Kevin's Life and Travel Blog

West Coast Trail Journal Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal
Previous entry: Day 5 – Camper Bay to Thrasher Cove

Journal entry for August 17, 2010.
Approximate distance hiked: 5 miles, 8 km.

West Coast Trail - Day 6

Woke up a little bit after 8am. Monika & Marie were already up, and most campers had already packed up and left. We said good bye to Kirk, who left before us. There is an impressive set of ladders right behind the beach.

Thrasher Cove ladders

The ladders are followed by a steep set of switchbacks. It’s mostly uphill until around km 73. The trail then flattens out, with a few hills mixed in. It is mostly forest with large tree roots. Muddy in some areas but mostly dry. The last 2 km seemed to take forever. Marie was a little grouchy, I think she had gotten tired of the weight of her backpack.

Last few kilometers

We arrived at km 75, the end of the trail, at 1:10pm.

Km 75. The end.

Km 75. Nice bed hair.

Km 75. The end.

We laid down for a few minutes, waiting for the ferry to pick us up. The road back to civilization is on the other side of Gordon River, which can only be crossed by ferry. By the way, the fee for the two ferries on the trail were already included in the price of the WCT permit.

Gordon River ferry

Since I had finished the hike 1 day early, I could have stayed until 4:30pm to see if the West Coast Trail Express bus had a free spot for me, but since girls had a car and were driving to Vancouver that day, they were nice enough to offer to drop me off at Victoria.

Once back in Victoria, I checked back into the the same hostel I had stayed prior to the hike. I really didn’t want to spend any more time in that town though. I had already spent 2 days there before the hike, and I still had two more days to go until my flight. I had a couple of friends from Argentina who were visiting the United States at the time. They were going to stay with me in California once I got flew back from Canada, but they were in Las Vegas at that moment. I decided to change my plane ticket and fly there the next morning. It was a huge contrast to go from camping at Thrasher Cove one day, to the totally artificial world that is Las Vegas the next day.

In conclusion, I had a lot of fun hiking the West Coast Trail. The first 2 days were a little underwhelming, but the last 4 days were very enjoyable. I certainly spoiled it a little bit by doing the Lake Ozette to Shi Shi Beach Hike the previous week. Even though the Shi Shi Beach hike doesn’t have the amazing WCT ladders and bridges, the landscapes are very similar to each other.

I also found the hike much easier than I anticipated it to be, especially after having watched this documentary during my planning stages. I’m sure that having 6 sunny days helped a lot on the difficulty level, to the point that I almost feel I didn’t get the full WCT experience since I didn’t get any rain. Monika & Marie’s struggles with their heavy backpacks despite being excellent athletes makes me believe that my light backpack was also a big factor. After spending over a month of total decadence in Argentina prior to the hike, I started it in pretty bad physical shape, but the only day in which I felt really tired was Day 3 after a 21 km day. I wished the trail was longer, maybe twice as long. When it ended, I wasn’t even missing civilization that much, like it did towards the end of the John Muir Trail.

West Coast Trail Journal Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal

West Coast Trail Journal Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal
Previous entry: Day 4 – Carmanah Creek to Camper Bay

Journal entry for August 16, 2010.
Approximate distance hiked: 5 miles, 8 km.

West Coast Trail - Day 5

I had set up the alarm for 7:30am, but woke up a half hour earlier instead to the noise everybody else was making in camp. I packed up quickly and hiked together with Monika and Marie. I switched my 15 lb (6-7 kg) with Marie’s 50-60 lb (23-27 kg) backpack for the first mile or so. What a difference it made. I had to focus on every step I took just to keep my balance.

Hiking through forest

In order to get to the last campsite at Thrasher Cove, one can go inland or take the beach instead. The beach route goes through Owen Point, which can’t be passed during high tide. We had timed it so that we would get there during low tide. There are two spots where one can access the beach from the trail. We took Beach Access “B” at km 66. Apparently there is a very dangerous slope between Beach Access “A” and “B”, so it’s safer to take the later one.

