The West Coast Trail

Chez Monique is a great pitstop in the middle of the West Coast Trail hiking trip. You can get burgers, pop, beer, candy, and conversation there. Monique and Peter give welcome relief to weary West Coast Trail hikers at the 45 km mark, providing camping on the beach near the restaurant, as well as giving good conversation. Breakfast at Chez Monique, along with coffee or hot chocolate, tops off the stop, but makes it really hard to leave. Peter is a member of the Ditidaht band and Chez Monique is on one of their more remote reserves. Few of the Ditidaht people live on these remote reserves for more than a few months at a time, but Monique and Peter have been here year round on the West Coast Trail for many years. Monique is Metís, originally from the east, from French Canada, but has made her home on Vancouver Island, contributing significantly over the years to the Ditidaht and all the First Nations peoples. Each year now is a question of whether this amazing restaurant will continue to exist as the couple gets older. They are hoping their children and grandchildren will continue their home and legacy.

Peter regularly gathers supplies from Port Refrew and fishes in his boat, while Monique sets the tone at the restaurant and garden for all West Coast Trail hikers. While Peter tends to quiet, Monique is outspoken and ready to converse about the area and politics at the drop of a toque, but is mostly mindful of taking care of the guests arriving from the West Coast Trail hike in the restaurant. Wwoofers have added a new direction to the place, giving it an international character and creating more opportunities for conversation.

The meals are great, and very welcome if you have only brought dried food or Ramen noodles for your West Coast Trail hike. A burger and a beer or pop is a reward for navigating about half the West Coast Trail. Don’t expect to pay city prices here. The prices are a fair bit higher than in town, but of course, they have to get it there by boat. If you want to have a meal, a couple of drinks, coffee and breakfast in the morning, expect to throw out about $50 or more, so make sure you take enough money. Don’t forget the crab or salmon at the Nitinat ferry also. Expect another $30 to $40 there as well.

Heading north from Chez Monique, expect to take a side trip off the woodland route of the West Coast Trail hike to visit the Carmanah Light Station. If the tides are right, hike down the cliff at the end of the station to the beach, and off toward Dare Beach on the lower route. Hiking south takes you to Carmanah Creek and then on to Bonilla Point toward Walbran Creek, and increasing difficulty on the trail.

The West Coast Trail hike is a multi-day wilderness trip that is very difficult, requiring a certain fitness level.

Traveling six to sixteen kilometers with a twenty kilogram backpack on the West Coast Trail hike demands a good level of fitness. What is the best way to prepare? Just how fit do I need to be? When should I start preparing? These are pertinent questions for anyone who is planning on making this trip.

Good stamina is the key to preparing for hiking the West Coast Trail. Mountain hiking trails are challenging because of elevation gains or losses, but the ruggedness of the West Coast Trail hike challenges the physical stamina of most people. The West Coast Trail does not contain a great amount of elevation change, but there is a lot of up and down and around. The forest sections can be especially challenging. The sea shelf and the boardwalks have very slippery footing. Walking on sand that gives way underfoot can be very tiring. The difficulty of the West Coast Trail hike is often surprising, even to experienced hikers who have not travelled the coastal rainforests and shores before.

Building stamina

A good way to begin your preparation is to start walking each day. Build up from there, slowly adding weight. It is better not to start out with a major day hike and a heavy pack unless you already do that regularly. Start small, be diligent and consistent about it, and increase time, distance and weight. A two month West Coast Trail hike preparation schedule might look something like this:

Week 1:
No pack, 30 minute walk in shoes each day for 6 days
1.5 hours in shoes for 1 day

Week 2:
No pack, 30 minute walk in shoes each day for 6 days
2 hours in shoes for 1 day

Week 3:
10 lb. pack, 30 minute walk in shoes each day for 6 days
10 lb. pack, 2 hours in boots for 1 day

Week 4:
15 lb. pack, 30 minute walk in shoes each day for 6 days
15 lb. pack, 3 hours in boots for 1 day

Week 5:
20 lb. pack, 30 minute walk in boots each day for 6 days
20 lb. pack, 3 hours in boots for 1 day

Week 6:
30 lb. pack, 30 minute walk in boots each day for 5 days
30 lb. pack, 3 hours in boots for 2 days

Week 7:
40 lb. pack, 30 minute walk in boots each day for 5 days
40 lb. pack, 3 hours in boots for 2 days

Week 8:
40 lb. pack, 30 minute walk in boots each day for 5 days
40 lb. pack, 4 hours in boots for 2 days

Vary the difficulty of the walks you take to give yourself and your body a greater range of motion and balance development opportunities. Load your pack tightly and wear it with proper adjustments to fit your body so that you get used to moving with the extra weight on your back like you will have on your West Coast Trail hike. With proper adjustment and packing, you get used to moving with a different center of gravity. But make sure you pack it so that the weight is concentrated low in the pack and toward the shoulder straps, which keeps the center of the additional weight close to your natural center of gravity that is located around the midsection for most people.

