April 19, 2025
~ submitted by Matthew Lettington
Tapaltos, Keeha, and Cape Beale are three of my favourite coastal spots on Vancouver Island. I’ve visited them in every month of the year — even camping once in January! Although they weren’t the original plan for our Easter weekend, they made an excellent consolation choice. With one caveat: the wind!
It blew fiercely for our three-night stay, with gusts reaching up to 50 km/h. Luckily, we were able to move our tents far enough back on the beach to shelter from the worst of it. From our camp, we could see a few other tents that hadn’t escaped the wind — I can only imagine how much they must have flapped and slapped all night long.
The route to Cape Beale has become more overgrown in recent years. Winter storms and heavy snow must have weighed down the trees as many branches now hang lower onto the trail than before. Without some trail maintenance, this route could become quite a challenge in the next few years.
On our hike out to the lighthouse, we stopped at the usual notable spots: the hole at the bottom of the cliff that lets you scramble through to the ocean, and the bridge that spans high above the surf. We also lunched with the lighthouse keeper. She gave us a quick tour of the electrical shed that supports the wind turbines (really just a shack full of batteries) and caught us up on the local goings-on. She even remembered Hemingway! We visit yearly, and this time I reminded Hemingway that the first time she met him, he was riding in a backpack!
The second night brought even stronger winds — strong enough to blow the campfire smoke horizontally up the beach. The smoke carried most of the heat away, and once the sun went down, a light sprinkle of rain convinced me that sunset was the perfect time to crawl into bed. No lingering by the fire this night!
On the third day, we headed toward Keeha. Although the beach is closed to camping until May 1st, we were happy to day-hike and enjoy the views. The tide was low enough for us to explore a bit beyond the arches. We considered scrambling over to the next pocket beach but decided against it — part of its charm is how tough it is to reach.
When we returned to camp, I was thrilled to find that two more club members had made it out to join us for the final night. They were planning to head to Cape Beale the next morning to check off one of their few remaining Beachcomber Challenges.
That evening, the wind finally eased — a little. The fire smoke rose mostly vertically, although with a strange corkscrew motion that seemed determined to chase me around the fire pit!
On our final morning, we said farewell to the two members heading out on their adventure and began our journey back to Nanaimo.
Even with the heavy winds, the abundant sunshine was a refreshing change from the long, dreary months behind us. In hindsight, we had just about the best weather we could have hoped for on an Easter weekend beach camp. The rugged beauty of this coastline makes it easy to see why John chose Keeha and Cape Beale for the Beachcomber Challenge.