Beach around km 66

The beach section was a lot of fun. The hiking is mostly over rocks instead of sand. There was one surge channel about 1 meter wide that we had to jump over. We soon run into another hiking group in front of us.

Jumping over surge channel

We run into another hiking group

We then arrived at another much wider surge channel. This one looked like it would require an Olympic long jumper to handle it, but luckily there was a way around it.

Wide surge channel

West Coast Trail

West Coast Trail

West Coast Trail

We arrived at Owen Point around 11:30am during low tide. The views were great and there was a little island about 100 meters into the ocean with lots of sea lions on it. We stayed there for a while and ate lunch.

Owen Point

Owen Point

Owen Point

The last section before Thrasher Cove involves a lot of hopping over large boulders and walking over logs. I had a lot of fun despite the hot relentless sun. My gloves were very useful in helping me handle the boulders.

Marie, boulder hopping

We got stuck behind a very slow group with no easy way to go around them. We almost didn’t beat the rising tide in one section.

Walking behind a very slow group

Thrasher Cove is a very nice beach, but it doesn’t really have enough spots for tents for the large amount of people that camp there. We arrived early around 2pm and had the whole afternoon and evening to sit around and enjoy.

Both Monika and Marie lived in Alberta at the time, but Marie is originally from Quebec. According to her, French Canadians are generally loud and like to joke around a lot. So she was indeed giving me an introduction to French Canadians, since she was the first one I’ve ever met.

Once the sun stopped hitting the beach directly around 4pm, it started to get a little bit foggy and chilly. We run into Kirk again and ended up sharing a campfire. It was very foggy during sunset, so I wasn’t able to take any decent pictures.

Camping at Thrasher Cove

Marie, Kurk, Monika and me at Thrasher Cove

Next entry: Day 6 – Thrasher Cove to Gordon River
West Coast Trail Journal Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal

West Coast Trail Journal Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal
Previous entry: Day 3 – Tsusiat Falls to Carmanah Creek

Journal entry for August 15, 2010.
Approximate distance hiked: 10 miles, 16 km.

West Cost Trail - Day 4

I woke up around 8am to the scorching sun hitting my tent.

Carmanah Creek campsite

Just for fun, I decided to take the cable car that goes over the Carmanah Creek campsite. I could have easily crossed the creek by jumping over it on the beach. This particular cable car required a lot more pulling than the previous one I rode.

Carmanah Creek cable car

I didn’t enjoy much the next 7 km on the beach. My pace on the sand was slow, and the sun was killing me. I run into Kristin and her two friends, who I had met on the bus out of Victoria. They were all having a great time. After a brief chat, we went our separate ways.

Crab on the beach

Mussels

Lots of whale watching boats

According to both my guidebook and map, the beach section after Walbran Creek is very dangerous. It is highly recommended to take the inland trail instead, so I did. Once again, lots of boardwalk sections on the trail, with some minor root climbing mixed in.

Root climbing

Hiking over logs

There is a huge set of ladders going down to the amazing Logan Creek Bridge. On the other side there’s another huge set of ladders going up.

Logan Creek Bridge

Logan Creek Bridge

Logan Creek Bridge

The trail after Logan Creek became very muddy and full of huge tree roots. I loved this section because it was fun to figure out how to deal with the terrain without getting mud into my shoes. I crossed Cullite Creek by cable car. I think this was the shortest cable car on the whole trail.

The next 4 km to Camper Bay was even more muddy, which I enjoyed even more. I much preferred this type of terrain to beach hiking. There was also one section that was different from anywhere else on the trail. It was wide open with no trees.

