The West Coast Trail hike is among the world’s best hikes. It is moderate difficulty but very rewarding. It’s probably one of my most memorable hikes to date. It is located in Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island in Canada. If you’re into trekking, camping, and enjoy the outdoors, this is a must do!
It was originally made as a rescue route due to the large number of shipwrecks along this coast back in the 1800s. Rescue missions were difficult along this rocky shoreline and any survivors that reached the coast had no easy way to call for help. The Canadian government laid down a telegraph line in the 1900s and also built rescue cabins. This path along the forest above the Pacific Ocean became the Dominion Lifesaving trail. In 1973, after needing the trail less and less for rescue missions, it joined Pacific Rim National Park and became the West Coast Trail.
The trail is awesome for a few reasons. It covers so many different landscapes all in one hike. From tall deciduous trees in a lush forest, to marshland, to soft sand beaches, to rocky shorelines with surge channels, to pebble beaches, to grassland, to rugged cliff faces… the list goes on and on. Secondly, there is a certain amount of grit that you need to cross the trail. Being in a coastal area, it rains… a lot… all the time. And finally, pure peace and quiet. Often times during the hike, you find yourself alone with your group; and with nature. Until you reach camp, you may not see anyone. There is just you, walking along, trying not to get hurt, and navigating a variety of obstacles.
Here’s my story.
It’s actually fairly difficult to get to this trail. Especially if you’re not from BC. There are 80 people allowed to start the trail each day during the summer season. 40 from the south, 40 from the north. Trail permits are booked months in advance, so when we decided to go, everything was fully booked. I called the lady at the trail office and asked nicely if my group could be unofficially placed on the standby list for the day I wanted to come… 2 months in advance. There are 5 unreserved spots per day and we ‘managed’ to get them! The south side has more difficult terrain so it’s up to you whether you want to tackle difficult terrain with a heavy pack or do you want to end with a challenge while tired and with a potentially lighter pack (if your pack is wet, it’ll be heavier). We opted to start with the difficult side and end easy. A solid decision.
I had 9 days on hand and the average person takes 7 days to complete the trail. Day 1, we landed at Vancouver airport and made our way to Victoria by bus, ferry, bus, and walking. We made it by 4pm and had our hotel for the night ready. Ideally, you’d like to get to the trail and camp there ready to start bright and early… wrong. The south trailhead is 2.5 hours by bus from Victoria and there is only one bus that goes there per day. It leaves at 6am. You could rent a car, but car insurance doesn’t cover you on unpaved roads so you’d have to get extra insurance which can be very costly. Plus, if you park your car on the south side and hike the trail, you have to get back to your car… a 6-hour bus ride back.
So, we spent the night, went shopping for some gear (you can’t travel with camping fuel on a plane), and were ready next morning. We reached the Gordon River starting point by 8:30am! Booyah! Time for some hiking… wrong again. You need a mandatory orientation and trail permits which starts at 10am… which means more waiting around. The orientation is an hour, where you’re told about any bear sightings and trail rules. A few people need to be rescued every year so danger is real, you need to be careful. Noon, you need to wait your turn to take the river ferry to the actual trailhead. 2pm, it starts. One and half days have been wasted and we’ve just begun.
Day 1. The start seemed fairly straightforward. Our packs were 14-17kg per person. You have to carry your own food, clothing, cooking gear, tent… the whole deal. It’s easier to walk along the ocean by the beach but you have to watch the tides. The tides reach all the way to the 200ft vertical cliff wall during high tide so you don’t want to be locked in. We stayed in the forest but you inevitably have to climb up and down from ocean to forest multiple times during the hike. This is accomplished with Parks Canada maintained ladders; 79 of them. A single ladder number may actually be a series of ladders in sequence scaling one incline. That’s still just one ladder according to the numbers. We reached camp 1 (by the beach where the tide won’t push you up) at 4pm. We thought it’s too early, not dark till 7, let’s push on. Our return bus was booked 5 nights later (remember, the average is 7 nights) so we had to push on. That night, we couldn’t’ make it to camp 2, so we camped on the cliff near an ocean lookout around 6pm. It was just us, the roaring ocean, and the sheer cliff. Absolutely magic.
Day 2, we got going around 9am. Woke up around 7 but had an excellent breakfast before setting off. We never stopped for lunch. We’d packed around 25 bars of snacks per person so we figured that’d keep us going during the day. Plus, we would save time. At noon, it started raining; miserably raining. It didn’t stop, it just kept raining. We had excellent gear so we weren’t wet but we were tired. We knew we had to hit at least 15km this day as the day before we’d only managed 8km due to the terrain. 6pm, only 4 km to go. I remember singing to myself that we’d make it. I was exhausted. Camp was decent but we had to pitch the tent in a downpour, cook our dinner in the rain and eat in the tent. We passed out that day, the infamous West Coast Trail misery is real.
Day 3, 10am. We set off. The sun was out and we made good progress. We travelled through some swampy areas and encountered a few cable car crossings. Rivers that are too deep to wade through have manual cable cars that you can load yourself and your gear and pull yourself across. It’s quite enjoyable. There is a burger place halfway through the trail run by a family. You have to stop here and grab one. They are $20/burger but man is that ever worth it. That was our only lunch break during the entire hike. Day 3 lunch, one that we’ll never forget. We reached camp around 5pm, early according to our usual end times and we set up. There is lots of driftwood that comes from the ocean so we set up our first fire. That was a fine evening.
Day 4, 10am. We head off. The surge channels that the trail is famous for were now before us. Impassable headlands and lots of surge channels. We had to go up into the woodlands and back to the ocean multiple times. We walked along pebble beaches and in the trees. The terrain was fairly flat. You reach a wide river called the Nitinat Narrows. You have to pay to cross this by boat and there is a family that runs this service. Time your approach as you don’t want to show up after the service for the day is over. Cash only. The rain begins again. From 2pm till dark it rains and rains. There are areas where the mud is knee deep. Make sure you have gaitors. This night we reach an area where a river meets the ocean. There is lots of driftwood. We set up our tarpaulin to build a small shelter for us to sit, cook, and eat. The picture with our tent is this campsite. Despite the rain, we’re now seasoned and we’re having a good time. 80% of the trail is complete.
Day 5, you guessed it… 10am. We’re headed for the finish, a full 23km away. The terrain is flat but we have to make it as our bus back to Victoria comes the following day at 2pm. The only spot to camp before the end is 12km away and knowing our usual start time we wouldn’t be able to make it. There is only one bus per day and it’s a 6-hour ride back to Victoria. 7:30pm, we have finished the West Coast Trail. Some say the best part of the trail is finishing it; I tend to agree! We camped by the beach at the finish there, alone. We had the biggest campfire you’ve ever seen; it was a good trip. 4.5 days, West Coast Trail complete.
After a solid rest, we board the bus back to Victoria. Barely make the ferry to Vancouver as this is where we planned to spend the night. We had a morning in Vancouver then had to head home. 9 day trip but only 5 on the trail.
A solid ‘vacation’!
