West Coast Trail Adventure 2024 — Charlene Waldner RMT

Hiking the west coast trail has always been on my bucket list . Finally decided to book when reservations opened January 28, 2024 .One needs to book far in advance to get a permit for the trail. I asked David Marlor if he wanted to join me. We have done a lot of back country camping together and I knew he would be up for the adventure.

The west coast trail (WCT) is one of the three units of the Pacific Rim National Park reserves administered by Parks Canada. The trail is open May 1- September 30. It is recommended for experienced backpackers only

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The story behind the trail

The Hutu-ay- aht, Ditidaht and Pancheedaht First Nations have always lived along Vancouver islands west coast. These nations used trails and paddling routes for trade and travel long before foreign sailing ships reached this region 200 years ago. As the trades increased, many sailing ships met a tragic fate navigating in these hazardous and unfamiliar waters. “Graveyard of the Pacific” - sailors of this coastline referred to.

After the tragic wreck of the Valencia in 1906, the loss of 133 lives, the government in response built the Pachena lighthouse and improved the telegraph route to become a lifesaving trail for the ship wreck victims and their rescuers. In 1973 the trail became the newly established Pacific Rim National Park.

It is 75 km of rugged coast line trail offering 130 ladders, deep muddy sections, fast flowing rivers to wade through, 4 cable cars, 130 bridges, boardwalks and stunning coast line scenery.

WCT Day 1 Friday June 28 - Gordon River - Camper Bay 14 km - 9 hrs

David and I took the West Coast trail express from downtown Victoria to the Trailhead in Gordon river. We decided to hike south to north. Hiking the harder sections first. The bus driver name was Rodger. The bus driver was awesome and provided first class service. We saw a small black bear( only bear we saw in the trip), eating berries on the side of the road around the Sooke area.

We arrived at Gordon River just before the 10 am mandatory briefing. We were instructed to watch a safety video as well as go over the tide chart and bear safety. It is taken very seriously. One needs to be informed what we/they are in for. The WCT is recommended for experienced backpackers only.

After the briefing we gathered our backpacks, taking a short ferry ride in a metal boat from Pecheedaht First Nation local. The boat was full capacity. Our hike began with a long wooden ladder, maybe 30 feet. Oh my gosh, I was thinking going up the ladder carrying my 35 ish lb pack, with all my gear. “”Look straight ahead I told myself.” My legs were trembling. “You can do this!“ I’m not great with heights, but holy cow this was the first ladder of many to come. When I approached the top, out of breath, I was ecstatic at the view of incredible scenery. David had started up the ladder ahead of me, and I was happy when he made it to the top safely. Starting our hike this section was in lush rain forest, big exposed roots and thick mud. The MEC lightweight gaiters worked perfect with my Cascadia trail runners, provided protection from sand and mud getting into my shoes. I had my hiking poles for balance and stability and to use for a measuring device for deep mud holes.

We passed through by Thrasher Cove and made our way to Camper Bay for the first night. Because of the tides we sadly missed the boulder section of Owen Point (need to get that one next time) . This section was a slog and just getting used to the weight of pack and adjusting to the terrain. My legs were feeling heavy, maybe still not recovered from Kusum Klimb the week before, but I knew I’d adapt and my backpack would get lighter as the hike went on.

Camper Bay beach campsite was fully occupied, but managed to squeeze David’s tent in. All the hikers were happy and welcoming. It was drizzling a bit, but felt cozy . Back country camping requires team work. The daily routine of David setting up his tent and filtering water. I made dinners and fetched the water to be filtered from the river. Tonight’s menu was Mac and Cheese, tuna and rehydrated vegetables that I dehydrated, one of my favourite backpacking meals. Some of the hikers were huddled around the campfire. It was warm and toasty. I always have the best sleeps in a tent, hearing the crashing waves of the ocean.

WCT Day 2 June 29 - Camper Bay to Bonilla Point 16 km - 9 hours

I started the day with Lost Hiker dark roast coffee, a local new roaster in Sayward, and yoga on the beach. I brought my two pound Manduka yoga mat, strapped onto my back pack. A woman in the next camp site over glanced over while I was doing yoga and said “I should have stretched more.“

It felt good to loosen up and prepare the body for the day ahead. After breakfast of oatmeal and dried fruit I had dehydrated, we packed up camp, filtered water and started on our way. This section had log crossings, ladders, suspension bridge, boardwalks and our first cable car crossing. I felt like a gymnast crossing a balance beam on some of those long log crossings over high streams. Looking straight ahead. I’ll admit it made me nervous. David walked across the logs like a pro, while I was holding my breath just praying I’d get across without falling off.

