A Vancouver Island woman recently made an unusual discovery at a popular beach in a remote area.
Tegwyn Hughes went on one of her favourite hikes to Mystic Beach with a friend on Jan. 18 around 11:30 a.m.
The beach is located in Juan de Fuca Park. To get to it, you need to meander through a lush forest filled with tree roots, mud and steep stairs for two kilometres.
“We hiked down to the beach and were exploring near the waterfall … where there are a lot of natural caves from the waves,” says Hughes. "It’s pretty gorgeous.”
While walking alongside the caves, Hughes spotted a bright yellow suitcase and a blue one.
“We looked around [and there was] no one on the beach who we hadn't seen hiking down that day,” she recalls.
The two suitcases were soaked and perched up on a rock ledge. The women also discovered a bag of firewood and an air mattress.
Hughes decided to look inside the suitcase and found it was full of food.
“Sausages, cheese, steak strips that had been cooked, raw onion, raw potatoes,” she says, adding she reported the finding to BC Parks. “Someone’s grocery shopping in two suitcases. I found it pretty odd.”
BC Parks confirmed to Glacier Media it is looking into the matter after viewing the video.
However, where it came from and who brought it to the beach remains a mystery.
“This appears to be a one-off situation,” says a spokesperson with the Ministry of Environment and Parks.
At this time, BC Parks is not aware of any accumulation of garbage at Mystic Beach.
Hughes was planning on filming a hiking video for her social media channels and shared the suitcase discovery on TikTok. It's been viewed more than 72,900 times.
“That was kind of the most obnoxious amount of trash I had seen at one point, and it was pretty mysterious,” she says.
According to the ministry, there is very little abandoned food left behind at Mystic Beach; however, some food packaging is occasionally left behind. There are also two food caches at Mystic Beach.
"BC Parks operates on the onus that park visitors practice responsible recreation. What this means is to not introduce anything into the natural area that may harm the environment,” says the spokesperson.
Garbage and other waste, if not properly disposed of, can damage the environment and create dangerous wildlife encounters.
"We expect visitors to use appropriate recycling, garbage, and wastewater disposal and waste facilities, whenever available. If they cannot do this, they must pack everything out with them and possibly out of the park if necessary receptacles are not available in that park.”
Hughes says that BC Parks does an excellent job making the area safe to hike and keeping food away from animals, but that people need to do their part.
“If you pack it in, you should pack it out,” she says. “I am disappointed they didn’t take all their things home with them.”
She hopes that by sharing her experience people will get the message.
“Be educated, because you're making sure that the campsite you visit is going to be just as pristine for the next person to use it.”