Eating

Eat well, with good food, but avoid over-eating. Try to maintain your normal intake. If you are used to junk food, switch over to more whole foods while you are preparing. Try to make sure your meals are balanced with carbohydrates and proteins. Drink water. Start paying attention to your body’s thirst. Give it plenty of water, but not too much. Get used to drinking while you are walking by taking your hydration system with you and using it.

Preparing for your West Coast Trail hike is straight-forward. You need to begin to do the things you will be doing on the hike. Build up your activity so that you do not strain yourself, helping your body to get used to the activity. Build up your stamina. Eat healthy and drink plenty of water. Following these simple suggestions will prepare you well for your trip, helping you to be safer and to enjoy the experience more.

The challenges on the West Coast Trail hike are different from other hiking trails that are inland.  Coastal hikes have unique hazards that must be understood and respected.  Because of these unique risks, planning and preparation are extremely important.  The West Coast Trail hike is a traverse, so extra planning and organization is needed to make sure you get to the area and have a way out at the end. Every hike has its special needs, the following four are geared toward the West Coast Trail.

We will look at four main areas needing to be organized for a hiking trip on the West Coast Trail:

•Dates for the trip
•Transportation to, from and during the trip
•Food, before the trail, at the campsites, and at “special” places
•Equipment needed to get through the trip.

Date Considerations

Several aspects need to be considered around the dates that will be chosen for your West Coast Trail hike.  The number of people in the group will present an opportunity or a challenge, depending on the dates.  High season and shoulder season times allow or restrict larger groups, and the need for reservations at earlier dates. The tides and the trail conditions vary greatly during the season and the month.  What can be seen, and passed through, changes with the tides.  Lastly, the weather can be any mixed bag along the coast, but the general trend is to have the better weather during the high season of July and August.  Judging your group is important in deciding how they will do in wetter weather on your West Coast Trail hike.

Transportation

Three main considerations exist for the transportation.  First, which end is the starting point and which the ending point is a critical decision.  Getting to and from the trail is an important obstacle to overcome.  The third is whether to take a vehicle or to hire out all the transport. 

Food

The dates you pick, or the length of the trip affects the food planning.  To complete your West Coast Trail hike safely, plan on taking at least seven days.  It can be done in a shorter time given good conditions, but it is not dependable.  The longer the trip, the more food is needed, and the planning and preparation increases.  Choosing to buy or dry and package your own food needs pre-planning, and the amount and quality of the food you carry is important.  Fresh food is healthy, but heavy.  And there are opportunities for food along the trail at Chez Monique and at the Nitinat ferry.  Money is essential for these places.

Equipment

Although this is a backpacking hike, which requires a common set of equipment for most trails, there are specific needs around some things when hiking on the coast.  The common elements are the proper pack, with the right features for a long , multi-day hike, and proper hiking boots.  The climate is very wet, even in August with great weather.  Keeping clothes and sleeping gear dry is nearly impossible.  Longer trips need lighter gear, and then there is the ever-present problem of mud.  A warm, dry shelter is important for the end of the day, so taking a great tent helps make the trip better.  Clearly, the right equipment is essential for your West Coast Trail hike.

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is the home of the West Coast Trail. Coastal Bliss can help you navigate your way over this incredible hiking trail. The terrain on the West Coast Trail hike moves over sandy beaches, rocky headlands, wide sandstone ledges, and boardwalk passing through salal covered wetlands. We travel around rocky points and through arches; we explore tidal pools looking for sea life that makes its home there; and we pass logging relics and lighthouses living through some of the fascinating history of the trail. The trail was originally a pathway for a telegraph wire connecting Bamfield and Port Renfrew. It was turned into a more passable trail for the rescue of shipwrecked mariners that escaped disaster along the rocky shores of Vancouver Island. As many as 66 ships have been lost along this ssection of the "Graveyard of the Pacific". Some of the remnants of these ships are still visible on the rocks and beaches along the coast.