Wide open section

I arrived at Camper Bay around 6pm. The campsite is strange in that it is about 100 meters from the ocean, but you can’t really see it because the view is blocked. There were already a huge number of tents set up. While looking for a spot to set up mine, a gentleman asked me “Are you Kevin?”. It turned out that he had read this blog while planning for the WCT. He had googled “West Coast Trail” and “Ultralight” and had found my WTC Packing List post. Our dates coincided and we were going in opposite directions, so he knew he would probably run into an Asian hiker with a light backpack. Him and his wife were the only ultralight hikers I run into on the trail.

I shared a campfire with Kurk, a guy from the area. Later on, Monika and Marie arrived at the campsite and joined us.

Before this day, I had enjoyed the trail but was not overly impressed by it. I had a lot of fun this day, and it changed my opinion completely.

The plan for the next day was to get up early at 7:30am (early for me, normal for most people) so that I could arrive at Owen Point during low tide. A lot of people coming from the opposite direction told me that it was a must see.

Next entry: Day 5 – Camper Bay to Thrasher Cove
West Coast Trail Journal Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal

West Coast Trail Journal Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal
Previous entry: Day 2 – Darling River to Tsusiat Falls

Journal entry for August 14, 2010.
Approximate distance hiked: 13 miles, 21 km.

West Coast Trail - Day 3

While looking at the map the previous night, I decided I was going to finish the trail in 6 days instead of the originally planned 7 days. The weather was good and I had so far found the trail relatively easy. The plan for the day was to hike 21 km to Carmanah Creek.

Seagulls by Tsusiat Falls

I left Tsusiat Falls and started hiking around 10:20am. I chose to hike on the beach instead of the trail. My pace was slowed by the loose dry sand and the wind blowing into me. I joined the trail around km 29. The next 2 km has a little bit of elevation change, and in some sections, the boardwalk was in pretty bad shape.

I arrived at Nitinat Narrows which is only passable by ferry. After a 5 minute wait, the ferry came and picked me up.

Waiting for the Nitinat Narrows ferry

On the other side, I found Nick and Lorna, along with Steve and his group of 6 hikers. There’s a little stall where they sell soft drinks and serve cooked fresh crab. I didn’t feel like eating crab so I only grab a can of Coke. I wanted to save my appetite for later in the day at Chez Monique, a burger place by the beach.

I stayed at Nininat Narrows for a while before saying goodbye to Nick and Lorna, who were ending their hike there, and were waiting for a ferry that would take them back to civilization later in the day.

The next section of the trail has a lot of boardwalk, which means fast hiking. Some sections were completely destroyed and new boardwalk had been installed.

New boardwalk going around old destroyed sections

Boardwalk in pretty bad shape

Tree root climbing

I saw some bear and cougar warning signs which got me a little paranoid, but fortunately I didn’t run into any.

Bear and cougar warning

I decided to take the beach access at km 36. After 1 km, I rejoined the inland trail.

Makeshift chair by the beach

A bit after km 41, I arrived at Cribs Creek campsite. A good number people were camping here but I moved on.

Looking back at Cribs Creek campsite

More beach walking until a little after km 43, where I rejoin the trail. Shortly after, I arrive at Carmanah Lighthouse.

Restroom sign

Carmanah Lighthouse

Access back to the beach is through a steep set of ladders. While climbing down these ladders, I could see the cooking smoke coming out of Chez Monique from a distance. I started to fantasize about the cheeseburger I was about to eat.

Steep ladders to the beach

Chez Monique

Chez Monique is the only restaurant on the trail. They are famous for their cheeseburgers. They have a little farm on the back of the restaurant where they grow their own vegetables. They also had about 5-6 WWOOFers who were helping out on the farm and restaurant.  A buffet dinner was available for $30, but I ordered the $20 burger instead. I didn’t want to stay long since it was already almost 6pm and I still had another 2 km to hike. The burger was very very good. It was huge but I must have finished it in less than 2 minutes.

