Hiking the West Coast Trail

Getting ready

Day 1: Really started to have doubts about this hike when I lift my pack onto the fish scale. 47 lbs. What. The. Hell. How did it become so heavy? Too late to back out now. Our group attended the mandatory orientation earlier in the morning and we were now sitting on the riverbank awaiting a fishing boat to ferry us across the river to start our 75 kilometer hike on the Pacific Rim of Vancouver Island.
First off on the other side of the river is a ladder at a 90 degree angle. I have to two-step it all the way up. I know for a fact that my pack is much too heavy. I look back at the ferry making it's way back to the other side with the hikers who finished this morning and were looking forward to hot meals and even hotter showers. Thinking of crawling back down the ladder but I don't.
Carry on.
Lots of fallen trees, roots, mud and rocks to work through, over and under. Right leg, particularly the thigh and hip are getting weak. After hiking for three hours, realized we've only hiked about one and a half kilometers. Can't think of enough words to express my feelings at this point.
I make it to the first campsite by supper time. I am so sore. Can hardly stand up from a sitting position.
Do I cry? I've heard many hikers cry on the trail. Thinking of crying but not sure if that would help matters much. Realize that this is still day one. By early evening, we're at our first beautiful campground by the ocean. Thrasher Cove is probably the most memorable for me!
I make myself supper, my son helps me pitch my tent and I go to bed.

Waiting to get on the boat to be ferried across the river

Day two, my left leg and hip are arguing with me. Even though my physical aches are getting the better of me as I'm hiking, I try to look up and around every now and then to take in some scenery. How beautiful! Pitching the tent at the end of each day, making a hot meal and parking my head on my new blow-up pillow is one of the best parts of my day. We end up at another magnificent campground for the night.

Drying out our socks and boots to no avail

Bonilla

Day three, I pop those Tylenol 3's like a boss! Those are the painkillers I saved in case my abscessed tooth acted up. I'm not monkeying around.
We come across another beautiful campground, Bonilla Point, at the end of the hiking day, which I've deemed my favourite on the entire hike.

Coleson getting ready for night-night

Drying out my boots and socks turns into a daily occurrence and am mildly disappointed when they are still wet when I slip back into them in the morning.

Bonilla Point

The boys trying to stay cool

Day four we camp at Tsusiat Falls. That is where we end up beside more waterfalls and camp next to rock. We get there early in the afternoon. It was the hottest day or maybe it just seemed that way because we were next to lots of rock....but anyway, that, my friends, is where my socks and boots finally get dry! How exciting!

The next day we make it to what's affectionately called The Crab Shack. What a welcoming site! The family there kills the crab right in front of you so you know it's fresh! Baked potato, potato chips, pop and chocolate bars were big sellers with our group. We arrived later than we anticipated but Carl Edgar Jr and his family were kind enough, or they took pity on us, to stay late and bring us across the narrows in their fishing boat after we filled our bellies. I don't know the name of the campground we stayed at that night but they told us to hike until we see ladders going down, there would be camping for us. It was great! Beside the ocean and secluded ...just what we needed for that was our longest day of hiking.

On the fishing boat crossing the narrows

Probably should not have worn shorts on the first half of the trail

What a beautiful site!
The water was like glass

Day six we make it to the end of our trek. A day earlier than expected.

Camping beside the ocean every single night

We get taxied to the sweetest little town called Bamfield and stay the night on the lawn of a tourist information centre. We find a convenience store/pizza place and I ate myself crazy. If I lost any weight on that hike, I gained it all back that evening.





There is so much to say about our trek on the West Coast Trail. We walked for many kilometres on warm beautiful sand, trudged along miles of small rocks, scrambled over boulders the size of my house, walked across slippery logs, stepped into knee-high mud, climbed up and down ladders, crossed rivers on swinging bridges or on trolleys but damn it was fun.
I'll admit, I didn't enjoy every moment due to my inexperience as a back country camper, but that's not to say that I wouldn't do it again. Many times I saw the rescue boats or helicopters in the distance and considered waving them down.
I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to because I had to work hard to keep up with the group but now that I look back, I don't feel so bad about that anymore. There are so many pictures and videos of the WCT online that I will just have to keep many parts of the trip as a wonderful memory.
We met many other hikers along the way. Most were happy but a few were not.

The best part of each day was sitting down with my after-dinner tea or coffee and staring over the ocean.

A big thanks to everyone that cheered me on -- my family, friends, clients and acquaintances.

The BIGGEST thanks go to the 14th McKillop Veuturer Company who got me into this and wouldn't let me bail out.....Scouter Dave, Scouter Coleson, Brett, Thomas and Evan.