by marcus nieto
A MOST EXCELLENT ADVENTURE ON THE WEST COAST TRAIL
By Marcus Nieto
This WCT adventure begins as a five person team made-up of Dahl and Ana (my brother and sister in-law) Raquel (my niece), Juan, and myself. We arrive at the Pachena Traihead (the start of the northern side of the trail) on July 4 to attend a brief orientation by a Parks Canada warden on the hazards and intricacies of the trail. We are told to pay close attention to the tide maps, trail warnings about cougars and bears, and what to do in case of injury. The warden points out that as of today, seventeen people have been evacuated from the trail because of injuries. After the orientation we are issued trail passes and left on our own until the next day. We decide to visit the coastal enclave of Bamfield Harbour (a marine biology school and fishing village). There’s not much to the village and the food is OK.
DAY 1
After a brief morning breakfast at the Huu-ay-aht First Nation (FN) campsite, we are eager to begin our six-day hike on the WCT. I’m told by are most excellent leader (Dahl Harris) that this is the easy part of the trail hike.
It is beautiful on the trail, with tall trees, lots of shallow greenery, and a subtle stillness. About an hour or so into the hike we encounter the first section (many more to come) of wooden planks. At this point we stop to have lunch at the Pachena Point Lighthouse. It is located along the rugged coast overlooking the ocean. The lighthouse is one of two on the WCT that is accessible only by the trail. The Canadian Coast Guard uses helicopters to fly in supplies and other essentials used by the lighthouse operator.
After hiking -15 K, we arrive at the campsite at the mouth of the Darling River and are –amazed at the beauty of the ocean and the terrain. On this first night in the wilderness it is hard beat; lying in the sand next to a campfire on the beach, watching Grey whales put on a show for nearly three hours. It’s now 10: p.m. and still light outside, but the fog is rolling in. It is time to hit the sack. However, within a couple of hours it begins to rain unexpectedly, and my boots and other things are getting wet. What a great way to start.
DAY 2
The rain stops as we are getting up the next day to eat. Today will be the shortest hike of the trip, only -12K. The trail begins to get a little more rugged as we move down the coast. The trail to this point is still above the shoreline and hugging the coast. It is a great view of the ocean. We stop about 6 K into the hike to eat lunch and watch the whales do their thing. As we eat, some interesting people from Alberta, like others who gravitate to the WCT join in the whale watching. A mother who is a graduate medical student at the University of Alberta and her two sons who also attend the same university tell us about their experience on the trail and what lies ahead. Within an hour we come across our first cable car across a river. We have to pull it back to us across the river and secure it before getting in. Raquel and I go first. We let go the cable and off we go zooming down the cable until we head upward and start pulling ourselves to the other side.
We have been on the trail for now 6 hours and are tired from the up and down hike, through mud and over planks. I’m told we haven’t seen the tough parts yet. The trail is treacherous and my sister-in-law has fallen down several times on the planks, is sore, and appears delirious. Juan is also a victim of the slippery wooden planks, leading to a broken backpack frame. As those two try to recover from their falls, the rest of us begin to separate from them and soon arrive near our destination at the Tsusiat Falls (pronounced sue-si-at). But first we must go down our first set of steep ladders to reach the falls. There is a small community of backpackers already there and have taken most of the good camp spots on the beach. Everyone makes it to the campsite in one piece. Once again, the Grey whales are putting on a great show for us as we camp on the beach.
DAY 3
After a night of campfire and whale watching, we are up early in preparation for a long scheduled hike (17K). Juan’s backpack needs some work, so we improvise to make it functional. Now were ready to head-out down the beach. This is more difficult than it seems because there are deep pockets of sand in which each step sinks, and areas of slippery green algae and deep pockets of water on top of the tidal shelves (hard shale) where it is easy to fall down, backpack and all. As we discover later on, the beach access is like this most of the way. We continue along until we come to keyhole, which is a symbol of the overall hike, a carved-out hole in a rock on the tidal pool portion of the beach. What a sight!
Three hours into the hike we come to a tidal lake inlet where we take a ferry across to the other side. Without a trial permit ($–115 Canadian) you cannot get across the tidal lake. We are told at the orientation that old Carl is in charge of the ferry and not to get on his bad side if we want to get across in a timely manner. Once across, the Dididaht (pronounced did-d-ah) FN Indians have fresh crab and salmon to eat for a price ($15). After our time in the wilderness, there is know doubt what we are going to do. One of the son’s of the ferry-crossing owner is sporting a t-shirt that says “Dididaht Bar and Grill.” Of course, my friend has got to have one as he possess for a picture with the son.
At this point in the trip, Ana has had enough and is going to stay the night at the FN lodge about 22 K up the tidal lake. She will get a ride back to our vehicle and pick us up on Saturday at Port Renfrew.
For the next 7 K, it is the toughest hike thus far over planks, mud, and roots (we will see more of this). We are tired now, but within 3 K of the beach campsite at Cribbs Creek. We decide to take a chance and walk along the beach before the high tide rolls in. If we don’t make it to the campsite, we will be trapped on an un-passable part of the beach. We just beat the high tide to the camp-sight and everything is cool. Thank God. The tide-shelve rock which is about –7 feet high, blocks out the surf from getting too close to us, but also mutes the sound of the surf. It is a quite night by previous standards.