Strange rock on the beach

I arrived at Carmanah Creek campsite a little bit before Monika and Marie got there. I had briefly run into them at Carmanah Lighthouse early in the day. Both of them run marathons and triathlons, so they were in pretty good physical shape. But both them said that they had packed too much stuff and were struggling with their heavy backpacks. They invited me to join their campfire later in the night. I would end up hiking the last 2 days with them.

Carmanah Creek cable car

Deer by Carmanah Creek campsite

Carmanah Lighthouse from a distance

Next entry: Day 4 – Carmanah Creek to Camper Bay
West Coast Trail Journal Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal

West Coast Trail Journal Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal
Previous entry: Day 1 – Pachena Bay to Darling River

Journal entry for August 13, 2010.
Approximate distance hiked: 6.8 miles, 11 km.

West Coast Trail - Day 2 Map

After sleeping very well, I woke up a little bit after 9am. The fog had cleared and the weather was great. I was able to see a couple of whales deep in the sea. They were hard to spot from a distance though. Looking south, I could see the Olympic Peninsula.

Darling River campsite

Darling River campsite

The tide was low so I tried to walk a little bit closer to the sea to get a better look of the whales. While going there, I found a bunch of tide pools with lots of starfish in them.

Starfish

The first 2 1/2 km out of Darling River campsite is all beach hiking. At the end of this section there was what looked like a ranger station,  and right by it, part of a shipwreck.

Shipwreck

I joined the trail inland and crossed Tsocowis Creek by bridge.

Tsocowis Creek

The terrain became more rugged than the previous day.

Where's the trail?

I stayed for a  while at the Valencia Bluffs lookout, looking for the remains of a shipwreck, but I found nothing. Maybe it was due to the high tide at the moment. Moving on, I found a “grader” next to the trail.

Grader by the trail

I rejoined the beach around km 20. The temperature was high and the sun was punishing with the absence of shade. The following 3 km to Klanawa River is all beach hiking, with one section that is only passable at tides below 2.7m. Since the tide was quickly rising, I wondered for a moment if I was going to get caught by it, but ended up managing just fine.

Klanawa River could have been easily forded through the beach, but this one my first chance to use one of the cable cars.

Klanawa River cable car

Klanawa River cable car

The cable car was a lot of fun. It stops halfway, and you have to pull the cable the rest of the way to reach the other side. I would recommend using gloves for this.

The next 2 km or so are to Tsusiat Falls are inland and mostly on boardwalks. In some sections, the boardwalks were either slippery, and/or in pretty bad shape. There is a nice lookout point with a bench to sit on. I was told to look for whales there, but couldn’t find any during my 20 minute break.

Bench with nice views

There is a nice set of ladders right before Tsusiat Falls.

Ladders going down to Tsusiat Falls

Tsusiat Falls

Tsusiat Falls campsite

There were already a good number of people at the campsite when I got there around 5pm. It is a huge campsite though, with plenty of space for lots of tents. I pick a spot right next to Nick and Lorna, who I had met the previous day. Since it was late in the summer, the water stream coming down the falls was somewhat weak. It was still perfect for the nice shower I took underneath it.

I met Stephan from Germany, who was also doing the hike solo, although going the opposite direction. He was one of the very few solo hikers I met on the WCT. I’d later run into him again at the hostel in Victoria.

The weather was beautiful. I ate dinner with Nick and Lorna. I learned that Nick is a writer and Lorna is an actress. They were visiting the area and decided in the last minute to do the WCT, although they only had enough time to do half of it. Their hike was ending the next day at Nitinah Lake. We shared a campfire and stayed outside well after it got dark.

Sunset by Tsusiat Falls

Sunset by Tsusiat Falls

Next Entry: Day 3 – Tsusiat Falls to Carmanah Creek
West Coast Trail Journal Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal

West Coast Trail Journal Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal
Previous entry: Victoria, Canada

Journal entry for August 12, 2010.
Approximate distance hiked: 8.7 miles, 14 km.

