This report was written by my 17yr old about our Aug 23rd 2011 hike on the WCT....Enjoy

Day 1 – Tuesday, 23 August 2011: Gordon River to Thrasher Cove
The start of our hike today was also my Uncle Ron’s 56th birthday and three days later on the hike my friend Nick would turn 17.Before going out onto the trail, there is a mandatory orientation lecture by a B.C. parks ranger explaining some of the potential dangers we could encounter on the trail including (but not limited to), bears, cougars and other wild life, slippery boardwalks, storms, earthquakes, and the remote possibility of a Tsunamis. The lecture also covered safety and evacuation procedures and highlights of the trail. At this time, we were also given plasticized maps of the entire trail showing us recommended camping sites, cable car crossing points and potential sources of drinking water. There was also a warning that a group of bears had been seen on the trail near kilometre 26 and they appeared to be fairly aggressive.
After our approximately 40 minute orientation lecture, we boarded a small boat that carried us across the Gordon River to the southern end of the trail where we would start our adventure. There was the mandatory photo session and then, at approximately 11:30 a.m., we started heading north along the trail.
We were fortunate enough to have good weather for the majority of our hike. The first day started off with sunshine. Unfortunately, however, the previous day had seen very heavy rainfall and so large portions of the trail were reduced to mud bogs and the numerous tree roots, log bridges and boardwalks that we encountered along the trail were all extremely slippery.
As we started hiking north along the trail, we were immediately greeted with a taste of what we would come to see the rest of the day: steep hills with lots of roots and lots of mud. At the top of the first hill was a kilometre marker indicating kilometre 75. Since we were starting at the south end of the trail, we would be counting down the kilometres from 75 at the Gordon River end of the trail to zero at the Pachina Bay trailhead.
Nick and I took a photo here and then continued hiking upwards, all the while enjoying the wonders of the temperate rainforest. We were constantly surrounded by trees larger than any I have seen in my life. Most of them must have been at least 300 years old.
We often had to climb up steep embankments using the tree roots like stairs or makeshift ladders. Trudging through the mud and roots we often went through small creeks flowing over the trail from the heavy rainfall the day before. At one time the runoff was so strong that we were convinced we were walking straight up a creek.
The first day we went the shortest distance - only 6 kilometres to Thrasher cove - but it was certainly the most difficult day as well. The constant up and down of the hills, stepping over roots made trekking exhausting, slow and difficult. Many times throughout the hike it was only my boots that saved my ankles from rolling over and giving me a severe sprain.
Just past halfway through our first 6 km section to the beach access we came upon one of the highlights of the trail, an old donkey steam engine left from when the trail was used as a telegraph line and lifesaving trail. How our ancestors managed to haul that huge machine up to that remote location still amazes me to this day as it was close to the highest point on the West Coast Trail. We took several photos of it and kept hiking on.
Throughout the day we saw remnants of the old telegraph line itself a number of times. We also saw a massive steel cable (almost as thick as my wrist) left from when they were working on the trail. We kept our energy up by drinking water, (approximately 1.5 litres while hiking and more at camp), and eating snacks, varying from cereal bars to dried fruit.
When we finally reached the beach access after approximately 5 hours of strenuous hiking we were surprised to find the 1 km branch trail down to the Thrasher Cove campsite was one of the most difficult of the day. It started with a steeper hill than we had yet seen and finished with the first of many ladder systems that we would encounter throughout our adventure.
To get down to the Thrasher Cove campsite we had to leave the main trail and follow a branch trail to the beach. In order to reach the beach, we had to climb down about four different ladders each about 10 meters in height and very slippery. Our backpacks each weighed about 45 pounds and we were each carrying two hiking poles. This made going down the ladders that much more difficult. Fortunately, we all made it down without a problem and proceeded onto the beach to set up our first campsite.