The temperate coastal rain forest along the West Coast Trail hike is dominated by old growth spruce, hemlock and cedar. Our guides interpret the landsacape and seascape along the way so that you have a context for your journey. Some of the tallest and largest trees in Canada make their homes in and around the West Coast Trail, including a controversial section in the Carmanah Valley, which has a creek that crosses the trail and comes out near the Carmanah Light Station on the trail. Annexing the trail into Pacific Rim National Park Reserve has increased the safety of the trail by having consistent maintenance, organized facilities, and a reservation system in place. This has also increased the popularity of the trail, which sees somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 visitors a year. Increased safety does not mean that hiking the trail is risk free. Anyone considering this destination need to prepare for the physical demands, organize the transport, the food, and ensure that their equipment is up to par. Having a tour company guide you through your West Coast Trail hike removes much of the organization and may open the adventure up to more fun and a better experience.

Adventuring onto the West Coast Trail hike is a great way to experience the real Pacific coast.  But coastal hikes can be grueling and difficult.  The weather is precocious, the ground conditions can be extremely variable, and the terrain can be hazardous.  Making it through can be by sheer brute will, but the gear you take can help ease the way.

There are four important gear groupings to look at when you are planning to hike the West Coast Trail.  One area covers the gear for the time you are traveling.  The second area covers the gear for staying in camp.  Next, we have the area covering gear for the kitchen; and finally, we consider the clothing that you bring to deal with the changeable weather.

The Travel Gear
Travel gear includes the pack, the boots, the gaiters, the hydration system, and the pack cover.  The pack is best if is an inside frame, fully adjustable, waist-belted expedition pack.  If you have several people with larger packs, you can probably get away with a 60 liter pack, but on a 6 to 8 day camping tour, you need some volume.  Make sure you get the pack fitted for you by someone who knows how to fit it and adjust it to you.  Don’t take it for certain that an employee of an outdoor store actually knows how to fit a pack, even they say they have been trained.  If you have any experienced hiker friends, as them to show you how to fit it properly.  A good fitting pack, properly adjusted makes sure you waste little of your energy.  Conserving your energy on the hike lessens fatigue and decreases the chance of accident and injury.

The most common injury on hiking trips are blisters, and the most common cause is poorly fit, poorly maintained, or not-broken-in hiking boots.  For the West Coast Trail and BC hiking on the coast, you need rugged, expedition hiking boots.  The trails are rugged and the packs heavy.  You need to make sure that the boots you have fit the bill.  Because the trails are most often muddy, gaiters are a major help in keeping feet dry.  In mud, the wetness does not get through the gaiter, even if it is over the boot top.  When you have standing water of 3 to 5 inches and mud up to the knee, gaiters are critical.  This is a common experience on a West Coast Trail hike.

Water is vital to life, and beyond blisters, the most common injury on a hiking trip is dehydration.  The absolute, most critical factor to incorporate into your hydration system is accessibility.  Accessible water will be drunk.  Even if you don’t take a filter or purification system, you need to have the water accessible.  The filtration system is also very important.  New gravity feed filtration systems are fast and easy.  They are worth researching. Dehydration is common on the cool West Coast Trail, so take your hydration system seriously.

The Accommodation Gear
At the end of the day, you need shelter and sleeping gear.  There are some great lightweight tents now on the market, ranging from about $200 to $600 for a two-person, three-season tent.  Some tents are great, but a real pain to put up.  If you get one of those tents, make sure you know how to put it up in wind and rain to keep is as stable and dry as possible. West Coast Trail hiking can be very damp, if not downright wet, during all seasons. Tents and sleeping bags are serious business here.

Your sleeping gear contains your sleeping bag and insulating mat, as well as any bag liner you have.  On the west coast, the damp air can make anything wet.  Down bags lose their loft and warmth when they get wet.  Keeping your bag dry is critical, especially in the shoulder seasons when the temperatures are lower.  If your bag is GoreTex, you will not have to worry, but they are expensive.  A synthetic fill bag or a hybrid bag are better choices.  A heavy, -20 C is not needed.  You can stay with a lighter 0 C bag on the coast.  It rarely gets below freezing.  Your insulating mat can be a foam pad, a standard Thermarest, or derivative, or one of the ultralight sleeping pads, also made by Thermarest. 

The Kitchen Gear
The most critical considerations for your kitchen, other than the food, are that the stove works, works without a hitch, and is repairable in the field.  And you also need to make sure you have your fuel when you leave.  Do not count on hooking on a campfire:  some beaches do not have enough wood.  There are very good, light stoves on the market.  It is easy to get one that is light, functional, and dependable.  Liquid fuels may seem heavy, but they are refillable.  Propane containers are heavy and are supposed to be refillable, but there are a lot of them that get thrown away.

