Author Topic: West Coast Trail  (Read 1749 times)

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Offline THE EDJ

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West Coast Trail
« on: February 09, 2011, 08:23:19 pm »
West Coast Trail

I have been doing a bit of research and am wondering if anyone here has done it and would like to share a bit about their experience. I know a lot of these answers are available on the web, but I want some knowledge from people first hand.

I know it's a very long hike, about 75 km, and depending on your pace can be completed in a varying period of time. What pace did you travel at and how long did it take you to finish?

I also know that the hike can be done partially and then you can return to the trail head you started from. If doing this, is it better to start from the north or south end of the trail? Were there any notable spots to camp if only doing a partial route?

On a hike like this, packing efficiently is very important. Carrying around extra weight sucks. Are there any must-haves for the trip, aside from the usual back packing gear? Is there anything that should be left behind for this trip?

Any stories or notable experiences would be great to hear, good or bad!

Thanks!
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Offline jonathan

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Re: West Coast Trail
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2011, 09:52:44 am »
My wife and I and some friends did this about 10 years ago and it is a great hike. We caught the Lady Rose in Port Alberni to Bamfield and then took a water taxi to Port Renfrew, which was great. On the way the owner took us to see a herd of walruses sunning themselves and even into the middle of a pod of Gray Whales.

We chose to start at the south end because the trail at that end is more challenging, so we decided to do that while we were still fresh. All of the campsites are on the beach so that they get cleaned during the winter storms. As much as possible we hiked on the beach so that we had sun and a view. If you take the inland trail you are surrounded by trees and the trail can be quite muddy and slippery. Even so you can't hike all the way on the beach and there are things like ladders and log bridges that you can't avoid. The one caution that I have about hiking the beach is know the tides and be very careful around surge channels.

We were fortunate with the weather as it didn't rain. If it does rain this would be pretty miserable. We took 9 days to complete it and that included two nights at the same camp so that we could just lay on the beach. You will see a lot of whales and eagles and it really is a beatiful hike.
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Offline canehdianJ

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Re: West Coast Trail
« Reply #2 on: February 15, 2011, 08:53:33 pm »
i would like to highly recommend a arc teryx backpack and complete gotex outfits... my buddy got rained on for 2 weeks there.

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Re: West Coast Trail
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2011, 08:16:54 pm »
I did it about 5 years ago, there were 11 of us and we did it in 5 days and it only rained one morning. Started at the north end and worked south. If you can I recommend going along the beaches, the sites are amazing and its a nice break from watching all the trees the entire time. Sleeping on the beaches are awesome too, I didn't even have to use my thermarest then.