With great anticipation, I woke up at 5:20am to catch the 6:15am bus that would take me from Victoria to the West Coast Trail Pachena Bay trail head. I tried to make as little noise as possible to not wake up my other hostel roommates. I took one last shower, knowing that I was not going to be taking another one for a long while. While checking out of the hostel at the front of desk, I see two sisters getting ready to leave too. As expected, they were also doing the WCT, but unlike me, they were going northbound, from Gordon River to Pachena Bay.

Weather forecasts predicted a whole week of sunny days with almost zero chance of rain. It looked like I had gotten very lucky.

For a moment I thought I was going to be late to the bus stop, but I ended up making it there 10 minutes early. There were already about 20 people there. They all looked happy and excited.

West Coast Trail Express

Once on the bus, I sat next to Kristin, who along with two friends, was doing the northbound hike. The drive to Gordon River takes about 2 hours and it’s pretty smooth. About 70% of the people got off the bus there. I said goodbye to the 3 girls and we estimated to run into each other on day 3 or 4 of our hikes. From there to the northern trail head is another 2 hours, but the terrain becomes much rougher. Many sections are not paved and it’s only wide enough for one vehicle at the time. When huge logging trucks came from the opposite direction, our bus had to move over to allow them to pass. We arrived at Pachena Bay at 12:35pm.

During the 40 minute orientation, they told us which restrooms on the trail were out of commission, how to identify animal tracks, which areas had no water, etc. They gave me a waterproof map and and tide table, and taught me how to use it. On my way out of the Information Center, I met an older lady who had just finished the hike, she was very happy but a little delirious because of how exhausted she was.

Backpack, hiking pokes and hat

West Coast Trail - Day 1 Map

At exactly 2:12pm, I started my West Coast Trail adventure. Right away, I saw signs warning about tsunamis.

Pachena Bay trail head

Tsunami warning

Being only about 30 miles away from the location where I did the Shi Shi Beach Hike, the landscape is almost identical: green moist forest and sharp cliffs. The first section was very easy on excellent boardwalks. Shortly after the start, I see the first set of the famous WCT ladders. I was very excited to try my hands on them.

Wooden boardwalks

West Coast Trail

Two kilometers down, 73 to go

Slugs

Despite the dry weather, some sections were still very muddy from previous rainfall. Since I was wearing non-waterproof trail runners, I tried to go around the mud.

West Coast Trail

After hiking inland for a while with no views of the ocean, I finally got a first peek of it in an area with lots of sea lions.

West Coast Trail

Sea lions

Sea lions

At km 10 I reach the Pachena Lighthouse. The fog was heavy so visibility was very low.

Pachena Lighthouse

Pachena Lighthouse

Pachena Lighthouse

Pachena Lighthouse

The first campsite is at Michigan Creek at km 12, I got there a bit before 6pm. There were already about 7 tents set up there.

Michigan Creek campsite

I decided to go to the next campsite which was 2 km further down. On the way there, I run into at least 20 hikers going the opposite way, they were all finishing the hike the following day and were going to camp at Michigan Creek that night. I run into two young American guys and we chatted for a bit. They turned out to be the only Americans I met on the trail.

I arrived at Darling River campsite around 6:15pm. There was no one around. It is very close to a creek (i.e. fresh water) and there was plenty of firewood around. Nick and Lorna, two young Canadians who rode the same bus that morning, got there a little bit later. They were followed by a group of 6 hikers who were also on the bus.

There is a bear locker by the campsite and an ultra deluxe compost toilet.

Bear locker

Amazing compost toilet

Because of my repeated failures in starting fires in the past (latest incident was on the Shi Shi Beach Hike), I spent a little time on google a few days before trying to learn how to do it property. I was able to start one right away. I stayed by the fire until around 10pm before retiring to my tent.

Day 1 was in the books. It had been a easy and pleasant start.

Darling River campsite

Next Entry: Day 2 – Darling River to Tsusiat Falls
West Coast Trail Journal Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal