Sunshine Coast Trail Adventure - July 1, 2021

The Sunshine Coast trail holiday hike adventure July 1 2021

Still recovering from the disappointment of Fat Dog 120 being cancelled this year , an event David Marlor and I had set sights on training for, we planned another hiking adventure along the Sunshine Coast Trail (SCT). This would involve through-hiking . Through-hiking by definition is :hiking end to end on a long distance trail with continuous footsteps in one direction. Carrying everything we would need for the entire trip on our backs. We planned to start the hike in Powell River finishing at Saltrey bay. The true start of the trail is Sarah Point in Desolation Sound, which would have added on an extra 50 km to our planned distance and wasn't in our itinerary.

The Sunshine Coast Trail is Canada’s longest hut to hut hiking trail, 180 km of beautiful landscapes, from coastal shorelines, along lakes and creeks through old growth forests to panoramic mountain tops. The name is well suited for this trail as there was no shortage of sunshine and coastal trails.

Fat Dog was cancelled due to many reasons caused by our global pandemic. The Finlayson Arm race In September, which was originally cancelled was now back on. I had forgotten about the free entry I had won at the Vancouver Island Trail Series event in 2019. I messaged race director Myke LaBelle if I could still use my comp entry, and he sent me the code. I figured I may as well enter the “Double” trail running event 100 km starting Friday 5pm and finishing Saturday afternoon ( hopefully) and Sunday 30 km run in the am. Go big or go home right ? OMG what have I done ? When I told David I had registered for the Double, I convinced him to sign up too. Besides FOMO ( Fear OF Missing Out) would get him if he didn't. We plan to camp overnight at Goldstream . It will be fun and I'm really looking forward to this bucket list local event. After consulting with my coach Matt Cecil he agreed SCT would be good training preparation for Fin Arm, since both have similar elevation gain of over 6000 metre profiles.

Your body is built for walking -Gary Yanker

Day 1 July 1 Canada Day – Powell River Trailhead to Inland lake Anthony Island- 27 km

David and I had the car packed and driving off at 6:10am to catch the ferry to Powell River. The night before I received an email from MEC about a bear spray recall. I had just purchased mine a few weeks ago and as luck would have it, mine was defective. GREAT ! We're about to hit bear country without bear spray. Hoping we could find some in Powell River as we hiked to the trailhead. Talk about stressful!

The day before we left, I had just purchased Living Benefits , an accident plan that pays in the event that you need to go to the hospital from any accident whether it’s from a car, bus, taxi, truck, train, motorcycle, boat, ATV, while at work, or at home. https://www.livingbenefitsvi.com. I was literately signing the electronic documents on the ferry. I had heard about Living Benefits from a presentation from Janelle and Darien, guest speakers for our monthly clinic staff meeting . It sounded to good to be true. I always worry about the possibility of injury doing these crazy adventures or even at home in case I was to cut one of my fingers off making dinner. I wanted some piece of mind. I highly recommend checking them out!

David and I arrived in Powell River, and we walked downtown on our journey to find bear spray. My pack felt like it weighed about 50 pounds, with six days of food (mostly dehydrated), 2 litres of water, minimal clothing, and sleeping gear for 6 days and 5 nights, the longest back country hiking trip I've been on to date. Oh I also brought a half litre of wine so that added extra weight. It's nice to have a few sips with dinner at the end of a long day of hiking :)

First stop Canadian Tire : I asked the sales woman “ Do you have any bear spray?”

She replied “ NO all out.”

Me: “Are there many black bears on this island?“

She: “ I have never heard of any black bear encounters on the Sunshine coast trail and BTW you are on the mainland“.

Me: Oh LOL. Duh . We came on a ferry . Dumb tourist.

Next stop – for lunch at Quality Foods . The woman working in the deli: “My sister in law saw a black bear and her cubs on the SCT last week. You don't want to get in the way of a mama bear.”

Me: “No you don't . Do you know where we can get some bear spray ? On a Civic holiday?”

As David and I were leaving the store, another couple were interested to know where we were headed as it was obvious carrying our huge backpacks. They informed us that their son had seen two Grizzly bears close to Tin Hat where we would be hiking. This I did not want to hear. He even chased us down in the parking lot as we were leaving to show us the Facebook post his son had sent out. “ But don't worry , the bears are well fed and not hungry . Good luck !“ he said.

At this point I was feeling anxious and wondering if hiking in bear country with no bear spray was a good idea. We exhausted our resources and headed off to the trailhead. We encountered black bears at Cape Scott with no issues and thankfully not because my defective bear spray might not have worked anyways. We had David's Swiss army knife and our trekking poles as weapons if we needed them.

