| Planning for the West Coast Trail began back in February, when I was doing some hiking with kiwi friends, Bindi & Derek in their native New Zealand. They were going to be in BC for the month of July, and were keen to do some Canadian style tramping. It was the excuse I needed to finally get around to doing this infamous trek, initially built as a lifesaving trail for shipwreck victims off the west coast of Vancouver Island. The adventure began early in the morning of July 19, 2002 in the small town of Port Renfrew. The West Coast Express arrived as scheduled at 9am, an old school bus that did not look capable of tackling the logging roads we knew were ahead of us. We were loaded on and spent the next 3 hours being bumped, shaken, jostled, and scrambled over what must be some of the worst roads in the country. We arrived at the Pachena Trailhead around noon, just in time for our orientation. The West Coast Trail has become so commercialized that it is now necessary to control the number of people accessing it each day. Part of this process, is a mandatory orientation which uses many forms of scare tactics to convince inexperienced hikers that this trip is not for them. Finally, we allowed to get started. Only to realize that we had forgotten two very important things: a water bottle for Derek, and camera batteries for me! Various options were discussed, but in the end we decided, we�d try our luck on the trail. Every person and group we encountered were asked if they had extra bottles or batteries. In the end, a very kind girl donated her extra set to my cause. Phew! Derek can thank the lighthouse keeper at Pachena lighthouse for saving his hide. He had a store of coke bottles he was saving to recycle. Our first day of hiking took us through thick forests to our a lovely campsite at Tsoconis creek. The only views this day were from the lighthouse, a 10 minute detour from the main trail, and a wonderful spot for some lunch. We woke up the next day to incredibly thick mist. It was so dense you could barely see the water at low tide. The day was a mix of beach and forest walking. We came across a shipwreck, which was particularly eerie in the mist. But the highlight was the first of many cable car crossings. The cable car is literally a small cage, big enough for two people to perch at either end and stuff packs between. You reel it in to the platform, taking turns to hold it steady as people and stuff is loaded in. And then, you let go�... It�s a fun ride to the halfway point and then you haul yourself to the other side. Our campsite that night was the most beautiful of the whole trail: Tsusiat Falls. The falls create a large pool, which is perfect for swimming in, washing off the sweat from the day�s trekking. Day 3 dawned warm and sunny. We got moving a bit late and just made it through the natural sea arch at Tsuquadra Point without getting our feet wet. This is another gorgeous part of the trail, but the rising tide made it impossible to linger. A few minutes later, Bindi spotted a fin. We dropped our bags and ran back to a rocky outcropping where we were treated to a rare spectacle. There were 3-4 Orcas herding several frightened seal into the bay. The fins were as tall as I was, and the speed with which they accelerated was amazing. Soon we were back in the forest, and eventually made it to Nitnat Narrows. Sat down on the docks to wait for the ferry, as there�s no wading across this tidal lake. The natives who own the reserve have capitalized on the whole West Coast Trail phenomenon by charging $12 for a 5 minute boat ride. On the other side, we were greeted by an enterprising group who had built a little shack selling WCT t-shirts, cold drinks, and cooked crabs. There were many hikers who had succumbed to the crab � we broke down and had cokes with our lunch. I must say, it was tasty! Onwards from Nitnat was more forest. At one point, the trail detoured inland, but we�d gotten the scoop from a hiker coming the other way: Clo-oose was easily crossed at the beach, saving a good 30 minutes of forest trudging. This advice also led us to the most beautiful stretch of beach walking on the whole trip. The rest of the day was on the sandstone flats, providing constant entertainment in the ever changing, always busy tidal pools. We struck camp at Cribs Creek and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in a wonderful pool created by a meandering stream. Bindi brought out the biodegradable soap and we all smelt the better for it! The sunset was gorgeous that night, surpassed only by the rising of a full moon. Day 4 we were greeted with more sunshine and more beach walking. After about 30 minutes we came across the first of the infamous WCT ladders: at least 100 rungs up to Carmanagh Lighthouse. Took advantage