West Coast Trail, Part IV: The Sun!

The last 2 ½ days of the trail were enjoyable despite our festering wet clothes and boots and tired muscles. Finally we had a break in the weather and even some sun!  When we reached Camper’s Bay towards the end of our 6^th day we immediately exploded over a huge driftwood log trying to dry our stuff out before packing it away for the night to avoid morning condensation.  Unfortunately even when it’s not raining it’s pretty humid right next to a temperate rainforest and not much drying-out happened.  But it was worth a shot right?

Camper’s Bay at twilight

 Putting on my stinky knee brace on for the 2^nd-to-last time on this trip.  I’m smiling, but man did I hate that thing by the end.  If you’re wondering about the duct tape, I scraped my other knee and duct tape seemed to stay on better than any band-aid.

Sunshine on our way to our last campsite at Thrasher’s Cove

Big grins for our last night, while Rod emulates “the Thinker”.

 Last kilometre sign!  We are so close!

And we finished!  Lots of good opportunities for goofing around while we wait for the others (showing off our championship belts, pretending to be monkeys and then lemmings, etc.) and then waiting for the ferry back to Port Renfrew.  I was so excited to be done I forgot to take off my pack!

  

There were a few casualties, namely Jason’s ankles and trekking poles.  With the blisters I can't help but put some blame on him since he broke in his hiking boots by "sitting around drinking coffee and driving his truck" instead of doing some real hiking!

Unfortunately that week on the West Coast Trail there were a lot of evacuations and injuries.  I believe the count was closer to 40 when we started the trail the week before…  We heard a few rumours of people falling off slippery ladders. This number doesn’t even count the people who decided to pay a lot of $$$ to get taken off the trail by boat at Nitinat Narrows (we talked to at least two groups who lost a member there).

What an adventure!  It will be a while before I attempt that one again, somewhat because of the mud pits, tree roots and rain, but also because there are a lot of other trails to try first.  Let me know if you are looking to do the trail and need any tips!  Or if you have any suggestions for what my next trail should be.

And what trip away from civilization and showers would be complete without a fast food binge at the end?  I was thinking about these A&W onion rings since day 2.