There were four cable car crossings to cross the fast flowing rivers. We had some help from a hiker named Lucas with the retrieval of one of the cable cars. It’s really a 3 person job. The cable car was fun and required some upper body strength to pull the cart across with our body weight and packs in tow. The mud bogs were deep knee deep in some sections.

Getting used to these ladders, I prefer going up them as opposed to going down. I had my pole straps around my wrists, sometimes my poles would get caught on branches and stuff. It was better to hold both poles in one hand. David kindly offered to take my poles with his. He had no problem carrying them in one hand and gripping the ladder with his free hand. I got the hang of it after a few days.

Once we started hiking on the beach it felt like walking on pavement compared to the slow thick muddy trail sections. Walking on thesSandy beaches with a 30 lb pack is a good workout for the legs. David is a strong hiker and was always a few meters in front of me. I had to almost run to keep up with him, my pace slow and steady.

Heading to Nitnat narrows early morning fog .

It was a bit overcast and misty. When we arrived at our camp destination at Bonilla Point I was surprised that we had this site to ourselves. It was in the forest and sheltered and there was a small waterfall to shower and filter water from. I went under the waterfall; the water was freezing cold but refreshing.

While David set up camp I made dinner, a repeat of the night before. Always eat your heaviest food first. We had 5 days of food with the intension of 4 days on the trail. Better to have one day extra. It started to rain. Fortunately the campsite was sheltered in the trees. I fell asleep to the sound of the crashing waves. Later to be woken up several times in the night by the sound of the Carmanah lighthouse foghorn in the distance.

WCT Day 3 Bonilla point to Tsusiat Falls 27 km 10 hrs (excluding 90 mins for lunch at the Crab shack )

I woke up to the sound of rain on the tent, which felt so cozy and I just wanted to sleep a bit longer, but we had our longest hiking day planned ahead. After a cold shower in the waterfall I was awake.

I filled up the CNOK with water for David to filter, made coffee and oatmeal. We packed up the wet tent and wearing our rain gear set off. I was grateful to have my Arc‘teryx rain jacket and ultimate direction rain pants. No such thing as bad weather, just bad gear . As we started our hike the blue ski appeared and the sun came out. I felt so relieved the weather cleared up just in time and it got very warm fast.

Lots of beach walking and navigating the shoreline rocks. We saw some cougar foot prints in the sand but no sign of a cougar. Lots of sea creatures in the tide pools and fast moving baby crabs. A few grey whale sightings let us know they were there by their tell-tale water spouts and occasional tale popping out of the water.

During our beach walk we passed a small shack , that I thought might be a coffee shop but it was the burger place. A woman came out and asked if we would like a burger. Truthfully I wasn’t hungry, planning to save my appetite for the Crab Shack on route, on Nitinaht Narrows.

David and I were famished mid afternoon by the time we arrived Nitnat Narrows. This was a busy place full of hungry hikers, a party atmosphere. It was worth the wait, the seafood was freshly cooked in front of us - a bit pricey but worth every penny. We shared the Ultimate Platter which was a huge loaded baked potato, a freshly caught crab and a piece of freshly caught halibut. We shared a Bubly water and two ciders, (most of which I drank). Highly recommend paying a visit here . After lunch, we boarded a boat that took us across the water to resume our hike on the other side.

It was another 8 km to the Tsusiat Falls where we planned to camp for the night. I was feeling a bit wobbly, due to the ciders. I set my backpack down to take a bathroom break, when I heard a “psst“ coming from my bear spray tucked into the outside of my back pack. The safety clip had come off. Luckily not much came out but I could feel a burning sensation in my mouth and nostrils. Well the bear spray works ha ha. There were no bears in sight so not a worry.

When we arrived at Tsusuit Falls, my favourite beach campsite and a main highlight of the WCT . The beach lines with hundreds of driftwood logs arranged randomly for some sort of privacy .We camped on the Very popular endless beach , next to a group of ladies from Vancouver . A swim in the waterfalls was a perfect way to end a long hiking day . Surprisingly the water was warm and the falls made for a powerful clean shower. I joined a few other ladies giggling in the water. I was down to one dry sports bra, so I went in topless . No one seemed to care . Whales were spotted in the distance by their tell tale water spouts.

WCT Day 4 July 1 Canada Day - Tsusiat Falls to Darling River

Happy Canada Day ! The day started with a powerful shower in the Tsuisut waterfall, I had it all to myself. Swimming under a waterfall is amazing!

I’d remembered to bring my CANADIAN flag compression socks and buff for the hike today. Feeling patriotic and proud to be Canadian. During the hike I recited “Oh Canada“ in my head. It was a moment to feel appreciative of our beautiful country, and to be hiking one of the most historic trails in our country. Other hikers we passed commented on my socks “Happy Canada Day.”