Cooking pots add weight.  Only take the size you need for yourself or your group.  Plan on one pot meals, and limit the amount of cutlery.  Coffee press lids for drinking bottles make great French press coffee, without having to carry a separate pot.  Make sure you take the lid and have a good handle or pot grabber.

The Clothing
Clothing needs to be insulating.  Again, the West Coast Trail is a damp place. The prime mantra is, “No cotton!”  Cotton dries slowly and does not insulate.  The most effective way to think about your clothing is to think like an onion, with layers.  Despite this Shrek-ly advice, layers increase the adjustability of your clothing options dramatically.  The best fabrics are wool and fleece.  New merino wool products that are thin make great base layers.  Putting thin layers of fleece over top help maintain warmth.

Being on the “wet coast,” good rain gear is necessary.  Check your gear for waterproofness before you leave.  It can be light, as long as it is definitely waterproof.  Combining some fleece covered with rain gear breaks the wind and maintains the heat better inside the garments.  Rain gear is effectively another warmth layer.

Combining the clothing with the travel gear, the placement in the pack is important.  Thinking in terms of systems helps.  Have systems like, “quick warmth for stops” and develop it with your clothing and pack to always have some insulating clothing near an easy pack opening, and by leaving a space by the opening for putting the clothing back.  Dromedary hydration bags with the hose run out near the face and a gravity filter back beside the bag is a “hydration system.”   A systems approach helps with consistency and so, it helps with safety and security.  We can’t go into all gear options, but you can uncover more details with a bit of research.

The gear you bring to a hiking tour of the West Coast Trail is important.  The quality, usability, and the weight are important for getting from one end of your West Coast Traio hike to the other as easily as possible.  Researching great gear and investing in quality are worth it when taking on a challenging backpacking hike like this.  Using a good tour company helps relieve some of the research time because they will help you with the details and give great suggestions for what to bring and the quality to consider.

The range of conditions that feet can see in the temperate regions is vast.  Coastal hiking in temperate regions takes you through mud, root systems, rocky areas and sandy areas.  And there are often streams to ford.  Slippery boardwalks are just the icing on the cake. The West Coast Trail hike on Vancouver Island gives all of this and more.  Feet-and bodies-have to cope with this wide variety of conditions, and the boots worn can make a tremendous difference.

Coastal hiking is like heavy mountain backpacking.  Boots must be designed for this activity and include stiffer shanks and special construction for waterproofing and durability. These heavier boots provide the best level of support, protection, and durability for heavier loads and longer trips. Both the West Coast Trail hike and the North Coast Trail hike are extended trips over demanding terrain, so an extended (heavy weight) backpacking boot is appropriate.

The support given to the ankle and foot are mostly from the stiffness and durability of the shank that runs the length of the boot under the foot, not from the high ankle height of the boot.  The shank is the main support system in a boot.  High tops can provide a little extra support alongside the shank, but not much.  High tops help prevent ankle abrasions; and they help keep water from entering the boot in low water conditions.   A pair of gaiters is really necessary for coastal trails.  Gaiters cannot prevent water from entering boots from the top in deep puddles, but they can keep the system dry in water levels slightly higher than the boot top if you are moving through at a relatively quick pace. 

New boots designed for rugged terrain will feel stiff but they should still be comfortable. It is good practice to wear your boots to break them in before any trip, even if the boots are old and broken in.  Wearing them can help you track down troubles before you get on the trail.  Make a pre-hike with as similar conditions as you can find or create.  Check them over during and after this test hike. Breaking new boots in will take weeks.  The pressure of your foot in the boot must mold and shape the boot to form fit your foot.  With denser materials in heavy hiking boots, this takes some time and distance, perhaps 80+ kilometers.  Before you go, try a good two to three hour hike with your pack loaded to see if anything is heating up or hurting.

Considering coastal hikes like the West Coast Trail or the North Coast Trail, good quality, reliable boots are essential.  These boots need to be supportive for the rugged terrain, water proof to the top in construction, and need to have a proper, comfortable fit.  These trails require multiple days with considerable weights in the backpack, so they need to be broken in well to prevent blisters and injury.  Additional help with water-proofing can be found by wearing gaiters over the boots.  At the end of the day, the hiking boots you wear can make or break your West Coast Trail hike.