Welcome to my next destination spotlight! The first of the series was an overnighter at Joffre Lakes, found here: Joffre Lakes Trail – Destination Spotlight – Go Hike a Bike. I’ll now be spotlighting the recent West Coast Trail hike we completed between July 4 – July 9th.
The West Coast Trail resides on many backpackers list of top ten hikes in the world. This 75km hike on the West Coast of Vancouver Island includes pleasant beach campsites, waterfalls, views of the Pacific Ocean, and an abundance of sea life. Even just arriving at the trailhead requires a sense of both adventure and planning, and that’s before you start hiking! And just like everyone else in the backpacking world, this trail was a big item on our bucket list. And for those wanting a more precise location, here is my Strava screenshot of the entire activity.
The link here leads to the activity on Strava for those interested: WEST COAST TRAIL | Hike | Strava.
My Experience: Hiking the West Coast Trail
I have to give full credit to Becca for getting us both signed up and prepared for the West Coast Trail this year. With the popularity increase seen in outdoor activities over the last few years, the West Coast Trail has become more and more difficult to book.
Only 70 starting spots are available each day to book between the season days of May 1st – September 30th. This 75 spots splits up into 25 heading North to South, 25 heading South to North, and the other 20 heading from the middle of the trail (Nitinaht Narrows) to either North or South.
With the limited number of spots, the peak season of summer fills up incredibly fast, within the first few minutes of bookings being available. But luckily I had Becca on my team, prepared on January 22nd at 11am EST to plan and book a hiking trip across the country 6 months prior to actually going on the trip. A bit insane, but her motto is always “Planning is half the fun!”.
We ended up with a start date of July 4th, a prime start date in peak season, heading North to South. And the planning began.
The Lead-Up and Planning
We got lucky securing a July 4th start date for many reasons.
- Middle of the summer should mean adequate hiking weather in an area known for rain and ocean climate
- On a clear night, 4th of July firework celebrations in America are visible from the trail/campsites
- May and September are usually the wettest seasons on Vancouver Island, which directly affects the trail, bridges and ladders
- In May, the trail usually consists of damaged ladders and bridges due to the harsh Pacific winters before trail crews have a chance to fix up the damage
Backpacking is by no means a cheap activity. Between restocking consumables like fuel, fire starters, water treatment tabs, dehydrated food, and oatmeal AND purchasing necessary gear like sleeping bags and a sleeping pad, the month leading up to the start date was filled with multiple supply runs. I’m now waiting for a MEC sponsorship after we singlehandedly increased their quarterly earnings by at least 1% in June.
If requested, I can give a full layout of our gear and meals. But that’s a lot of work for a guy on a full-time vacation. Here’s a sneak peek at the food.
The Adventure… To the Trailhead
But come early July, we had finalized our gear, our backpacks were full (42 lbs each), and we were on our way over to Vancouver Island. We spent a night in an Airbnb at Lake Cowichan, allowing us an hour drive into Gordon River in the morning where we planned to park the car.
After parking in the designated hiker lot, the West Coast Trail bus took us to the other side of the trail, 75 km away, called Pacheena Bay in Pacific Rim National Park. This 3 hour drive is along logging roads where a 4×4 or AWD vehicle is recommended, but the guy driving the bus seemed to know the roads pretty well.
There were other options to get to the trailhead, but the idea of hiking to our vehicle located at the end of the trail was incentivizing throughout our 6 day journey. The opposite would be walking the trail away from our vehicle, having to endure the 3 hour bus ride after the hike. That just didn’t seem desirable after days of hiking.
All this to say, booking a spot on the trail for a day is difficult enough, and combining that with the logistics of getting to the trailhead!? That’s already a challenge, and you haven’t taken your first step on the trail yet!
Night 1 – Orientation and Pacheena Bay Campsite
The West Coast Trail requires you to be present at an orientation to receive your trail permit. After the orientation, the Parks Employee (Tami, in our case) had a simple pop-quiz for us to pass before giving us our trail permits, tide tables and detailed map of the hike. Tami was awesome, a valuable resource, and good reminder for trail etiquette on the days to come. One of the most memorable rules for our group was “If you see a bear, use the techniques learned in the orientation video. If you see a cougar, get her number.” Ha, thanks Tami, I’ll keep that one in the back pocket.
The trail permits are important to keep accessible throughout the hike. Aside from being illegal to be on the trail without the permit, this slip also gives you access to the ferry crossings at Nitinaht Narrows and Gordon River. This means, DO NOT LOSE THE SLIP. I’ll thank Becca again here for taking care of it along the trail.