As we hiked through town about five kilometres to the trailhead, my lower back was feeling very achy and sore. I was already uncomfortable from the start. I figured my pack probably wasn't balanced properly or maybe not adjusted properly. I tried not to complain but it was frustrating so early into the hike. I never have back issues. I took off my pack and stretched and self massaged the area. When we finally arrived at our first campsite at Anthony island, after an easy 20 km flattish hike. I was grateful I had brought my Maduka travel yoga mat, acupressure ball and muscle relief essential oil roll on. After a refreshing dip in the lake and ball rolling, my back was feeling better. I asked David to dig his elbow into my left buttock and massage the oil onto my back, it relieved a lot of tension. After a dinner of Amy's organic mac & cheese with rehydrated dehydrated vegetables and tuna it was time for bed. We conveniently camped right next to the outhouse too.

New Myths are formed beneath each of our steps.-Louis Aragon

July 2 Day 2- Anthony Island to Tin Hat Summit 21 km

The birds woke me up bright and early. We packed up the tent, ate a breakfast of rolled oats with dried fruits and I enjoyed my espresso coffee before we headed out. Thankfully my back was feeling pain-free and I was happy. We hiked up through Pearson Pass to Confederation lake where we stopped to filter water and have lunch. One of the highlights of this trail is Vomit Vista . Who knows why the trail was named that! It was nice to take off the shoes and socks and cool my legs off in Confederation lake. I really wanted to swim, but there were a lot of logs and I didn't feel comfortable. I used Nuun tablets in my water for the extra electrolytes as I was sweating buckets. I found soaking my buff in the lake and creek water helped to keep my neck and head cool. I did this repeatedly throughout the hike.

Last water stop before the summit. We loaded up seven litres.

On our way to the top of Tin Hat. The climb was steady, slow going, steep, switchback, single track trail. It was a relentless grind to the top. We were averaging 2km/hr. Two trail runners heading down the trail, the first humans we had seen all day, told us there were two more hikers ahead. We stopped to filter water at a creek, the last water source before the summit, and brought an extra three litres that David strapped to the outside of his pack. Between both of us we had about seven litres. I felt bad for David carrying all that extra weight, but it was extra insurance as we were uncertain if the rain barrels at the top on Tin Hat would have water. As we climbed the trail, it was getting steeper and steeper. I had to stop a few times to take off my pack and stretch. My neck and shoulders were sore, which meant again my pack wasn't sitting properly. The weight should have been mostly riding on my hips. The climb seemed to go on forever.

Finally, I could see the blue sky opening at the top of the last kilometre of rocky fireroad. My body was aching. The feeling you get at the end of a race when you have nothing left and you're coasting on fumes to the finish line. I imagined crowds on the side of trail yelling “ Come on you got this. Almost there! Suck it up winy baby!“ As we approached the top I could see people sitting at a picnic table drinking beer. “ Congratulations you made it/” It was a surreal moment. A party on the top of a mountain with all these little tents popped up all over like pimples. We arrived at about 8:30pm so most of the good camp spots had been taken.

We managed to find a sloped rock to pitch the tent onto. It was good as it gets. David set up the tent as I made dinner in the Jet Boil. Ramen noodles with tuna and dehydrated vegetables. For dessert we enjoyed an amazing dehydrated chocolate cheesecake, which was more like pudding. Need to find more of that! The bugs were relentless and immune to the bug spray. I was getting eaten alive. We ate our dinner as we watched the pink sky sunset, and settled into our sleeping bags. I felt like i was sliding down the mountain as we had camped on a slope, but was so tired i could sleep anywhere. My Manduka yoga mat provided a bit of anti slip for our sleeping matts, but somehow the bugs were still attacking my legs. I woke up scratching most of the night.

When you walk on earth, you must know that one miracle walks on another miracle -Mehmet Murat ildan

Day 3 Tin Hut – Elk Lake 25 km

The light in the tent woke me up at 4:15am. I was wide awake and bushy tailed. I woke David up to see if he wanted to watch the sunrise. We set the alarm for 5:10am as sunrise was at 5:15am. I didn't want to miss it as it probably is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Peaking out of the tent I could see others had the same idea and were sitting outside bundled up waiting for the show to begin. It was a magical moment as the sun rose above the mountains. A bright red fireball sparkling through the mountain peaks. It was an unforgettable experience! David and I hiked up to the top where the weather station was to take a few photos of the 360 degree view of the mountains, valleys and lakes.

