The Sooke Potholes are a series of waterfalls and pools in Sooke. In summer, they’re packed with teens and families especially between 11 and 3pm. The rest of the year they’ve become a sanctuary for me, a respite of moss, mushrooms, salmon, bears, bats and trees that are beautiful and changing all year long. When we’re lazy, we drive to the first parking lot and sit on the edge and peek at Sooke River (that’s where I saw my first fishing bear).
When we’re ambitious we hike all the way up to the falls or as a family “have an adventure!” and swim and climb from the base upstream (how do salmon do it?!) Sometimes it’s a social thing, sometimes it’s a long walk with a sister hashing through problems or a solo workout where I find a secluded spot under a slanted shady tree on a hot day to take a break and escape the world (where there’s no cell reception!) often the potholes have helped me to push through creative blocks.
Now the weather is colder and wetter and the moss is thick and spreading across every surface, everything you touch is soft and forgiving.
