Michigan Creek to Northern Terminus 14km

Up early as we have to make the 12 km hike (as per the official map 14 km by my GPS) in time to catch the West Coast Trail bus at 12:45. Of course it is raining once again but I long ago gave up caring. Today I care even less because tonight I will sleep in a warm dry bed after a long hot shower. I took one last walk out to the beach and saw a mink enjoying the sand. He was completely oblivious to me standing there watching him roll around and lazily stretch. I was up and on the trail by 6am. Could have left later but I wanted to be able to take my time and enjoy the scenery.

The trail today was all inland with occasional view of the ocean. I took the side path to the sea lion haul out rock which gets you pretty close to the incredible animals and offers some stunning views. The sun eventually came out… people starting the trail today have nothing but sunny skies in the forecast… I won’t lie I’m a tad bit bitter. Eventually I came across an old abandoned motorcycle sitting in the middle of the trail.

I was in a world of pain today as the past 6 days have definitely taken a toll on me. But some good tunes and amazing scenery helped me get through the final stretcher.

After 2 sets of final ladders I reached the end of the West Coast Trail and a small part of me just wanted to turn around and start hiking back. 

Cribs Creek to Tsusiat Falls – 19.5 kms

Up bright and early to be welcomed by the rain and mist. Really the best way to describe the weather today was heavily fogging out and really wet. I packed up quickly and was on my way and after a few kms grabbed the beach access route. There were some challenging sections with slippery rocks but nothing near as bad as Owen Point. Next up was a beautiful sand beach that seemed to go on forever. Had it been warm and sunny I would have definitely gone in for a swim!.

The trail then enters into Diditat traditional territories (one of the First Nations that live along the trail route). Here the trail actually looked like a real walkable trail which was a nice change of pace. The forest here just seemed magical.

The first stop of the day was at Nitnat Narrows where one can order fresh crab, salmon or halibut. When I say fresh I mean its caught from this tidal river less less than 100 meters from where you eat it. They had a piping hot wood stove and cold beer… life was grand. We crossed the Nitnat river via the ferry where we were greeted by the most challenging mud puzzles yet before hitting the beach route. Along the final stretch to camp we walked with the ocean to our left and towering cliffs to the right. This was suppose to be a 17km section without water sources… maybe later in the season this is true but there was abundant water available all day long.

It has rained all day but fortunately stopped just as we were setting up camp. We were even able to score some dry wood and dry out our water logged feet.

Drank my filtered water directly from a waterfall and went to bed happy.

Walbran Creek to Cribs Creek – 15kms

One of the many cable cars… best with 4 hikers. 2 in the box and 2 to help pull.

That burger tho!

It was great to wake up with no rain and have a chance to slowly pack up and re-organize my pack. Its amazing how many things I have managed to temporarily loose considering I don’t really have that many things to loose. We broke camp at 10 and got our blood flowing with a cable car to cross Walbran Creek. I am really happy I’m travelling with a group I couldn’t imagine having to pull myself alone across these cables. At the orientation session the Parks Canada guy told me I’d be best to just cross the river… maybe not a bad idea if the water was low… but these creeks were running pretty quickly.

The past 3 days of hiking are considered the most difficult section of the trail. As such today was a much quicker pace and different scenery as it was mostly along the beach. The promises of delicious cheese burgers for lunch kept us going strong. Yes you read that right… cheese burgers. Here on the West Coast Trail in the middle of absolute no where there is a restaurant called Chez Monique’s. They have been here for over 20 years serving burgers to famished hikers. For 24$ (20 for the burger, 2 for cheese and 2 for bacon) it was expensive but man was it good. They were so good that 4 of us took one to go for dinner tonight! Maybe its just the trail talking but these might be the best burgers I have ever eaten. Even better than this was the beer I had to wash it all down.

After Chez Moniques it was a quick 2 km hike to camp. A few scattered showers along the way served to remind us that being dry was not in the cards for us. We were told heading North there is about 16 hours of physical hiking left until you reach the end of the trail.

I realized at some point today just how much I smell… LOL

Campers Bay to Walbran Creek – 11 km

In my poorly pitched tent I slept terribly in constant fear I was going to roll over and pull my tent down into a sea of cold wetness with no ability to get worm again. Woke up at 4am and don’t think I successfully got back to sleep after that. Finally emerged from my tent at 7am greeted by dark cold, thick fog and continual rain. Almost in defeat I ate 3 pop tarts for breakfast and slowly started packing up my things.

Typical advanced level mud puzzle

Then seemingly almost out of nowhere at around 9am the sun started to come through the clouds. This was the first time we actually saw the sun while on the trail. Today would prove to be the nicest weather day we had all week. I started out along the trail littered with mud puzzles but at least it wasn’t a mud river. In case your wondering a “mud puzzle” is a mix of logs, water and mud of various depths. Successful completion of a mud puzzle involves navigating it without getting soaked. It became a sort of game… although eventually most people give up and start walking the direct path. Eventually the mud puzzles always won anyways.

The sun was out in full force when I arrived at Cullite Campground. I set up my tent and hung a few things hoping they would dry. I was rushing to complete a laundry list of things in about an hour before I set off into the “ladders” section. Everyone we passed had been warning us they were absolutely terrible. Well I’ll say that personally I didn’t find them too bad I mean the biggest one only had 52 rungs… some of them were partially rotten and did I mention no safety equipment to prevent you from falling? Maybe it’s all perspective? With the ladders completed I arrived at one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. As I rounded the trail onto the beach I couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably.

With my tent set up, an abundance of firewood to try (and fail) to dry out our socks and shoes and the sounds of waves crashing all around this was a perfect place to set up camp (minus the mice).