After our orientation, we set-up camp at Pacheena Bay campground, a quick walk from where the orientation was held. This campground is RV accessible with hot water, dumpsters, and other nice luxuries that were not available throughout the rest of the trail. We also met some fellow hikers, Pam and Carol, who were also starting the next morning and were constant companions along the first few days of the trail.
And as with any great West Coast Adventure, the elements are always at play. As soon as we set up our tent, the rain began. And did it ever rain. The rain delivered around 45mm over the next 36 hours. What a warm welcome to the West Coast Trail.
Day 1 – Pacheena Bay to Tsocowis Creek
And suddenly, we were awake for our first day of hiking the West Coast Trail. This day was about 16.5km of some of the easier terrain on the trail, but the mud and rain stayed consistent throughout. One of the most interesting items of the day was a side trail called Sea Lion Rock, which I’ll get into below.
This day went smoothly, with only a few ladder sections. It was quite the head down, lets get to where we are going and get shelter type of day. Many of the people that started from Pacheena spent the night at Michigan Campsite due to Mighigan Creek flooding from the rain. We made the executive call to forge on through the creek in our runners, at that point wet enough to no longer care.
As one of the fellow hikers stopping at Michigan named Carey said, “Well, going through the creek won’t make you any drier!” That was the mentality we kept up the entire first day.
Sea Lion Rock
A short side trail off of the main trail led out to a rocky outcrop looking out onto the ocean. A couple hundred meters away from this viewpoint was large rock platforms jutting out of the water, hosting what must have been 200-250 sea lions. Young, old, fat, skinny, going about their day either lounging on the rocks, play fighting in the water or on the hunt for a delicious meal.
Being able to watch these sea lions as if you’re a National Geographic photographer is incredible. The added noises and SMELL of these creatures could be sensed hundreds of meters away from the rocks they live on. Becca and I assumed power tools were in use from a distance, but no, it was the grunts and groans of the sea lions. Then you start to get whiffs of rotting fish and fecal matter filling your nose. And while you may go “Ugh, gross!” it all adds to the incredible experience of seeing these creatures in their natural habitat. We could’ve spent all day there if we weren’t on schedule.
Tsocowis Creek Campsite
We made it to Tsocowis without issue and hid under some rock shelves to get a reprieve from the rain, quickly darting out to set up the tent and get our dehydrated meal packs prepared. We met 3 recent highschool and university graduates from Germany on their first ever off-continent trip out of Europe. They were astounded at how remote the trail was, commenting “Nothing is near this remote in Germany or even Europe!” Glad it’s not just us that thinks Canada is so special.
Tsocowis Creek also offered up a special sight for all of the campers at around 8:30pm. From inside our tents, we heard loud voices up and down the campsite. “Bear!! Woah Bear!! Go away bear!”. Becca and I scrambled out of the tent to see a teenage bear making its way along the trail, and out to the far side of the river. The Germans were excited, finally knocking a bear off their ‘to see’ list.
Day 2 – Tsocowis Creek to Tsusiat Falls
Waking up the next morning and not hearing the pitter patter of rain on the tent was a reason to celebrate. On top of that, Tsusiat falls was our next stop. The trick with us staying in Tsocowis instead of the usual Michigan campsite was to get to Tsusiat before the masses arrive. Tsusiat is known as the most popular campsite along the trail for good reason. It provides an amazing waterfall and swimming hole, along with great views of the ocean.
An early morning at Tsocowis and only 8km to Tsusiat allowed us to be the very first at the falls on day 2! We got to enjoy a swim before anyone else showed up. In contrast, by evening, the camp was filled with probably 40-50 tents from other hikers. Luckily we had the best tent spot, closest to the waterfall and away from the crowds.
Day 2 was also our first experience with trolley cars, a system used on the WCT to carry luggage and hikers across different rivers. These trolley cars require a surprising amount of upper body strength when loaded down with 84 pounds of gear and 2 full grown adults. But it was nice to give our legs a rest and not get our feet wet in the river!
Most of the afternoon was spent at Tsusiat drying our clothes, tent, and sleeping gear. The morale booster we needed was dry gear for at least one night, praying more dry nights to follow.