Thrasher Cove was the smallest beach campsite that we stayed at and, as such, it was crowded. We barely had room for our tents by the time we arrived. Upon arrival, we set up our two tents and then promptly got water from a nearby creek using our Kadadyne water filter. To boil the water we used our Jet Boil and Wisper Lite stoves. We quickly had the water boiling and used it to cook our Mountain House dehydrated meals, which were delicious after a long day of hiking. We refilled our water bottles after dinner and then got ready for the next day which we knew from our research was going to be another challenging experience.

Day 2- Wednesday, 24 August 2011: Thrasher Cove to Camper Bay
Our original plan was to stay on the beach from Thrasher Cove to the 64 km point and to go around Owen point, a scenic piece of natural landscape. Unfortunately, however, the tides did not work for us (high tide was too early in the day and the height of the tide would have put us under water before we could reach the trail access point). Consequently, we were forced to go back up the ladders, (the very long, very steep, very slippery, very labour intensive, ladder’s) and rejoin the main trail to Camper Bay at the 70 km mark.
After retracing our steps along the 1 km section from the beach to the main trail access, we started the second leg of our journey: an 8 km hike to reach Camper Bay.
We were greeted with more bridges this day as well as very short boardwalks. Some of these boardwalks were rotting and had more empty spaces than planks. They were all covered in mud and moss and were very slippery. Sometimes, the boardwalks were in such dilapidated condition that it was faster and easier to simply trudge through the mud beside the boardwalk rather than to try to pick a safe route along them.
We crossed many bridges made right from the logs, with just a narrow flat top for walking on. Some of these bridges were made from single logs. Others were made from two or more logs connected together end-to-end making one long bridge. Some went over creeks; others were right on the ground spanning mud bogs; and yet others were an alarming height above the ground.
When we initially reached the main trail, after our climb up from the beach, we were at a higher elevation. Later on during the day we came closer to the ocean and were forced to traverse through a swamp, which meant dealing with mud yet again, Lot’s and lot’s of thick, deep, sticky mud.
When there were no boardwalks to cross the mud bogs, we tried to step from stump to stump or from tree root to tree root to avoid sinking into the mud bogs. The mud wouldn’t have been such a big issue if it wasn’t for the fact that when you missed the stump or root, you sank down to your knees in mud and water. We quickly developed a technique of using our hiking poles to try to feel for the solid objects hidden beneath the mud. Unfortunately, this technique didn’t always work and we would slip and step into the mud.
Hiking throughout this second day we tried to stop every hour or at every kilometre marker (whichever came first) for a short break during which we would rest and have a little bit of food and water to keep up our energy. We did not have lunch throughout any of the days during the hike. However, snacking on granola bars and bagels kept us full enough and we came to consider a bagel as a good substitute for lunch.
The only wildlife we saw up until this point were slugs and bugs. Though later on we heard that there were of a couple of bears on the trial and that made us happy we had brought our bear spray with us. Thankfully, we didn’t have an encounter with any bears or cougars on our own.
Just before the Camper Bay campsite we reached our first cable car going over a rather large river. These cable cars are made out of metal and are just big enough for two people and their packs. Even then, it is a very tight fit. (There are five of these cable cars along the length of the entire trail).
We loaded our packs into the cable car and with barely any room to spare and then we squeezed ourselves in. We then let go of the supporting guide rope and went zooming halfway across the river. Unfortunately, in order to complete the trip across the river we had to use the guide rope to pull ourselves up to the platform on the opposite side of the river. Given the cramped conditions, this was sometimes an arduous task.
Upon reaching Camper Bay campsite we again set up our tents, got water and cooked our Mountain House dehydrated food. The best part of reaching camp was always being able to take off our boots. Part of the relief was because our feet were almost constantly soaked so long as they were in our boots. I also took the time to bathe in the river which was very cold.
We arrived at camp early enough to talk with some fellow hikers and enjoy the evening, discussing things such as our hike that day and equipment we used. One couple introduced us to a “pop can alcohol stove” that we had never seen before and shared with us some of their secrets for ultra-light camping (they were a husband and wife team from California and this was their 5th night heading from north to south to Port Renfrew). We also met a very nice French family from Calgary and we would see them frequently during the remainder of the hike.
