West Coast Trail Photos Posted on Flickr

The photos from my West Coast Trail Trip are now up at Flickr. I'm still working on adding comments to them. I'll post a day by day point form log of the trip in the next couple of days.

West Coast Trail Trip 2008 - Day 5

• Wake up at 6am after a cold and uncomfortable night. Not sure if it is because my base layer was damp or underpad wasn't positioned correctly or what but I was pretty chilly during the night.
• Had to get up at one point to tighten the ropes as the hammock had sunk down far enough that I was bumping the log that was under me.
• Everyone else in camp is up at 6 as well so maybe it wasn't just me!
• Have a breakfast of oatmeal, pack up and am on the trail by 7:15am
• Trail is more of the same as yesterday: mud, roots and now rain!
• Feeling very tired and sore today and can't get up to speed. I have to be very deliberate going around each mud pit today to make sure I don't miss my footing.
• Glad I didn't try and go to Owen Point. It takes about an hour to get to Beach Access A and another 30 minutes to get to Beach Access B.
• Even on the boardwalks I can't seem to maintain any speed.
• Finally get to junction with Trashers Cove at around 11. Immediately the trail starts climbing up a hill.
• Start running into hikers coming the other way at about KM71. They all look happy and clean even with their gigantic packs on. Must go past about 20 people over the next 2KM.
• Phone wife to tell her I will be early and to get her to bring a change of socks, shoes and clothes as everything I'm wearing is damp or wet. Feet and socks are especially wet and soles of feet are starting to get sore.
• The last 2 KM seems to go on and on. It must take me over 90 minutes to finish. Lots of storm damage here and lots of mud. Knees are really hurting but don't want to stop to take anything.
• Finally reach the beach at KM75 at 2pm, exactly 5 days after I set out! Too tired and sore to feel anything except relief.
• Rise the buoy to signal the ferry and keep moving to stop right knee from siezing up.
• Ferry arrives after about 10 minutes and then head over to cabin to sign off the trail.

West Coast Trail Trip 2008 - Day 4

• Woke up at 7. Another lousy nights sleep due to the surf.
• Had breakfast and was on the beach by 8:45
• Crappy sand for walking on but ploughed.
• Weather still foggy. Made mistake of leaving underwear and crew out to dry. Wetter now then when I hung them up
• Meet one of the couples from the bus out to Renfrew coming up the beach and then the two German boys from the bus.
• Finally get to end of beach section and then more ladders.
• Trail isn't too bad but is definitely the worst condition so far.
• Still make ok time to Walbaran.
• No one around so have to pull myself across again.
• Trail gets much muddier after km54 . Have a big slip around km55 and right foot goes in up to my calf.
• Lots of ladders at Logan.
• Between Logan and Cultite trail gets even worse. Slowing down to about 1.5 kmh now
• Ladders at Cultite missing last section. Have to scramble over roots and rocks on a slippery slope to get down.
• Have an audience of a bunch of teenagers having a rest on the other side of the cable car.
• More big ladders going up now and then another big stream valley to decend into on more ladders.
• Trail from here to km61 is just one big mud pit with the odd downed tree just for variety.
• Go by a group that includes two kids about 8 years old!
• Make it to camper at 4:45. Couple saw coming up the ladders at cultite arrive about an hour latter and then the teenagers.
• None of the campsites suitable for hammock so end up in the trees a bit. Weather has gotten much cooler and still foggy. Looked like it might brighten up coming into Camper but that disappeared.
• Doesn't look like i'm going to be able to go the Owen Point route. Low tide is at 7:20 so would have to leave here at 6 to have plenty of time to get around the boulders and the point.
• Should make it to Gordon River by 4 tomorrow.