After coffee and breakfast of oatmeal and dried fruit, we packed up and started our descend down the mountain. The trail was dry and technical single track. I slid down onto my ass saved by my pack a few times. There were other hikers heading in the same direction as us. They would pass us, and we would catch up and pass them again. Our pace was steady. David was always a few meters ahead as he is a much stronger hiker than I. I can keep up on the climbs but on the downhills I struggle.

David and I didn't talk much as we hiked, I enjoyed the silence and listening to the birds chatter. I was inside my own head thinking, trying to stay in the moment enjoying the scenery. Sometimes we would be joking around and I was doubled over giggling about nothing .We took a break for me to jump in the Lewis Lake to cool off. It was so refreshing ! I'd wished I had brought my swim goggles.

We ran into a few day hikers and stopped to chat about where they were going. Everyone we met seemed friendly and just happy to be in the wilderness. Heading up to Elk Lake again was a bit of a grind at the end of the day- all uphill, steep winding single track. Are we there yet? My neck and shoulders were on fire, but I kept pushing through. I was so hot, I couldn't wait to jump into the lake. Finally we arrived at Elk Lake, most of the good camping sites were taken by a group of four experienced women hikers and the next camp site at Coyote Lake was at least another hour away. We were exhausted!

David tried to scoop out a flattish area for the tent using the trowel ( cat hole digger), while I tried to organize dinner in the middle of the trail. We ate Ramen noodles, tuna and dehydrated veggies and were in the tent before dark. I wasn't feeling great and tried to sleep but kept waking up as my ears were on red alert.

If you seek creative ideas go walking , Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk. -Raymond I. Meyers

Day 4 Elk Lake - Lois Lake 30 km

I woke up in the middle of the night with a splitting headache which turned into a migraine by morning. I could hear the group of ladies packing up and heading out on the trail for 6:30am. The heat and smell inside the tent made me want to vomit. As soon as I opened the tent, the blast of fresh air was intoxicating.

Another beautiful sunny day! I was feeling slow and nauseated. I thought perhaps I was dehydrated or had heat exhaustion. Fortunately I had packed Advil, Tylenol and Gravol in my First Aid Kit. I took one of each, with some Nuun electrolyte drink. I have heard this is the secret remedy and how the ER treats migraines. I went for a quick cold dip in the lake, the drugs kicked in and started to feel better. I forced myself to eat some oatmeal because I knew we had another long day ahead and I needed the energy. David proposed that we could cut out early if I wasn't well enough to finish, but that thought never crossed my mind. I'm not letting a migraine spoil my vacation ! Too bad so sad, suck it up winy baby :)

My pack is adjustable, so adjusted the so it sat higher and off my shoulders, transfer the weight to my hips, and it seemed to make a huge difference. It takes a while to get a pack dialed in properly.

We packed up the tent after breakfast and started the day. When we arrived at Coyote Lake which was 4km, about 2 hrs away from Elk, we found a gorgeous site by the lake with a picnic table. I'd wished we could have made it here the night before but in hindsight probably was best to quit for the day when we did. Next time!

After a skinny dip in the lake while David filtered more water, we headed down the trail towards Walt Hill. On the way hiking down a remote fire road, we disturbed a nest of baby toads. There were hundreds of them, scurrying from the nest. I'd never seen anything like it! They could have been mating. I tried not to step on any as we tip toed around them. So cute! There was a pile of wood chips with more baby toads popping out. We took a minor detour as David said the trail “ looked like shit”, which was the right trail to take. We had to cross over a little mud puddle filled with larger toads. Thinking back to grade 12 Biology where I had to dissect a poor innocent frog.. gross!

View form Walt Hill - at 1000 metres, third highest point on the SCT

We finally climbed up to the top of Walt Hill, and I was surprised to see the group of ladies who had left Elk Lake about 2 hours before us. They looked pretty tired and were basking in the sun eating lunch. One of the ladies asked if I could take her picture to post on social media as there was cell service at this location. I gladly took her picture while David headed to the compost outhouse. The outhouses were very clean and didn't smell either. While David was doing his business, I talked to one of the other lady hikers. She said her traps ( upper shoulders) were sore from the weight of her pack. They all had packed too much food, carrying extra weight they didn't need and now were paying for it.

I felt her pain and didn't dare say what I do for a living. Thinking “ if only I had a square reader right now, I could make some good money. What a great business opportunity “Mobile massage on the Go”. What would sore hikers pay for a neck and shoulder or leg massage ? It would be possible to helicopter in a massage table to this location, but it would only be seasonal work. My mind was racing with ideas. Wait, this is a vacation from work not a working vacation. They asked us where we were headed tonight and David replied “we don't have a plan – but hope to get to Lois Lake”. There was silence. I was thinking “ We will hike until our legs fall off lol “ Little did they know . We said good bye and wished them luck on the rest of their journey. As we headed down the trail I said under my breath to David “ I'm glad we passed those bitches “ ! I was just joking, they were nice but they had attitude!