The last thing we did each night before going to bed was to put the food away in one of the large metal bear containers that were located at each campsite. I had left my snacks on my pack and learned very quickly that was a mistake as throughout the night mice were having a feast on them.
Camper Bay was a beautiful campsite, a little cove almost, surrounded by rock walls on either side yet still very open, across the river offered a spectacular view of the ocean.

Day 3- Thursday, 25 August 2011: Camper Bay to Walbran Creek
Today my friend Nick had his 17th birthday and it certainly would be a memorable one.
We started the morning with our standard hiking breakfast: a bowl of porridge and raisins.
We did not know, however, that this would be the longest day (12hrs and muddiest) of our journey . Our destination for this day was Walbran Creek. We went through the usual morning routine of shaking off the condensation left from the thick fog we often had in the mornings in combination with the humid climate. The park ranger had warned us during our orientation that August had been nicknamed the month “Fogust” for a reason. After refilling our water bottles which we did every morning before breaking camp we set out for yet another day on the trail.
On the map, Walbran Creek was only 9km from Camper Bay but the challenging terrain made progress very slow, dangerous and difficult. For much of this portion of the trail, we were lucky to be progressing at a speed of 1 k.p.h. The mud was thick and sticky and the roots, logs and embankments were all very slippery.
Most of the day was spent hiking through the rainforest. With no beach accesses along the way, we were forced to go over what were the worst roots we had seen yet. Along this section of the trail the tree roots were huge and difficult to get over and the deep mud bogs were almost continuous, we also had to crawl under huge fallen ceader trees. This slowed our pace dramatically. In order to develop a hiking rhythm my friend Nick composed a song that he entitled “West Coast Trail” and sung it to the tune of Jingle Bells. Every so often Nick would entertain us with a verse or two and it seemed to help keep our spirits up.
Also along this section of the trail, we needed to cross several creeks. Since most of the trail was higher up, crossing these creeks meant using the ladders and descending rapidly down a steep embankment into a valley, getting across the creek and then climbing up the other side. Several of the ladders that we were forced to climb were almost 200 feet high! With our heavy packs and two hiking poles and the slippery conditions, it was a significant challenge at times.
The few sections of the trail that were maintained were maintained very well and there were clearly some new editions, such as boardwalks and bridges spanning some of the creeks. These were few and far between but easy to identify due to the fresh wood smell and the lack of mud and moss covering them.
Descending down one of the longest ladders that we had yet encountered along our journey, we arrived at Logan Creek. Spanning Logan Creek is a suspension bridge approximately 100 meters long. In order to reach the suspension bridge it was necessary to climb down a long and steep system of ladders.
It was a fun experience crossing the suspension bridge approximately 50 metres off the ground, with only a few inches to walk on and swaying constantly due to our movement. At the other end of the bridge was an equally long ladder that we had to go back up to get back onto the main trial.
After crossing Logan Creek, we realized that we were going to have to hurry if we hoped to get to Walbran Creek before dark and hiking this trail in the dark was not an option, it would have been a very dangerous scenario. We decided Nick and his Dad would go ahead us as they had a faster pace than what my Uncle could do. My Uncle is an experienced hiker and bush person and told me if it gets dark we would set up an emergency camp on the trail and stay the night. As it turned out my Uncle and I went down the last two ladders just as dusk was settling in and met up with Nick and his Dad at Walbran.
Fortunately, between Logan Creek and Walbran Creek, we encountered the longest boardwalk we had yet seen. It ran across a marsh-like opening through the forest and must have been about 300 meters long. If it had not been for this boardwalk, we probably would not have made it to Walbran Creek before dark.
Soon we could see the fog which meant that the ocean was near. We were rushing to camp trying to make it before dark and were relieved to finally make it having had to scale down yet another steep ladder in the dusk and entering the fog enshrouded campsite on the beach.
We followed our normal routines once we got to camp, setting up the tents, getting water and preparing food. This time, however, because the sun had already set, we needed to do it all by the light of our headlamps. Nick celebrated his birthday dinner with a Mars bar and the best wishes from all of us. I was extremely tired but happy that the worst part of the trail was now behind us. We knew that from here on the hiking would get easier as Walbran is the halfway mark from the hardest part of the trail from Port Renfrew to the easiest section Bamfield.
The nights were cool but not cold, though our sleeping bags were welcomed. We soon learned to put any objects we didn’t want soaked through under our tent flaps as anything left out would be soaking wet by morning due to the thick fog and extreme humidity.
Walbran Creek campsite was a very rocky campsite though it was very large and it had some interesting caves across the creek.

Day 4 – Friday, 26 August 2011: Walbran Creek to Cribbs Creek
There is only one word to adequately describe today.... Hallelujah! Compared to the first three days, the fourth day was a lot easier. This was to be a belated birthday gift for my Uncle Ron and Nick from the hiking gods.
We woke up that morning at about 06:30 hrs and packed our things up and took down the tents. We then had our standard breakfast of porridge and raisins, which by day four was starting to seem fairly routine. Eggs Florentine would have been a nice change and I had left a specific request for room service, but it was not going to happen. (Our cook, John Swanson had a limited repertoire and no imagination).
We were out of camp by 08:00 hrs. We wanted to stay on the beach as much as possible today and so the day started off with a hike through Walbran Creek. We tried to find an area at the mouth of the creek where the water was shallow and the current was not too strong. Using our hiking poles for support and making sure to undo the waist belts on our packs (in case we slipped and fell into the creek, in which case, we would need to be able to get out of our packs quickly) we cautiously worked our way across the creek. Unfortunately, the hike through the creek meant that our boots would be soaked for the rest of the day.
The water was a little chilly and went up to our knees, but we got across no problem. A side benefit of walking through the creek was that it washed the mud off of our boots and gaiters.
That morning was fairly foggy, so a lot of the time while we were hiking that day, we could not see further than 400-500 yards in front of us. The fog was not a significant obstacle; just enough to keep you in suspense about what was coming next. The sounds and smells of the ocean and the cries of the seagulls, when combined with the thick fog, made for a very interesting hike at times.
The beach was nice to walk on for a change, and was fairly easy going since the tide was out for the first part.
It was very neat seeing some of the tidal pools with the sea anemones and the washed up kelp. We were also lucky enough on some parts to be able to walk on a rock shelf when the tide was at its lowest.
By 13:00 hrs we were able to reach Chéz Monique’s, which is a little makeshift “restaurant” on the beach and is one of the highlights for many hikers. Apparently Chéz Monique’s has amazing hamburgers. Unfortunately, they had just sold the last hamburger to the people who arrived there before us.
We had a quick lunch composed of omelettes, and the less tasty veggie burgers, and then we were off again at 14:30 hrs.
After Chéz Monique’s, we were forced to leave the beach and take the trail for about one km, and we had to climb up the side of a steep cliff.
When we reached the top, we were able to veer off the main trail to go see one of the light houses that are located along the coastline. The Carmanah lighthouse was very neat, and from there we climbed down more ladders, and carried on along the beach.
We reached Cribbs Creek by 16:00 hrs, and were very thankful for the relatively short and easy day.
That evening, after we set up camp, we rinsed out our clothes in the creek and set them out to dry since the sun had finally come out. Then Nick and I went swimming in the ocean and had the opportunity to play in the surf as the waves came crashing onto the beach, this was my very first time ever in the ocean and I was amazed as to how salty the water tasted. After our swim in the ocean, we went on to the rock breakwater to look at some of the tidal pools.
That night we ate more Mountain House hot meals. Later, we made a camp fire, and sat around the fire, resting our legs, until after it became dark. Then we went to bed, in hopes of a good sleep before the hike the next day.

Day 5 – Saturday, 27 August 2011: Cribbs Creek to Tsuisiat Falls
The distance from Cribbs Creek to Tsuisiat Falls was 16 km and we knew that we would need to catch the ferry across Nitinat Narrows before 16:00 hrs since the ferry stopped running for the day after that time. We were uncertain about how fast we would be able to travel along this section of the trail and so we wanted to get as early a start as possible.
We woke up at about 06:00 hrs and immediately started to pack up our tent and our other personal belongings. Because of the rush to get to the ferry, we made a group decision to skip a hot breakfast and compensate for it by eating some extra snacks on the trail.
By 07:30 hrs, we were all packed up and on our way. This day was not as challenging as we had feared. The trail was relatively easy and we were able to make better time than on some of the previous days.
We decided to stick to the trail in the morning because looking at the tide tables as well as some of the terrain along the beach, it seemed as though it would only slow us down.
On this day we also kept close together as a group and made plenty of noise with bear bells, because along the stretch from Cribbs Creek to Nitinat Narrows, there had been six different bear sightings in the last couple of weeks. We were making so much noise that any bear on the planet would have had to have been stone cold deaf not to have heard us coming. We had met a couple who encountered a Black Bear on this trail and luckily moved off and did not bother them but they admitted this had scared them and made them more “Bear Aware”
The terrain from Cribbs Creek to Nitinat Narrows was milder than previous days, which allowed us to keep a reasonable 2 k.p.h. pace throughout the majority of this section. The only difficult part was while we were hiking right next to Whyac Lake, just before we reached the narrows. Along this section there were many places where large trees had fallen across the trail and were blocking the path. We needed to climb over or squeeze under these trees and that slowed our progress considerably. Also, there were several places in this section where the roots and mud forced us to slow down and step carefully to avoid slipping or falling.
We started to seriously question the reliability of the kilometre markings along this section of the trail since it seemed to take us forever to hike from the 33 km mark to the 32 km mark despite the fact that we thought that we were making reasonably good time.
We were finally able to reach Nitinat Narrows by approximately 12:30 hrs and we decided to stop for lunch.
Nick and I ordered a fresh crab from the little restaurant (run by the First Nations) type business at the narrows. We then took a small boat across the narrows and picked up the trail on the other side.
By 13:40 hrs we were across Nitinat narrows and back on the trail and heading south to Tsuisiat Falls.
The rest of the trail was much the same as the part before the narrows, only slight elevation changes and some mud. It came as a pleasant surprise and it was nowhere near as difficult as we had feared it was going to be.
The last 4 km we hiked along the beach, stopping along the way to see the Hole-In-The-Wall at Tsusiat point before the tide would make it impassable to contnue. We managed to reach the campsite at Tsuisiat Falls by 17:30 hrs.
Unfortunately, the bear cache was full and so we had to hang our food bag from a tree. Nick and I finally managed to get a line over a large overhanging limb of a tree near the beach and secured our food out of reach for the night.
That night we set up camp on the beach right next to the water fall, Blake and I went swimming under the water fall which was very exciting, and fairly chilly. That night, for dinner, we had more of the dehydrated Mountain House dinners, and sat around a warm campfire, before going to bed.

Day 6 – Sunday, 28 August 2011: Tsuisiat Falls to Michigan Creek
On the 28th we had more of a relaxed start to the day. We were able to sleep in until about 07:30 hrs and we got up and had porridge and raisins for breakfast. After breakfast, we packed up our camp and we were on the trail by 09:30 hrs.
For this part of the trail we really had to pick up the pace a little bit, because we had to make it around a point on the beach section near the 22 km mark before the rising tides made it impassable.
We got to the beach at about 11:00 hrs and we were not entirely sure if we would make it around the point in time. The tide was coming in more quickly than we had anticipated. We hiked on through the sand, staying close to the drift wood and watching the tide. We just managed to get around the 22 km point before the tides came in too far and cut us off. If we had been 20 minutes later, we would not have made it and would have had to wait for the tide to fall far enough for us to move on. We celebrated our success and good luck with a short lunch of Mr. Noodles and granola bars. We then refilled our water bottles from a nearby creek and got ready to climb back up yet another set of ladders onto the main trail.
By 13:00 hrs, were back on the trail. The hike from km 20 to km 19 was not too difficult, but was still a little bit challenging just because it was slow going because of the mud and the sudden elevation change up.