West Coast Trail Trip 2008 - Day 3

• Up at 7 and on the trail by 8
• Trail between KM29 and nitnat is ok but muddy in spots
• Get to nitnat narrows at 9:30 but have to wait under 10 until ferry operator sees me
• Have a pop at the other side and then carry on
• Nice board walk that quickly disappears into a swamp
• Follow trail around and then more boardwalk
• After about and hour or so meet a party or teenages led by a guy who like the guy who led my youth group 25 years ago
• So much trail today it is all kind of a blur
• See first bear tracks on trail just before Cheewhat and then a couple sets of them and some droppings under the Cheewhat bridge
• Stop for lunch at Cheewhat beach. Nice place. Would be great for hammock but is closed for camping due to bear.
• Meet another solo hiker at Dare beach. Water is starting to get low and ask him how far to lighthouse. He says the mud is insane around km54. Another set of hikers confirm this later on
• Getting good at mud pit hopping. Just call me dances over mud pits
• Stop at Cribs and get water and have a wash.
• First nations rangers are doing a lot of work on the trail here
• Continue on trail until Carmanagh lighthouse.
• Have to wait just after leaving beach for another group of 18 teenagers.
• Have a look around the lighthouse grounds and then move on
• Get to Chez Monique's at 4. Have a burger and a pop. No one else there except workers. Say they spend the whole season there.
• Boogie along the beach until the cable car. River is going to fast to wade so have to haul myself across. Takes whatever energy I got from the burger and pop
• Beach is gravelly and hard going. Finally get to Bonilla at 5:30
• Have another cold wash and do some laundry.
• Get a fire going and figure I will try and cut a day off tomorrow and see if I can get to Camper. This next day is supposed to be very tough.
• Hope I can get some better sleep tonight but I doubt it. Tide is coming in and the surf is loud. Fog has rolled in as well
• Strange beach. Keep thinking I hear voices but it is only the surf or the trees.

West Coast Trail Trip 2008 - Day 2

• Got 4 or 5 good hours of sleep and wake at 9


• Ron and Mark already up and packing slowly


• Decide to get ready quickly and have a cold breakfast


• Set out ahead of everyone else and walk the beach to twocowis.


• Meet another couple going south at the ladders but pass them


• Have lunch on the beach by the anchor.


• Knees have been sore again, especially my left which is odd because it is usually my right that gives me problems


• Path has been pretty good but more wet and muddy


• Get to the cable car on my own and haul self across


• Trail conditions get worse from here. Lots of storm damage.


• Make it to the beach at tsusiat by 2:30


• No one there so take some pictures, email home and work and wash socks and get some water


• Was going to stay here until after dinner and then carry on to hole in the wall but about 5 other groups arrive so pack up and head out at 5


• Possible spot to hang hammock at Hole in the Wall but meet first other solo hiker coming the other way. Compare notes with him on Spot(which has been working fine but also have Telus cell phone coverage all the way from Banfield)


• Carry on to beach acces at KM29 and find nice spot to hang hammock


• Get fire going and make dinner


• Almost a full moon tonight


• No body at all around

West Coast Trail Trip 2008 - Day 1

Here is my notes for Day 1 of the Trip. I'll put it into more of a narrative soon.

• Left at Victoria at 6:30am



• Two other couples on the bus



• Everyone got off at the gordon River end of the trail other than two more couples that were picked up in Port Renfrew Took the logging roads over the mountains to Lake



• Cowichan and then on to Banfield



• Got there at 12 but had to wait until one for registration and intro talk



• While waiting at the bay saw a couple of hawks fishing



• Set out with Ron and Mark also from Victoria on the trail. Other european couple takes the beach to bypass the first set of ladders (second highest on the trail)



• Despite pack weighing about 30lbs due to too much food, I quickly move ahead of everyone else



• Figure i'm averaging about 3.5KM per hour.



• Trail is pleasant and pretty dry



• About 12 mud holes along way but manage to get around them with only a couple of slips



• Get to lighthouse about 20 minutes ahead of Ron and Mark



• Have lunch and have a look around



• Very nicely maintained yard and buildings. Two sat dishes



• See no one other than little boy on way out Trail quickly gets wetter and I hit a couple mud bogs that I can only go straight through.



• Get to Michigan about 5. Have to wade through creek



• No one there. Carry on to Darling



• Find a nice spot and setup hammock and undercover and pad



• Filter some water with the steripen



• Have dinner of beef stroganoff and have a chat with Ron and Mark around there fire before bed



• Have a very cozy night but don't sleep well until 5 due to sound of surf.



• Weird dreams. Wake shouting at one point thinking there is someone standing at foot of hammock.



• Knees starting to hurt

Bought a Spot

After talking with my wife last night about how I most likely won't be able to stay in touch while on the West Coast Trail, she left it up to me to decide if it was worth buying a SPOT Personal Tracker. I did some research and found that if used as directed it should be fine for sending the messages. A fair number of people said that it wouldn't replace a PLB for them but I can't afford both right now.

So I decided to bite the bullet and bought one today at lunch from Ralph's Radio here in Victoria (got a $10 discount as well!).

I've setup a site to share the OK messages here. When I'm back I'll give a more thorough review.

Starting Solo West Coast Trail Trip on May 16th

Well, everything is ready to go for my solo early season trip on the West Coast Trail using a hammock. I've chosen to go in mid May because you don't have to reserve a start date if you go between May 1st and June 14th. I've got my pack down to the lightweight class with a base weight of 6.4 Kg (14lbs 4oz) and a total pack weight of 10.3 Kg (22 lbs 11oz). Its definitely not the lightest load I've heard of for this length of a trip but it should make for a much more comfortable time than last year's aborted Juan de Fuca Marine Trail attempt with a pack weight of 27.2 Kg (60lbs)!