David in his cool Goodr glasses, filtering water.

Onwards to Lois lake, we stopped to refill water at a nice flowing creek. I took my shoes and socks off and let my poor tired feet and legs soak in the icy cold water. Again David filtered water for us. I started to panic a bit here thinking this could be a good place for bears to hang out. I didn't say anything to David about my anxiety, but quickly put my socks and shoes back on as we headed another five kilometres to Lois lake.

As we arrived at Lois Lake we found a lakeside campsite. This area seemed full of rednecks as there were lots of big trucks driving back and forth on the gravel road behind the campsite. David set up camp, after a quick dip in the lake I made us dinner- a hiker meal bean salad with tuna, and David had a chicken and rice veggie meal. We were so tired, the sun was setting and we hung the bear bag in a tree far from our campsite. It had been a long day, but happy we reached our goal destination.

You cannot teach a crab to walk straight. - Aristophanes

Day 5- Lois lake -Mt. Troubridge- Rainy Day Lake.

It was nice to wake up close to the lake. There was a tent right next door to us, but I had not seen anyone go in or out. I was thinking “hopefully no one died in there“. Who knows maybe just a tired redneck camper with a nice tent.

While we were eating our breakfast of oats and dried fruit, a family of geese, mom, dad and three babies approached us begging for food. You could tell they had been fed before because they were not scared and came right up to us. Since we were near the end of our trip, we had no food to spare anyways. We guarded our breakfast and David reached for his hiking poles in case they became aggressive. The mother goose hissed at us, I could see her tongue. There was plenty of fish in the lake for them to eat. They scoured he beach, but eventually left. That was close! Good thing I wasn't a redneck or they could have been dinner.

Near summit of mount Troubridge - at 1300 metes, the highest point on the SCT,

We packed up and left heading to Rainy Day Lake. On route we had a big climb up to the summit of Troubridge, 1300 meters elevation. It was a nice steady climb. Once at the summit, we had to begin the descent down as David said “the shit trail”. It was rocky, loose and technical. I was bracing myself down the trail, being cautious not to twist an ankle. At this point my legs were tired, but my brain was on cruise control, not even thinking about where to put my feet, it was automatic. It was a nice feeling in the zone, just one foot in front of the other.

We came across a solo hiker with a German accent .He was heading to the summit of Troubride and hoping to stay the night. I noticed he had a can of bear spray on his pack, but for him to make it there before dark was questionable. Oh well, I'm sure he knew what he's doing, hopefully.

We finally arrived at Rainy Day Lake hut, I could hear voices down by the lake. I couldn't wait to go in. David set up the tent and told me to go to the “Swimming Hole” to cool off. I came to the dock and there were a group of six hikers from the mainland. Two of them had strong Australian accents. They seemed like experienced hikers telling me of the adventures they had completed. They also commented on the German hiker saying he was crazy and was not carrying water. Wow! in this heat that would be deadly. Hoped he was okay? I jumped off the dock into the water to cool off and then sat in the sun and chatted to the nice group for a few minutes. When I got back to our campsite David had already set up the tent right next door to the Rainy Day Lake hut. It was bigger than a tiny home I dream of owning one day. It had huge windows to look out at the amazing view. I took my yoga mat inside and did some stretching and rolling after our last dehydrated two serving dinner – Pad Thai. This one was the best camper meals so far!

I woke up in the middle of the night and heard footsteps around the tent. David was fast asleep and doesn't hear without his hearing aids. I heard something in the cabin, hoping that maybe it was the hikers who had camped below retrieving their bear bags. I had to pee, but I stayed in the tent waiting for daylight. Maybe it was a bear, cougar or Sasquatch ? Luckily we only had dry oats and a few Lara bars left if something got into our food we would still be okay for the remaining ten kilometres hike out the next day. But, if they steel my coffee, I'll be pissed!

“Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.”-Steven Wright

Day 6- Rainy Day Lake to Saltrey Bay

I awoke to the sound of singing birds. They are so much louder in the wilderness. The humming birds were swooping over the tent as if to say good morning . I didn't see any evidence of paw footprints outside he tent, maybe I just imagined hearing them. We ate our last breakfast of oats and dried fruit and added in a few fresh huckleberries from the huckleberry bushes close to the tent. Personally, I like to keep the berries for the bears to eat. I did a little yoga practise in the hut before we left, feeling sad this was our last day on the trail.