Day 3 – Tsusiat Falls to Carmanah
I don’t think I’d be lying if I said this was the most memorable day on the trail. The morning woke us up with Tsusiat Point, an epic sea cave that you have to wait for lower tides to pass through. We were on the edge of lower tides, so we ended up attempting to time our passage with the waves. Picture, as soon as the wave goes out on the shore, running about 4-5 meters before the next wave rolls in.
While trying to time it, Becca and I still ended up with soaked boots. Luckily, the sea cave was worth it.
Today was planned out as a 21km hike day. The West Coast Trail, as stated previously, is 75km. We were trying to knock off about a third of the trail in one day. Fellow hikers told us we were crazy, but we had our schedule to meet, and this is what was called for!
Nitinaht Narrows and The Crab Shack
Another reason this 21km day was acceptable was the nice warm meal waiting 8km along the trail from Tsusiat. At Nitinaht Narrows, a ferry is used to shepherd you from one side of the lake to the other. At this critical junction point, a crab shack has been set up for many years serving fresh crab, halibut, baked potatoes, freshly baked goods, pop, beer, etc.. All trail-goers agree, it’s a necessary stop on the trail. Especially after the mud all throughout the first half of the day!
The Ditidaht people of the area have lived in Nitinaht for thousands of years, so being a guest on their land was a great experience.
Becca and I shared the Nitinaht Ultimate Jacked, which is a full crab, full piece of halibut, and a fully loaded baked potato. Okay, make that 2 baked potatoes, that was an easy upsell. They also pull the crab trap up and pick your crab out of the lake right in front of you! Banana bread, some chocolate chip cookies, maybe a beer or 2. What a life saver after dehydrated meals the last 2 days. Spirits were high.
We also met some absolute characters at this point. A few guys were doing an ultralight version of the trail, where they don’t attempt speed records like trail runners, but still complete the trail in 2-3 days at a fast pace with a very lightweight pack. The group that arrived with them, moving at a slower yet reasonable pace, were a few guys similar in age to us. These guys were a party, packing spike ball in their backpacks to play at the campsites at the end of the day.
Also, to recall Pam and Carol from Night 1, we said our final trail goodbye at this point: after the rain, the mud, and a close run-in with a bear on the hunt, they were ready to spend the night in the cabins and tent platforms provided at Nitinaht. They also provide you a bail out option at this point, basically a paid boat ride to civilization if you’re not ready to carry on.
Carmanah Creek Campsite
Carmanah was my top campsite of the trip. It was incredibly quiet, with probably 6-7 tents set up at the end of the day. The ocean view was immaculate. The sunset cooperated for the first time on the trip, leaving us with a breathtaking view of the sun going down beyond the Carmanah Lighthouse. And with the new friends met in Nitinaht, spikeball was set up and enjoyed for a solid hour. Likely, the first time spike ball had ever been played on the West Coast Trail. I’m honoured to have joined them for that massive achievement, thanks to the group of Aiden, Justin, Liam and Galwin for subbing me in!
The night was capped off by a nice fire with some the other campers. It’s a pretty incredible experience being out in the remote wilderness and connecting with people from all over the world. Stories, jokes, recommendations, all with like-minded people just out on the trail. We also spotted an orca at Carmanah, cementing it as our top spot on the trip.
Day 4 – Carmanah Creek to Cullite Cove
From Carmanah, we departed that morning with Cullite Cove in mind, a 12km hike for the day. After the 21km from the day before, 12km seemed almost too easy.
During the day, we dealt with more trolley cars, a new suspension bridge, and called the Cullite ladders. This trail mostly deals with elevation through ladders, not slopes, due to the terrain. The Cullite Ladders are a set of 18 ladders, 9 down and 9 up in the span of a few hundred metres, that’ll leave you gasping for air by the end of it. In the middle of these ladders is also another trolley car, just incase the ladders weren’t enough.
From previous interactions about Cullite Cove, it sounded like a relatively cute but quiet campsite in regards to the amount of people that planned on stopping there. And one reason for the few campers is the surrounding rock walls that echo the sound of the waves, making it a surprisingly loud campsite for sleeping. Oh no, the sound of crashing waves is going to deter us? Think again!
The campsite was incredible and lived up to the ‘cute’ description. We got to the campsite first of the three groups that spent the night, and snagged the beach spot at Cullite, lighting up a big fire and doing some much needed laundry throughout the night. It also lived up to the promised amphitheatre effect, but the sound of ocean waves rolling up on the rocky beach was soothing, putting us to sleep rather quickly.