Even though I'm going lightweight I'm not going for any speed record. I'm planning on taking 6 days to do the entire 75 KM (46.6 miles) starting in Bamfield and ending in Port Renfrew. I'm going north to south because that was the direction I went when I was 14 and did the north half of the trail with a youth group and also by the time I get to the last couple of days, which are supposed to be the hardest, my pack will be at its lightest.

If I can get a cell phone signal, I'm going to attempt to blog from the trail. I doubt if I'll have a signal once I leave Bamfield but by the time I reach Bonilla beach at the end of day 3 I'm hoping I will have a signal from Neah Bay, across the Juan de Fuca Straight. I'll attach photos from the cell phone to start with and will replace them with real photos when I'm back and recovered.

Here is my itinerary:

May 16th - catch the West Coast Trail Express from Victoria to Bamfield
May 16th - sign on to the trail and hike to Darling campsite (14 KM)
May 17th - Darling to Hole in the Wall (14 KM)
May 18th - Hole in the Wall to Bonilla (20 KM)
May 19th - Bonilla to Logan (8 KM)
May 20th - Logan to Camper via beach at Sandstone Creek (6 KM)
May 21st - Camper to Gordon River via beach and Owen Point (13 KM)
May 21st - catch the West Coast Trail Express from Gordon River to Victoria at 4:30pm

UPDATE: I just found out that the West Coast Express only runs on odd numbered days in the shoulder season, so I'm going to move the leave day up by one day and finish on the 20th. My wife will pick me up at Gordon River.

Here are some useful links:

WCT @ i-needtoknown.com
West Coast Trail Express
The Gear I'm taking - If my current gear list changes much from this list I'll graft on a new link showing what I actually took

Gear dry run to Ruckle Park

With the departure date for my upcoming trip on the West Coast Trail coming up fast, I took all of the lightweight gear for a dry run on the weekend out to Ruckle Park on Saltspring Island. This was meant as a shake down trip to see how the loaded pack felt and to try out the hammock and clothes in some various types of weather.

For the most part I was very pleased with everything and with a few modifications and additions I should be set all set for the WCT.

The biggest problem I ran into was how cold I was sleeping in the hammock. The temperature on Ruckle was 7°C at night (44°F) with no wind. My campsite was right on the water. I had the Merlin -3 sleeping bag and the bivy pad in the hammock and was wearing my MEC Microweight long johns and long sleeved crew with the Wigwam merino socks. The side of me that wasn't against the bottom of the hammock was nice and warm but the other side was uncomfortably cold. I put on the Montbell Thermawrap at one point during the night but that didn't help much. I also folded the the bivy pad in half to put more insulation between me and the floor of the hammock. That helped more but as it is so narrow it was a hassle to try and stay on it. The hammock itself was very comfortable and if I had been more tired and warmer I would have had no problem getting a good nights sleep.

Since I've been back I've done some Googling to see what solutions there are to the cold problem. I'm happy to find I'm not alone. This seems to be a big gotcha with hammocks and it looks like everyone hits it unless they only warm weather camp. There are two main options to solve the cold problem, both involve adding more weight. One solution is to hang a down quilt outside the bottom of the hammock and use a sleeping bag or quilt inside. This seems to work well but is expensive and I don't think I've got time to wait for one to be shipped from the US.

The other option is to hang a cover under the hammock and put some kind of insulating material between it and the floor of the hammock. This is the route I took by ordering a Hennessy Hammock Undercover and Underpad. The reviews I've turned up see to be positive even though the open cell foam pad isn't the thick. This option is lighter than the quilt and cheaper. A bonus is that you can fine tune the padding under the hammock by adding your unused clothes, insulating layers and if needed leaves or moss. This should arrive by the end of the week so I can do another camp out at Goldstream Park to see how it works out.

The other issue I ran into was dirty clothes management. As it was chilly, I was wearing the long sleeved MEC Merino crew on the walk out to the park, in the evening while setting up and eating and to bed. I also wore it the next day on the walk back to Fulford Harbour to catch the ferry. By the time I got to Fulford I was smelling a bit rank. I had a quick wash in the sink while waiting for the ferry and changed into my short sleeved Merino t-shirt. If I was on the trail I would have washed the crew and left it to dry. However, because it was so cold in the hammock at night I feel like I need to wear a long sleeved shirt. I think the solution is to pick up another one from MEC and then I have one to wear if the other is drying. The t-shirt I can either leave or bring just in case.