The last ten kilometres was a coastal trail We took the longer route back as we had time to spare. We had lots of time to get to Saltrey Bay as we didn't have to be there until 2:10 pm to catch a transit bus to Powell River. It was a beautiful trail with a cool ocean breeze. I was looking out on the ocean, hoping we would see whales breaching. We never did but I'm sure they were out there. As we neared Saltrey bay I didn't want the hike to be over. Secretly I had wished we started from Sarah Point, which would have added on about 50 km or two extra days. Next time. We ran into a couple of day hikers who smelled nice and looked fresh, hoping they didn't smell us not having showered for five days. We stopped and chatted as they wanted to know how far we had hiked. In awe the woman turned to us and says “ I bet you could bounce a quarter off your butt right now.” I haven't heard that one in awhile ha ha. Maybe?

We stopped at the bay and I went into the ocean waist deep to cool off. As we neared the end of the hike we ran into one of the trail maintenance people. He was nice and asked us how our hike was. We told him what a great adventure it had been and how much we appreciated the condition of the trail, the huts and the work that had been done to maintain the trail. He offered us water as I had dumped mine – feeling done drinking filtered lake and stream water.

Southern terminus of the SCT at Saltery Bay

We went to the BC ferries office to check the bus schedule as David had planned for us to catch it at 2:10 pm to Powell River. The BC ferries attendant didn't have a clue, but then later confirmed he was right and there were buses running on the summer schedule. Meanwhile it was lunch time, and the Taco place I was hoping was open of course was closed. We were starving and had to resort to a BC Ferries vending machine for some nutrition and cold drinks. I must admit the diet coke and salty chips tasted amazing!

We walked up to the bus stop in the blazing sun and found some shade. I still couldn't believe we had reached the end of our adventure. The bus came and I remember feeling emotional and choking back tears as we were driving to Powell River. I didn't want to start crying in front of all these happy strangers on the bus. I think I was just tired, hungry, thirsty, hot , stinky and still had a lingering headache that lasted for days. I was sad our trip was coming to an end but also relieved that everything went smoothly for us, no bear attack, nothing bad happened, no injuries, only leaving with good memories.

We went for dinner at the Coastal Cookery restaurant as we had time before we had to catch the ferry. I was feeling nauseous, but after taking some Advil I felt like I could eat and drink. I felt immediately better after my local cider and fresh salad with chicken I was craving. I had seen a flyer in the Confederation Lake Hut advertising “Wild “ ice cream and made a note we must get some. Our waitress raved about it and gave us directions to the ice cream place. I had two scoops- grapefruit with candied ginger and a scoop of blended rhubarb in a plant based waffle cone. It was the best frigging ice cream I've ever had and worth the price . So refreshing!

We walked to the ferry and a young woman was interested to know where we had been hiking. After we chatted with her she handed us a bag of fresh cherries she had picked from a farm. It was a nice gesture and we kindly accepted and ate them on the ferry. We sat outside on the ferry deck. David had a nap with his head on my lap and I stared out onto the ocean till we arrived at Powell River.

We walked off the ferry and again said thank you to the woman who had given us the cherries.

This was it , now for the drive back to Victoria . It would be 10:10 pm before we made it home, so November Project the next morning at 6:29am was not likely to happen. Too bad because it was the first in-person workout we have had in months. We were both were tired and in need of a shower and sleep in a real bed. I also was Netflix deprived and had to catch up on Grey's Anatomy :)

The Sunshine Coast Trail will be an adventure I'll always remember. We hiked 130 km and climbed 6,260 metres over the six days. The highlight for me was Tin Hat at Sunrise, although I really enjoyed all of it! If it hadn't been for Covid-19 and needing to stay local I may never had had the chance to experience back country hiking and camping for six days and five nights on this amazing trail. I'm sure some good will come from our Covid days and I look forward to the day when we all say “well, maybe it wasn't so bad after all.”

I feel grateful to live in such a beautiful part of the world and to have a special friend like David who has taken me on adventures I've never dreamed I would do. Thank you!

In the meantime, I appreciate my own feet that allowed me to complete this journey .With no blisters to show for (I'm very lucky) . So please be kind to your feet and take care of your bodies so that you can hike, walk and run till the day you leave this earth. Because walking is a beautiful way to see the world.

The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art – Leonardo da Vinci

Quotes taken from the book “ Born to Walk” Myofascial Efficiency and the Body in Movement

James Earl