabulous. Do you suffer with midges or suchlike in the summer?
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Hi Patrick – what Sam said. On the coast in this area there is very little in the way of biting insects. A few mosquitoes, quite slow moving and a few other pests, but not in great numbers. On the other hand, if you get back in the forest a way, or near to a swampy area, and the story can be different.
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Wow, what a gorgeous location!!!!
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Yes indeed – I only wish I had not been so busy that I could not really enjoy the location. It is not often that someone pays for me to work in a place like this and usually I get a bit more time to bask. Even so, it was enjoyable and memorable.
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