The experience
The trail actually exceeded my expectations. By doing all beach sections, the trail varied at what felt like the perfect cadence. Both beach and forest routes varied in their terrain and difficulty even within the same sections, providing an exciting and mentally refreshing experience throughout the hike. Each campsite has its own character, though there certainly are sites worth skipping in favour of standouts, which I'll touch on later. If weather permits long-distance views, you'll see mountains from the shoreline in the southern portion of the hike. Marine and land wildlife are abundant and a joy to see.
We were lucky with the weather. Only over the last 24 hours did we have rain, which was fun and felt quintessential to the experience but also convenient in that we ended shortly after the rain stopped.
Beta
Pack weight
Our packs were the lightest we saw while hiking, which surprised me. The average pack was a bit over 40 pounds, while ours by the midpoint of our second day averaged about 27 pounds, and we still had luxuries and supplies for an extra 2+ days. Biggest tip: drop your pack weight by leaving behind redundancies and dead weight. Make sure everything has a dedicated, critical purpose and ideally serves at least two uses. My camp shoes, for example, were plastic bags that I lined my trail runners with after putting my clean, dry feet into dry socks, which also served as a laundry bag to wash socks and underwear. I did not wish for camp shoes because I liked the convenience of my shoes or simply going barefoot around camp.
Hiking direction
We hiked southbound, and I actually think this is the better way, though I have not hiked northbound. Starting off on the easier section will be a boon to your morale, and you'll have the lightest packs for the harder sections. Finishing at the south end also feels like a more natural destination, given you'll be closer to where you need to go after the hike.
Campsites and schedule
We were ahead of our planned schedule and ended up finishing a day early. We could have finished two days early, but Cullite Cove was too nice to pass up on. Do your research on the campsites and have preferences in mind rather than being dead set on certain ones because you may want to go shorter or longer depending on the day and state of the campsites.
Some standout campsites, in my opinion:
- Carmanah: we did not stay here, as we went to Bonilla, but it has a gorgeous beach and view.
- Cullite Cove: cozy site nestled between sandstone cliffs. It reminded me of Lurelin Village from Breath of the Wild. The best site on the trail, I'd say.
- Tsocowis: small waterfall and water hole. Awesome view with lots of whales. Wide-open beach.
Trail difficulty and fitness
As a trail runner and rock climber, I was well trained for the trail. Do get some upper-body workouts in for the light scrambling. Do lower-body workouts to prepare for ladders (they engage your legs more than your arms) and the technical sections. Do some rope pulling to prep for at least one cable car ride.
By far the most technical section was the boulder field immediately south of Owen Point. This was no joke. You're working within a tide window, there can be swell, and for two kilometres are navigating consistently slippery, jagged terrain. It makes the Death Valley segment of the Casque Isles trail on the north shore of Lake Superior look like a walk in the park. The rain we had while doing it did not make it any easier. Absolutely do not underestimate this part if you do it. Seeing the caves and hiking the surge channels is incredible, but the boulder field is the revered guardian of this. Give yourself a generous window and know that it's the section accounting for the most SAR calls on the trail. At the Crab Shack, we met a group with a member who got badly injured on it, and they started getting hit with waist-deep water before their narrow escape.
If in proper shape, none of the sections are particularly demanding physically.
Equipment and heads-ups
- tarp: especially if you're in a group, a tarp is just soooo nice for camp. I saw many a roasted tomato hiker baking in the sun on beaches while taking breaks. The tarp was awesome for shade, cozy breaks, and a place to hang out at camp when it was raining.
- skip camp shoes: less weight to lug around, and plastic-lined footwear is, in my opinion, a better option anyway.
- quick-dry clothing: you will get wet, so rather than trying to fully prevent it, optimize for drying.
- mice: the "little beasts" are more prominent as you move south and were everywhere at Thrasher. They will chew on plastic and crawl on your tent. Secure things as much as you can.
- pack cover: necessary piece of gear in conjunction with a liner to protect your bag from water and... sand. Sand gets wet on the trail and can be tough to deal with. Having a pack cover helped a bit.
- sun clothes: sun hoodie, sun hat, sunglasses... bring a setup that will protect you head-to-toe. UV gets intense on sunny beach sections.
- poles: I didn't have any and did not miss them, but I can see how they can be very helpful for certain technical forest sections or probing mud depth.
- pants: pants are love, pants are life. I only hike in pants and don't bother bringing shorts. They protect you from sun, abrasion, wind, and moisture.
- water: lots of fresh water sources everywhere. Aside from a few kilometres where I portered a few litres of water so we could optimize a lunch before doing Owen Point, we only carried up to 1L each at a time after drinking up at sources.
- gaiters: I use short trail-running gaiters that are perfect for blocking sand and some mud. I don't think tall gaiters are necessary, but it's also personal preference.
- bears: we fortunately didn't see any, but based on scat, they seem more prominent on the north half of the trail.
- bear spray: you can rent it for $15 from the West Coast Trail Express.
- gas: the Gordon River Parks station has loads of donated canisters up for grabs.
- WCT app: invaluable for planning before and during the trip!
- orientation session: take notes on your map. You will refer to it consistently.
- cable cars: skip as many as you can. Do at most one for the experience. They're physically demanding to operate.
- navigation: trail is very easy to navigate with only a couple points to look for between Gordon River and Thrasher. Beach access points are clearly marked with buoys.
Overall
This was a beautiful, unique experience! I'm grateful to have done it. Thank you to all the guardians, Parks staff, SAR crew, and the Huu-ay-aht, Ditidaht and Pacheedaht First Nations for making this trail a reality.
