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Hiking The West Coast Trail

Saturday, August 8, 2015 15:07

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I’m back from hiking the West Coast Trail and excited to share more than

a few photos of the incredible adventure. My father and I pushed through 75 km of challenging terrain coupled with breathtaking views, completing the

trek in a speedy 4.5 days. Vancouver Island is truly nature’s paradise and I’m

so lucky I got the chance to experience it on a larger and more intimate scale

Missing from photo: Raincoast Trading Canned Wild Salmon,
Dehydrated “Cheezy” Kale Chips,Fruit Leather and Pineapple

My food supply for 5-6 days:

Taste Adventure Yellow Pea and Black Bean Soups
Qia Creamy Coconut Oatmeal
Starbuck’s Via Vanilla Latte
Our Finest 72% Dark Swiss Chocolate
Annie Chun’s Wasabi Seaweed Snacks
Wholesome Goodness Mountain Trail Mix
Clif Builder’s Chocolate Peanut and Crunchy Peanut Bars
PGX Satisfast Dark Chocolate Coconut and Peanut Butter Bars
Vega One Meal Bar (which I learnt I don’t like at all)
Clif Chocolate Almond Fudge Energy Bar
Seeds of Change Indian Style Pilaf and Quinoa & Brown Rice

It’s funny because I thought this would be enough until I hit the trail and realized I’d be burning up to 3,000 calories a day, hiking for over 8 hours at a time. Thankfully my dad brought enough money so I could splurge on the small cafes and restaurants that are run by local natives on the reservation land. Next time I would definitely bring more trail mix and CHOCOLATE BARS because you really need the fuel and energy-dense calories to keep your body going on long, hot days

Waiting Downtown Victoria for the WCT Shuttle Bus to pick us up

The start of the trail from the North to South direction

Waiting to find out if we could go on as stand-by hikers because we didn’t register. Found out there were two open spots the next day so we had to stay at base camp for a night

Pre-WCT dinner at our campsite in Pachena Bay, B.C

Me scarfing down my canned salmon and roasted kabocha squash. My dad made some

kind of noodle mess that he claimed was extremely delicious, more so than it looked

Hot Huck’s Italian Veggie Ground. The best dried veggie protein

I’ve ever had. This made for a great protein addition to our meals

Planning out our trail route for the next day

The start of a lengthy series of steep and grueling ladders

Bear poop!

Motorcycle? Oh the things you’ll find on the West Coast

Pachena Point Lighthouse

My Dad posing amongst the copious buoys

Cooling off at one of the smaller waterfalls

These were such a challenge when you’ve got a 30lb backpack strapped to you

Anchor

Our first cable car zipline crossing

“Bathing holes” as I referred to them at Tsusiat Falls

Camping on the beach

Hung our booties out to dry

Marking my territory

Quick boat ride over to one of the hidden resturant gems

Caught a fellow hiker holding what would soon be lunch

My father was like a little kid when his coffee and plate of fresh crab arrived. He

let me try some and it definitely wasn’t bad at all. I opted for a baked potato though

with margarine, washed down with Coke Zero and a Diet Coke for later

Beach walking. West Coaster’s call it the “Beach Boogie”

Poser

The second restuarant we came across, Chez Monique’s on the beach

Look at all that liquor. It made me kind of sad because I don’t

think it’s necessary to have booze on such a trip. Plus many campground’s

were filled with drunken hikers, some partying into the late night

Chez Monique’s

Sit-in dining at its best hehe

Our candy loot: Diet Coke, Reese Peanut Butter Cups, KitKat Bar,

Miss Vickie’s Sea Salt & Malt Vinegar Chips and Lay’s Classic Potato Chips

Hiker Box. A great idea for hikers to unload the weight of extra

food they didn’t need or for those who didn’t bring enough to fill up

Cleaning my sore feet from the wet sand

Misty morning

We met Vinz & Jonas, super kind and sweet German’s, who happened

to hike at the same pace as us. We wound up at the same campsites

each night and they were a great duo to socialize with on quiet nights

My Dad and I all smiles

Right after that photo we fell asleep. Beach walking is

exhausting and a noon nap was just what our bodies needed!

The rest of that day was anything but a snooze…especially with ladders

that climbed to the stars and went on for miles (it felt like) and a

wicked suspension bridge that tossed me about here and there

Chef Kelsey making Protein Macaroni with Cheese and Ketchup

to top. I’m always happy around the kitchen (beach kitchen)

Getting closer to the end of our journey

Stopping for lunch. Me all puffy from allergies and fluid retention from sore muscles

I’m such a little hunchback, hungry and tired

The end! The gang of us who all stayed fairly close on the trail. I’m in the very back cuddling myself pretty much (sorry for the blur). We parked our weary butts down

for almost an hour waiting for the ferry boat to pick us up and take us to shore

Felt great knowing I could rest and eat and not

have to carry 30lbs on my back anymore haha

My eyes were so puffy and swollen, definitely needed some Reactine/anti-histamines

We capped off our great adventure with Lunch at The Renfrew Pub,

Port Renfrew B.C. I ordered poutine as an appetizer and had a burger with

fries for the main course. I only bothered to take a picture of the succulent

poutine and then wolfed down everything else like a piggy. Man was it worth it!

That’s it folks, the West Coast Trail experience in a nutshell. I hope to return

to conquer it again someday…maybe even next Summer with my boyfriend

www.snackingsquirrel.com

Source: http://www.snackingsquirrel.com/2015/08/hiking-west-coast-trail.html

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