Today was a shorter easier hike day, beach walking and a stop for lunch on a sunny rock. We had planned to camp at Michigan Camp. When we arrived at Darling River campsite, 2 km closer, there was one hiker, from Victoria named Tim camping there. We had a great camp spot so decided to set up camp earlier than usual and take the opportunity to dry out my wet clothes in the Sunshine. It was a bit windy and exposed sitting in the sunshine and taking in the view of the ocean and whale and seal sightings.

As the day went on other hikers arrived setting up camp. A family of 8 from Ontario, who mentioned they had taken 8 years to book their crew onto the WCT. Another group of 4 young hikers camped next door to David and me. As we watched the whales, I noticed that the young hikers next to us were looking down at their phones. Even the adults, who had USA cell connection, sending text messages. It kind of made me feel sad seeing this. Really! We’re on the WCT and you’re looking down at your friggin phone!!! I used my phone to take pictures and videos only. My phone was in airplane mode and it was such a nice break from social media and the distractions of every day life. I had no interest to be on my phone and happy not to have internet connection.

Celebrating Canada Day at sunset Darling beach.

Dinner was a dehydrated Peak meal and we toasted Canada’s birthday with Fireball. I brought some sparklers in celebration of Canada Day, mini fireworks display.

WCT Day 5 - Darling River to Pachena Bay - Bamfield

This was the last day on our hike. It always makes me feel sad that the journey is coming to an end. The highlights along this section were the Pachena Bay lighthouse and Seal Rock. This section itself was very hike-able with long stretches of new boardwalks and “runnable“ open trails. David and I stopped at the lighthouse taking in the history and chatting with the grounds keeper - Doug I think was his name.

Seal rock was worth stopping for. Observing the barking seal lions frolicking on the rocks.The aroma was very fishy.

The last 2 km of the trail. There was a beach option, which was easier and shorter or stay on the trail for more ladders. We were asked by a trio of young girls just stating their hike from Pachena Bay why we took the harder route. I replied ”I wanted my money’s worth.” Prefer always to take the hard way home. We ran into some other day hikers congratulating us on our completio . Truthfully in my mind I thought “what if you had a 5 day resupply at Pachena bay then you could hike back to Gordon River on the same permit.” Why didn’t I think of that. Has anyone ever done that?

David and I checked off the trail at Pachena Bay then continued our hike to Bamfield, 6 km on nice trails and road. Someone commented “getting your extra hiking in eh.” Why not take an Uber? Really! We had just hiked 75 km so what’s 6 km more?

We arrived at the Bamfield campsite for the last night, where we would catch the shuttle home the next day. Mostly car campers here. Nice campsite with showers , which felt so refreshing.

We were highly recommended to try out a new restaurant called Flora’s, so took a water taxi over to the Bamfield Inn where the restaurant was. Hungry hikers will eat anything, but the food here was excellent and the prices were reasonable in this over inflated economy.

Feeling stuffed from the delicious meal, it was nice to get back to the campsite and shower, stretch and have an early night .

The next day was a breakfast at the Market and wander around town before boarding the West Coast Trail Express shuttle bus back home. It was a scenic drive back going along Lake Cowichan backroads Gordon River, Pachena Bay and Port Renfrew. I really didn’t want to go home , I wished I could do the hike again but in reverse . Maybe next time .

I was chatting to a woman from Ontario on the bus , in her 70’s celebrating her 73 birthday has hiked WCT 15 times solo . She said is was the muddiest year she’s every experienced . She said is was her last time hiking this . Her body just can’t do it anymore . Her record was hiking it in 5 days , she did it in 7 this time. She was amazed How we did it so fast.

When I told her about Matt Cecil’s FKT ( fastest known time ) for the WCT in 2014 in 9 hrs 32 min 32 sec her jaw dropped. “Was that a dry year, not take take away from his accomplishment“ she asked? I don’t know, I dont t think it matters but it seems humanly impossible to me. Wow how did Matt do that?

Hiking the West Coast Trail was an awesome experience and I highly recommend it if you’re into back country camping experience. The photos just don’t t do justice . I loved it all . The ladders , the rain forest, the beaches , cable cars , everything about it . All of the hikers we met along the trail so friendly, we were all in this together. It made me appreciate British Columbia even more with what beautiful trails and outdoor adventure we have on our doorstep.

Next year 2025 the plan is to hike WCT including Owen Point and Juan de Fuca both in one g . Let me know if you’re interested in joining.

Happy trails to you !