West Coast Trail backpacking expeditions

Arrival in Vancouver. This denotes the day or days spent in Vancouver or on Vancouver Island before the listed start date of the trip. We recommend coming to Nanaimo on this day and arranging a hotel.

Nanaimo, Vancouver Island Nanaimo is a good choice if you are looking for less travel time on the first and last day of the trip. Nanaimo acts as the link that "closes the loop" for our trip, it is the perfect pick-up and drop-off location. Also, it is a good choice if you are planning to stay on Vancouver Island.

**PICK UP** – For 2024, the arriving ferry times from the mainland are 8:15 at Departure Bay and 9:45 at Duke Point. The Guide team will do a first pick up at the Departure Bay ferry terminal at 8:15 am, followed by a Nanaimo hotel pick up between 9:00 and 9:30, the a pick up at Duke Point around 9:45. People taking the Departure Bay ferry need to be on the 6:30 am ferry from Horseshoe Bay. People taking the Duke Point ferry need to be on the 7:45 am ferry from Tsawwassen (It is also possible to take the 5:15 ferry arriving at 7:15, but you will be waiting at the ferry terminal). We stop in Lake Cowichan for a break and to buy lunch food. From there, we are on our way to a mandatory 2:00 pm Parks Canada Orientation which everyone must attend in order to do the WCT. It is about two hours from Duke Point to Port Renfrew. After registering at the trailhead office, we will stay in Port Renfrew. We will be camping on the beach and learning how to set up our tents for the first time. Your guide team will then take the time to do a final 'pack check' with everyone to ensure that you have everything you need (but also not too much of what you think you need!). The time will be used to get to know our traveling companions and discuss the trail ahead.

We will return to the West Coast Trail registration office and be transported across the Gordon River by boat to the trailhead. Our destination is Thrasher Cove. Although just 6 km away, the terrain is such that it will take us most of the day. There are no scenic rewards other than those provided by the forest, creeks and occasional waterfall. You will sample your first set of ladders and see a donkey engine, used for logging the local forest in the early 1900s. Thrasher Cove presents your first opportunity to enjoy beach camping. Although a small cove, it provides water and an excellent view of Port San Juan and Port Renfrew across the water.

The morning tide will determine whether we will follow the beach to Owen Point or return to the trail. The beach hike, although characterized by huge boulders, is more scenic and varied than the trail. The shelf near Owen Point has sandstone bluffs, caves and caverns, unusual rock formations and surge channels. Many hikers believe it resembles a moonscape. We will eventually leave the shelf because of impassable headlands and sample the beauty and denseness of a west coast rain forest. Camper Bay is our destination. The campsite is located by a creek and flanked by magnificent sandstone bluffs.

Our day will once again be spent in the forest. Although this is a difficult and usually muddy section of the trail, it offers an opportunity to really appreciate the lush, vibrant beauty of a rain forest. Or we may be lucky enough to traverse one more amazing sandstone shelf, tide willing, on our way to Sandstone Creek. At Sandstone and Cullite Creeks we will encounter another series of ladders. From Cullite Creek we will pass along a boardwalked bog that features some interesting flora, including stunted cousins of hemlock, spruce and cedar. At Logan creek we will cross the WCT's largest suspension bridge. Our campsite is Walbran Creek. We now leave behind the most difficult section of the trail and begin that section characterized by mostly beach and shelf hiking.

Today will be a shorter, more restful day. Primarily on the beach, this day's hike will be a welcome change from the challenges of the forest. At Bonilla Point we will see the Carmanah Lighthouse in the distance. Today we will pass a special spot on the beach which was, until recently, the location of Chez Monique's. Sadly both Monique and her husband, Peter, have passed and the legendary food shack has been forced to close. Your guide will be happy to recall many tales from past visits with Monique who was well-known for her generous and gregarious nature. Her daughter Sandy and her family kept the oasis open one last year in 2018 to honor her parents. Next we will visit Carmanah Point Lighthouse; perched on top of the cliffs like a castle, Carmanah offers breath-taking views of the surrounding area. Below the lighthouse is a rock favoured by sea lions. Our camp tonight is at Cribs Creek, the Cribs being a geographic feature making a natural breakwater, with many tide pools to explore.

Depending on the tide, we will likely hike the "beach" again. This section of hard packed sand, imposing cliffs and some of the most unique and varied sandstone rock shelf formations makes for very enjoyable hiking. We will descend to a beautiful sandy beach near the Cheewhat River. After crossing the Cheewhat River we will re-enter the rainforest (where you'll really notice the difference in the type of trail compared to the first three days). Stopping at Clo-oose for a short rest, we continue on to Nitinaht Narrows and the Crab Shack. The Narrows, because of its depth and current, must be crossed by boat with the assistance of the local First Nations. Carl and Shelley Edgar and their family have been operating the "Crab Shack" here for many years. We will stop here for a filling crab and fish lunch before we cross the narrows and continue on to our camp at Barge Beach. We will also pick up the remainder of our food for our last part of the trail at the narrows.

The section of trail from our camp past the Narrows to Tsuquadra Beach is considered by many to have the most spectacular views. We will stop to explore the remnants of the Didadaht village from the turn of the century. Old lodge poles stand in solemn tribute to the memory of these hardy coastal people who once inhabited the site. Soon after leaving thevillage site we will arrive at Hole in the Wall, a wave worn hole cut into the rock at Tsusiat Point. An old Ditidaht legend states that "… those who pass through Hole in the Wall have passed through Hole in the Wall." Tsusiat Falls is just up the beach, where we will stop for a leisurely lunch and swim below the falls. Tsusiat Falls is considered by many to be one of the major highlights of the trail. After our lunch break, we will continue on the next few kilometres to Klanawa River for our camp.

Leaving the Klanawa River, we will follow the beach until Trestle Creek and then head into the forest. We will stop where the trail overlooks the shelf. In 1906 the S.S.Valencia went aground here in a violent storm. The battering waves eventually broke the ship apart and 126 passengers and crew lost their lives. This tragic event was the catalyst for creation of the West Coast Life Saving Trail which would later become the West Coast Trail. Returning to the trail we will cross two suspension bridges, stopping at Tsocowis Creek for lunch. It is all beach and shelf to our campsite at Michigan Creek.