of the taps to fill up our water bottles and continued on. The next sight was Monique�s, quite literally a general store and more. Monique is another entrepreneur taking advantage of the location of her reserve�s placement on the trail. She�s set up a shop made of plastic stretched over 2by4�s and sells everything that a hiker might be craving by day 4 on the trail: candy, chips, beer, burgers, etc�. I could not resist splurging on some fruit, while Bindi bought marshmallows for our campfire that night. We moved on quickly due to a duo of drunk irritating American men creating an obnoxious atmosphere. The next beach was exhausting, energy sucking, soft sand that seemed to take forever. And then it was back to the sandstone shelf, on which we made good progress to the Walbran Creek campsite. Set up camp and strung the tarp for the first time; not because it was raining, but since there was no shade from the hot sun and we had hours until sunset. Spent the afternoon swimming and reading, relaxing and snoozing. Not such a bad life! Day 5 was the day we were dreading. This was the start of the strenuous part of the trail, where the ups and downs were constant, and ladders with upwards of 200 rungs awaited us. Fortified with a hearty breakfast and multiple Cliff bars, we set off. But it wasn�t nearly as bad as we had been led to believe. Sure, we were all huffing and puffing at the tops of the ladders, but there were only 3 major sets between Walbran and Camper Creek, that night�s destination. Certainly the trail was hilly and rooty, but nothing worse than I�d done in the Coast Mountains. Of course, we did not have any mud to contend with since it had not rained in about 2 weeks. I can only imagine that the infamous knee-deep WCT mud would increase the difficulty of the trail by a hundredfold. That evening was a break from our usual relaxing in the sun as clouds had rolled in and were threatening rain. This time the tarp was strung up as a wind block and a potential rain shelter. In the end there were a few drops of precipitation in the night, but nothing I would call rain. Day 6 started early since we had opted to do the beach route around Owen Point, and this has to be done at low tide. More sandstone shelf, this time with the added excitement of hopping over surge channels. We watched (and smelled) the seals that live on a rock just off the point, and explored the sea caves nearby. The next hour required intense concentration to negotiate large, slippery, slimy boulders. I did not get through unscathed: I had a nasty cut on my knee after losing footing on a particularly slippery patch. We made it to Thrasher Cover by 11:00. We had planned to camp here but our previous campsites had spoiled us: there was nowhere to swim and the water source was questionable. We decided to push on to the end. 3 hours of up & down through the rootiest trail we had thus encountered landed us at the anticlimactic end to the trail. A final descent leads you to a small pebbly beach where you hoist a buoy up in a tree as a signal to the ferry service. Another $12 for a 5 minute ride across to another native reserve by a completely disinterested resident. There we signed in at the registration office to let them know we�d made it through safely and noted that there had been 49 evacuations off the trail so far this season. Obviously the scare tactics deployed at the trailheads had not had the desired effect! One more quick trip in a battered van that passes for Port Renfrew�s taxi service and we were back at the car. Showers, burgers and beers awaited us ? It�s amazing how 6 days away can produce such an appreciation such simple pleasures. In the end, I am happy to have done this trip. The scenery and gorgeous beach camping certainly live up to their reputations. We were incredibly lucky with the weather, so I personally didn�t feel that it was one of the hardest hikes in North America. However, in the rain and mud that tends to be the norm in this part of the world, the trail could live up to this claim. It�s just a shame that there are so many people and signs of human interference. The trail is very well maintained, in fact much of it is on boardwalk (you see where the $70 booking fee goes), but I prefer a more pristine forest, even if it means a bit more scrambling or getting one�s feet wet. And as nice as the coke, marshmallows, and apples were, I could have done without the shops on the trail. The commercialization of our lives is one of the main things I am trying to get away from on a long trip. All this to say, it was a wonderful experience and a fantastic visit with Bindi & Derek. But I doubt I�ll be signing up to do the West Coast trail a second time. And if you want to see the photos, be my guest! |
| West Coast Trail - July 2002 |