Juan de Fuca Marine Trail (June 28-July 1)

A few months ago, Andrew and Ashley asked Tom and I if we would be interested in hiking the West Coast Trail. After our experiences in the Grand Canyon last fall, we were excited at the idea of doing some backpacking again. However, as I started to read about the West Coast Trail, I became apprehensive about the length (77km) and difficulty of the trail. None of us are particularly experienced hikers, and it seemed like a bad idea to start out on one of the most challenging trails in North America. So a little bit of research lead us to an alterate option, the 47km Juan de Fuca Marine Trail.

Juan de Fuca Marine Trail.

The Juan de Fuca trail is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island. It starts near the small town of Jordan River, and ends near Port Renfrew (which is also near the trailhead for the West Coast Trail). The majority of the trail is through temperate rainforest, with sections directly on the beach, parallel to the coast line. For four days, we hiked through trees, mud, never ending switchbacks, rain and sunshine.

June 28: China Beach to Bear Beach

Ashley, Andrew, Tom and I starting the hike.

After an early rising at Tom's aunt's house in Richmond, we caught the 9am ferry to Swartz Bay, and started the drive out to Jordan River. After the lengthy process of leaving one car at the end trailhead, and leaving one at the beginning trailhead, we started our hike at about 3pm. The sun was out, but it was still a cool 15 degrees. Perfect weather for hiking! The first portion of the trail was graded as "moderate" difficulty." It took us about 4 hours to make the first 9km of the trail to our campsite for the night.

Crossing our first suspension bridge.

Warped tree branches.

Walking planks.

Typical trail scenery.

The back country campsites had minimal infrastructure-- if you could even call it that. Basically, there were a couple of outhouses, and a couple of bear-proof lockers to store your food. The campsite was also quite crowded, so we were lucky to find some space to pitch our tents.

A little tight on space!

This was our first chance to try out some of the dehydrated/freeze-dried food that Ashley and Andrew had picked up at MEC. We tried a Pad Thai package and a Curry Chicken Rice. Much to our surprise, they were actually pretty tasty!

Across the board, our first night sleep was terrible. I think we all thought that the sound of the ocean would be soothing as we were falling asleep, but instead it was like a cyclic roaring. For a while it would ebb, and you would doze for a bit, but then the water would come roaring in, and you'd be awake. I'm not sure if I slept more than 10 continuous minutes that night. It felt like I was awake the whole time.

June 29: Bear Beach to Chin Beach

The next section was graded the "most difficult" portion of the trail. And believe me, it was the most difficult-- especially when you consider the lack of sleep from the night before! The trail was a back and forth pattern of steep switchbacks. For 12km, we went up and down, up and down, up and down. Blisters formed, feet ached, knees protested, and in my case, spirits were low! It was slow going, and for a while, I wondered why I ever thought backpacking was fun! It felt like the day was never going to end.

Before the day had taken it's toll on me!

During the 7 hours on the trail, we saw and did a few interesting thing. First thing in the morning, we picked our way along the beach. Now, I'm sure in your mind you are picturing a lovely beach with soft, smooth sand. The beaches on the trail were nothing like that. Most of the time the beaches were comprised of large boulders and loose rocks. You were lucky if you saw a bit of sand. Walking on rocks is tough going. They have no give, and they suck out all your energy as you walk. This explains why Tom was walking on some of the exposed tide pool Unfortunately, he slipped, and soaked his shoes and most of his left side. An unpleasant way to spend the rest of the day.

Rocky beach.

In addition, there was a snake that surprised Ashley (who was in the lead), and some sort of muskrat-like animal as we were crossing a bridge. We also had to use ropes to get ourselves up steep inclines, and clamber down a small ladder. We had a mini celebration each time we saw a kilometre marker on the trail.

Can you see the snake?

Tom pumps water for lunch.

By the time we reached camp that night, we were tired and hungry-- and some of us still a little wet. This time we had whole wheat macaroni with pesto sauce and pine nuts for dinner. We went to bed early. Sleep was better than the night before, but not great!

Drying off socks and shoes at the end of the day.

Sunset on Chin Beach.

June 30: Chin Beach to Little Kuitshe Creek

Tom and I on the trail.

When we got up in the morning, we were faced with another 12km day on "difficult" and "moderate" graded trail. We ate lunch on Sombrio Beach, which, in retrospect, would have been a beautiful place to spend the night. We passed a secluded bay with a picturesque waterfall, and ate lunch on the beach. An ACTUAL beach! With sand instead of loose rocks! There were a lot of families and dogs in this area because it was connected to a parking lot and trailhead. We also passed another group of backpackers who had lost two of their group. The people we met had been hiking ahead, and had accidentally followed a logging road instead of the trail. By the time they realized their mistake, they were too far away to turn back, so they hiked along the highway, and re-entered the trail from the parking lot at the Sombrio Beach Trailhead. Unfortunately, they didn't know where the other two of their group had gone.

Sombrio Beach.

Varying levels of enthusiasm.

Trail boardwalk.

Our campsite that night was the first that was not on the beach. Under the canopy of the forest, it as dark early in the evening. There was swarms of mosquitoes all over the campsite-- but they were the least aggressive mosquitos I had ever encountered. They would hover around your face, and some would even land. But they made little effort to bite. Maybe we smelled THAT bad? I only had three mosquito bites from the trip (one unfortunately in the middle of my forehead), but I'm pretty sure I got them the following day. Not at the Little Kuitshe Creek campsite.

July 1: Little Kuitshe Creek to Botanical Bay

Our final day on the trail was the longest stretch of hiking, 14km. Thankfully for us, the stretch of trail was graded "moderate," and it took us about 6 hours to make our way to the final trailhead.

The day started out with rain, so we were damp and dirty. A couple of hours later, the sun re-emerged and roasted us all a little pink. While moving through another campsite, we passed some hikers who had seen a mama black bear and her two cubs on a beach. They gave us a heads-up, and told us to talk loudly through the next section of the trail so we didn't surprise them. In the end, we didn't end up seeing any bears. I'm a little disappointed, but also a little relieved too.

Some of the numerous (and steep) stairs.

We all get mild sunburns, but it was totally worth it!

We ate our last meal on the trail, chicken salad wraps made from tinned chicken, mayo packets, and some pine nuts and dried cranberries.

When we reached the trailhead at Botanical Beach, Ashley and I had a few minutes to sit back and relax. Andrew and Tom had to run 2.5km along the road to Port Renfrew so that they could pick up our car. Then we loaded ourselves into the car, and headed back into Victoria.

47km later... Finally done!

Upon arrival, we checked into the Fairmont Empress for a much needed shower-- and the best sleep in four days.

Ah... But this is not quite the end of our story.

During our stay at the Empress, we left all of our clothing and equipment in the back of our cars. If you can imagine... The cumulative smell of four days worth of sweat, camp fire and dampness enclosed in a small space was overwhelmingly noxious the following morning. The smell was TERRIBLE. From then on, we drove everywhere with the car windows rolled down!

So this leads me to the last set of pictures.

The importance of airing out your equipment!

The airing-out of sleeping bags.

Ashley and Andrew survey the equipment explosion.

Us taking over the McLaren's back yard.

Another adventure under our belts.

Until next time!