DAY 4
We are up early today (about 6:30 am) in preparation for what is to be the longest hike so far (18K). We are also out of fresh water. We are again walking along the beach towards the Carmanah Point Lighthouse where we hope to find some fresh water. The lighthouse is perched atop a 150-foot cliff above the ocean, and accessible by several fights of stairs. Once there, a little kid (who tells us he is bored) comes out of the lighthouse to greet us, and shows where to find fresh water. The water is also flown in by helicopter. The kid is real helpful and tells us how to find the infamous “Monique’s” by the bay. In actuality, Chez Monique is a Dididaht FN Indian (about 60 years old) who has a seasonal restaurant near the lighthouse where she serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner to weary backpackers on the trail. It is quite a treat in the wilderness. When we meet Monique we tell her that she is a legend among the backpackers who have visited her place on the WCT. She asks where were from and I tell her California and New Mexico, to which she reply’s, “I listen to KGO radio in San Francisco all the time.” Just then, an amusing moment is about to happen while we sip coffee waiting for breakfast. Several backpackers appear from the south and walk pass us before realizing that we are being treated to an urban luxury that is too hard to pass on. They can’t resist and decide to turn around and come back to Monique’s for breakfast.
After eating, we pose for pictures with Monique before heading off again on the beach for 5 more K. Before we leave, Monique tells us that her little Beagle dog, Charlie Parker, who is real hyper, hasn’t been the same since his sister was eaten by a cougar a week earlier. Food for thought!
We continue down the beach before heading inland after completing 9K. Along the way we have this wonderful view of a pair of Bald Eagles nestled right in front of us on a rock. What magnificent birds they are up close. Bald Eagles will continue to appear for the rest of the hike. To this point, it has been a fairly easy walk on the beach. Now it’s time for the bogs (a forest equivalent of a swamp). For the next four hours we walk and climb through dense forest mud bogs, tree roots, and wooden planks. We haven’t seen whales today. We are tired from the grueling hike, and as we approach the next campsite, we must negotiate a steep set of ladders. We count five ladders down about 150 feet on one side, and 6 ladders at about 300 feet on the other side. Fortunately, we don’t have to climb the other set of ladder until tomorrow. We’re tired and struggling to get down the ladders. Once down the ladders we still have a cable car crossing to negotiate across Cullite Creek. Finally, we reach a beautiful cove enclosed on both sides by large granite rocks that are inaccessible from both directions and pounding surf in front of us. We are completely drained of energy as we face a cold wind and cloudy conditions. It is hard to get into the camping chores and everything seems disparate. Soon however, other backpackers join us at the cove coming from the south. The look on their faces tell a similar story, so we don’t feel as bad about our condition. As we all set up camp, the camaraderie is good and we soon realize how nice it is to be here. We share in our stories as we sit around a community campfire on the beach until it gets dark around 10: 30 pm.
DAY 5
This is a special day because of the anticipation of taking on the hardest part of the trail. To start out, we must climb 300 feet of ladders to the top of the trail, then 7K through the slippery bogs, roots, and planks, and finally 5K over boulders along the beach. The dense dark forest and canopy is still very beautiful and captivating. It is very cold to stand around, but it’s like a sauna when walking. As we get into the bogs we come across a fresh set of cougar tracks in the mud, and that is enough to get our adrenaline flowing.
Some 4 and half hours after starting, we finally reach the beach access point and head for the shore. We have to negotiate the tide and surge channels to reach our final campsite destination. As we come across a beautiful cave carved out over time by the surf, we walk through it to encounter a field of large boulders that we must hop across to get to our campsite. We pass a group of people already hoping across the boulders that are as big as eight feet high. After a while, are legs are tired from jumping, as the sun begins to peer through the clouds. It is as hot as it has been on the trip. We finally make it to Trasher Cove just ahead of the high tide at 5: 30 p.m. It took us 8 hours to hike 12K.
We now look forward to the end of the trail and begin to consume or dispose of unwanted weight. The hike out in the morning is still an imposing task of ladder climbs, and steep trails through muck and roots. But this campsite is pretty cool!
DAY 6
We are up early again to make the final hike of 6 K, but this time we break camp at 7: 30 a.m. The ladders await us. These are the highest set of ladders we’ve come across. Six sets of 40 footers. After reaching the top we are warmed up and ready to go. This part of the trail looks more like a traditional Sierra mountain hike, fairly even surface with switchbacks. One hour into the hike and we are still climbing. But we have only gone one K. When we reach the top, the trail returns to a mixture of mud, roots and slick rocks. The trail is treacherous but we push on. Another hour passes and we are still 2 K away from the end. I’m thinking when is this nasty trail going to end? Then there appears another ladder to climb, and I say to myself, what is this doing here? At the top of the ladder, there appears the last K marker, and we know the end is near.
It takes about 30 minutes to reach the end and all the way the trail is treacherous to the last step. It is a fitting conclusion to the most difficult 77K hike I ever completed.
We hoist the beach ball to signal the ferry that we are finished. In ten minutes we are out of the wilderness and in Port Renfrew. As a final note, when we started out on the trail, the number of people who had been evacuated because of injury was 17. When we finished, the number had had grown to 31 hikers.
About the Author
I'm an avid backpacker and have hiked all the great Sierra Nevada Mountain trails.
A Walk in the Grand Canyon
by David Hanson