After km 19 the terrain evened out and the trail got much easier. On this part of the trail we had no problem keeping a good pace, because the trail was flat and free of mud and roots. We were able to keep a 3-4 k.p.h. pace all the way to km 16. From km 16 to km 14 the terrain became a little bit more difficult and we were faced with a few more challenges such as a few ladders and some logs, roots and some minor hills, but this still did not cause us much problem. After km 14 we were forced to go back down onto the beach. The last two kilometres to Michigan Creek campsite were along the beach and it did not take us very long. We managed to reach our camp site at Michigan creek by 18:00 hrs.
We immediately started to set up camp, knowing that in 2 hours it would start getting dark. Nick and I set to work on setting up the tents, while my Uncle Ron and John started unpacking the damp articles from the backpacks and hanging them up to dry on a makeshift clothes line that we strung between two pieces of driftwood. After camp was set up, we had another Mountain House hot dinner, followed by a delicious Mars chocolate bar.
Once it started to get dark, we hid the food in the bear caches that were provided near the campsite and left our boots out to dry.
We discussed our plan for the next day since we had 12 more kilometres to go and we needed to be at the Pachena Bay trailhead by 1:00 pm in order to catch the bus back to Port Renfrew.
There was only one bus each day and so we wanted to be sure that we arrived at the trailhead on time. We decided that to be on the safe side, we would try to be up and on the trail by 06:00 hrs.
We decided to get an early sleep, knowing full well that tomorrow would be an early morning and a very difficult push to the end.

Day 7 – Monday, 29 August 2011: Michigan Creek to Pachena Bay
YAY! The last day! We woke up at 04:15 hrs and immediately started to disassemble the tents and started to pack up the food and other things. By 06:00 hrs we were ready to go. We left the campsite and started the initial climb up onto the trail at about 06:10 hrs. It was just barely light enough for us to see where we were stepping.
We tried to keep a nice steady pace, making sure not to go to hard right away so that we don’t get too tired. It was very evident that we were getting worn out and tired from the long trip thus far, so it was more difficult to keep a good steady pace going.
Thankfully, the terrain on this day was relatively dry and the hiking was relatively easy. Also, for the most part, the trail was very flat and even, with very few roots, and only a couple of mud puddles.
For the most part we were maintaining about a 3 k.p.h. pace and were making very good time. We kept taking breaks every 2 or 3 km so that we could drink water and replenish our carbohydrates but not take our packs off.
The last 12 km of the trail were relatively speaking like a freeway, when compared to the quagmire of the first three days.
After climbing down the very last two ladders of the trail we were able to get to the Pachena Bay trailhead by 11:10 hrs, where, with a sigh of great relief, we shrugged of our packs, kicked off our boots, fell to the ground, and lay in the soft grass. The bus arrived at 13:00 hrs, and we were driven off in what seemed like the comfiest bus ride of our lives (in reality, it was quite bumpy and a long 3hrs but, at this point, it was marvellous luxury compared to the last seven days of hiking).
After arriving back at Port Renfrew, we loaded our packs into the truck and drove to Victoria to spend the night at the Western 66 Motor Inn motel and to have our first hot long showers after seven days of cold creeks. That night we went to Boston Pizza for dinner. After 6 days of Mountain House dehydrated dinners, it felt like a special treat. The next day, we caught the Shwartz Bay ferry at 09:00 hrs over to Tsawwassan and then drove home to Penticton.
Conclusion:
I would highly recommend the West Coast Trail to anyone with a passion for wilderness hiking and camping. It is a challenging and highly rewarding experience. The scenery is spectacular in places and the experience is one that I will remember for a very long time. Completing the trial gives one a very real sense of accomplishment. This hike was special for me as I was able to do this with my best friend and special that my Uncle Ron and I did this together.
If I were to do the trail again I would consider starting at the north end to see how the experience changes with starting the hike at the easier section and then finishing with the most challenging section. Also, I found that we had packed much more food than we needed. If we had been more careful with our menu planning, we may have been able to reduce the weight of our packs a little bit and that might have made the hiking a bit easier.