Day 5 – Cullite Cove to Thrasher Cove
We had another 12km day ahead of us between Cullite and Thrasher Cove Campsite. This day had the big ticket item on the trail: Owen Point. I have not discussed tides much, but the tide measurements factor in to whether you can walk the beach route or have to take the inland route for many sections. But for Owen Point, hiking the beach with low tide seemed necessary due to the hype surrounding the area. The low tide window was a 4 hour window from 12pm to 4pm that we had to be through the Point, which scheduled our entire day.
Owen Point
Once we got out of the forest and onto the hard sandstone shelf at lower tide, we started to make good time on our way to Owen Point. Before arriving, we had to navigate through different surge channels and pockets of ocean left behind by the lowering tide. I had never seen a surge channel before, but basically they consist of a massive crack in the sea shelf where ocean water still sits flows. Some of the methods of avoiding these were having to move inland and use ropes to go on the rock faces above the channels.
When we arrived to Owen Point inside of our allotted low tide window, we got to explore a giant sea cave! We spent probably 30 minutes walking through the different caves, looking at the different way water had carved out the innards of this rock face. Animal footprints, something like a medium sized cat, seemed to make one of the caves it’s home with footprints, seal fur, and blubber located around the cave.
I can describe it all I want, but the pictures will do more justice.
On the way out from Owen Point, there was about a 2 hour boulder section traverse until Thrasher Cove. This was basically a terrain park for hikers, throwing themselves at step on, or over, boulders to get through the long and dodgy section.
The campsite at Thrasher Cove got busy as the evening wore on, but we were thankfully one of the first few groups to arrive with the spikeball guys right behind us. I think it’s a little bit obvious at this point, but spikeball was enjoyed that night along with a warm fire that kept us up late into the night.
Day 6 – Thrasher Cove to Gordon Bay
The last day! A burger and a beer had been in our minds for most of Day 5, and the mouth was watering as we started our last 6km stretch. About 1km in, we met up with another friendly face we had met in Carmanah Creek Camp, named Connor, and we finished out the apparent ‘toughest section’ of trail with good conversation and tons of laughs. Connor had been putting in a massive effort that morning, and when we met him around 9:45am, he had already been hiking since 6am to make the ferry and arrive at the end of the trail a day early. A popped mattress pad will do that to anybody.
The very last obstacle of the day was a ladder down to the cove where a ferry would pick us up and bring us to the end of the trail, Port Renfrew. After checking out of the West Coast Trail office, it was off to the Renfrew Pub for a 12oz double patty bacon cheeseburger, a couple IPAs and Dino-sours, and as many fries as we could stuff in our mouths. That meal will be one to remember, after a full 6 days on the trail. 10 star review for the Renfrew Pub, but that might’ve been influenced a bit by our dehydrated stomachs.
Afterthoughts
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for staying tuned. This was a long one.
Would I do the West Coast Trail again? Definitely. I very much enjoyed the spirit of everyone on the trail, along with the beach campsites and different features of the ocean. Considering I’m a kid from Ontario, seeing all the ocean animals, sea caves, and rock formations is not a usual thing I had when growing up. But lucky me, the West Coast Trail was full of them.
On the other hand, I also figured out I do enjoy hiking to a specific destination throughout the day, rather than just hiking to the next campsite. By this I mostly mean summits of a mountain that are attained throughout the day on the way to the next campsite. The West Coast trail is not in a mountainous area, leading to the campsites being the big destinations of the day – not including Owen Point. But that being said, there were enough waterfalls and features to keep me excited about what each new day brought to the table.
Favourite Quotes
I have sprinkled in some quotes from the trail that really stuck with me throughout the above blog. There are a few more that didn’t quite fit the flow of the blog, but still needed a mention.
- Regarding keeping items dry out in the mud and the rain, “Plastic Bags are like currency out here!”
- Buying food at Nitinaht Narrows crab shack, “I give you this paper with an imaginary value (cash), and you give me hot food that I can eat now? That’s a no brainer.”
- “All that matters is the smile, even if you’re faking it” in regards to the entire hike. Ha.
- “All roads lead to Fredericton.”
- “Aren’t there only 4 guys in the Lord of the Rings? Frodo, Bilbo, the main guy, and Sam?” – Becca
I wish I could give credit where credit is due for all of these, but when you’re focusing on the trail, names come and go pretty fast. Except that last one on that list. We’ll have to re-watch Lord of the Rings yet again. I mean, those movies are one of the main reasons I’m doing this.
Cheers! Hope everyone else is doing well out there 🙂
0