The West Coast Trail - Day One - North Trailhead to Michigan Creek (km 12)

Hiking the West Coast Trail has been on my 'big' list of things to do for some time. I'd say 5-6 years in the 'one day I want to do that' category, and before that, some time in the 'that sounds cool' column. Check check!

Of course, it's not just about having done it. It's the experience itself, and that it was. I loved it - what an amazing place.

Planning the trip could some coordination and effort. You have to book permits (and therefore commit to timing) about three months in advance - that was probably the biggest thing. With permits in hand and the time booked off work, it was just a matter of planning and assembling the gear. I picked away it over the course of the summer (thanks for the loaner gear, and special thanks to Sue for all of the advice). The summer flew by and the trip snuck up. I didn't think about it for one minute during Nationals, at once that was over....wow, four days is not a lot of time.

We left on Friday morning and stayed overnight with my aunt and uncle in Abbotsford. We took the Ferry to the island the next morning, and drove to Port Renfrew (about 2 hours on very windy roads) north of Victoria in time for the WCT orientation. Our permit allowed us to start hiking the Sunday, so we wanted to get the orientation finished the day before. That way we could start the trail earlier in the day on Sunday, when the WCT bus dropped us at the North trailhead about noon. The bus was an experience itself (it reminded me of riding buses in Cambodia). When we woke up in Port Renfrew that morning (we managed to get a hotel to stay in, over camping, through poor planning but good fortune) to the pouring pouring pouring, wow pouring rain.

It stopped raining by the time we started the hike - a small miracle! In case you don't know them, my two friends are Liesl (aka Weaze, in green) and Alli (in tan).

When starting the hiking in this direction (making us either "Northies" or "Southies", I can't remember if its the where you start or where you are going.......), you don't have a choice of first campsite. The first one, Michigan Creek at km 12 is the only option. The hike starts off reasonably gradually, considering the whole trail. That said, there are ladders at about km 2! We sure knew we had started.

There pics are all from the first day, including the Panchena Lighthouse (km 10), and the Michigan Creek Campsite (km 12).