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West Coast Trail – The 75km/48 mile hike in Vancouver Island (2021)

dquach.com

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Re: West Coast Trail – The 75km/48 mile hike in Vancouver Island (2021)

#61

Post by dkarl »

freetime2 wrote: post #42
mactunes wrote: post #25

I was just about to comment about my dear of bumping into a grizzly bear while hiking there, but apparently “only” black bears live on Vancouver Island. That would still keep me away and I always wonder if I’m just way too cautious or if the likelihood of running into a bear is so low that it’s worth it?

Black bears have killed 67 people in North America since 1900, so I think statistically the risk is very low [1]. I have come across black bears on several occasions while hiking in Yosemite and Sequoia national park. They have never expressed the slightest bit of interest in me. Give them plenty of space, make plenty of noise, and eventually they will wander away. Grizzly bears, the other hand, terrify me. [1] https…

There must be tens of thousands of black bear encounters (where human and bear are mutually aware of each other) in the U.S. every year, and I think less than one attack per year on average. It's not uncommon to see videos of bears wandering around in suburban back yards.

Re: West Coast Trail – The 75km/48 mile hike in Vancouver Island (2021)

#62

Post by orthoxerox »

no_wizard wrote: post #52
buildbot wrote: post #23

I did this trail a few years ago, was an utterly amazing experience. We did the route backwards, going north to south. I brought some really good cameras with me and the weight was 100% worth it, the shots I got on that trip still hang on my wall to this day. Example photo: https://adobe.ly/3LpJ444 We were very lucky weather wise, it did not rain the entire trip, which as others say, is not typical. The ladders, oh m…

Just so I can picture it: in the middle point of this hike there is a flow blown restaurant / food shack?

It's not so strange; it's on the beach, so you can bring supplies in by boat or seaplane.

Re: West Coast Trail – The 75km/48 mile hike in Vancouver Island (2021)

#63

Post by cgh »

jml7c5 wrote: post #33
mactunes wrote: post #25

I was just about to comment about my dear of bumping into a grizzly bear while hiking there, but apparently “only” black bears live on Vancouver Island. That would still keep me away and I always wonder if I’m just way too cautious or if the likelihood of running into a bear is so low that it’s worth it?

They're pretty docile. Think of them as very big raccoons, not small grizzlies. The primary thing that brings the bravest black bears into close contact with humans is their love of untended food, but they're skittish and will scamper the moment someone hollers at them. Personally, I worry more about cougars and wolves.

FYI, Vancouver Island has the highest population density of cougars in the world. This includes mountain lions, pumas, panthers, etc, all the same big cat by other names. They are so elusive though. I lived on the Island for nearly six years, during which time I mountaineered and hiked all over the place, and never saw one. Saw lots of black bears though.

Re: West Coast Trail – The 75km/48 mile hike in Vancouver Island (2021)

#64

Post by no_wizard »

orthoxerox wrote: post #62
no_wizard wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just so I can picture it: in the middle point of this hike there is a flow blown restaurant / food shack?

It's not so strange; it's on the beach, so you can bring supplies in by boat or seaplane.

I don't think its strange (in fact, its probably really opportune, talk about a captured audience from a business perspective), I'm curious about how big it is, the layout etc.

Re: West Coast Trail – The 75km/48 mile hike in Vancouver Island (2021)

#65

Post by brailsafe »

eesmith wrote: post #38
justusthane wrote: post #4

Good write up, and I'm impressed by his preparations for a first-time backpacker - especially his food dehydration. Most people, especially newbies, will just buy prepackaged meals. Although I had to laugh at his "green sand"[1] — beach glass? [1]: https://static-images-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/blog-21...

The author is a first-time thru-hiker, not first-time backpacker. "I have done a lot of hiking, and cool trips, but never thru-hiking." and "upgrading all of my gear" indicate previous experience backpacking. The line "I remember buying cascade hiking poles from Costco, and it breaking in the middle of hiking of Peru" may been an event which occurred after this hike, but a search of the site finds https://www.dquach.…

From both articles, I did get "I'll just use my tech money" and "go to easter island" or "replace literally all of my gear just for this trip" vibes, which is a certain kind of turnoff, but he is at least spending it and doing the trips which is admittedly something I haven't done yet.

Re: West Coast Trail – The 75km/48 mile hike in Vancouver Island (2021)

#66

Post by Fricken »

cgh wrote: post #63
jml7c5 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're pretty docile. Think of them as very big raccoons, not small grizzlies. The primary thing that brings the bravest black bears into close contact with humans is their love of untended food, but they're skittish and will scamper the moment someone hollers at them. Personally, I worry more about cougars and wolves.

FYI, Vancouver Island has the highest population density of cougars in the world. This includes mountain lions, pumas, panthers, etc, all the same big cat by other names. They are so elusive though. I lived on the Island for nearly six years, during which time I mountaineered and hiked all over the place, and never saw one. Saw lots of black bears though.

There has been a total of 126 cougar attacks, 27 of which were fatal in North America in the last 100 years. I wouldn't worry too much.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks...

Re: West Coast Trail – The 75km/48 mile hike in Vancouver Island (2021)

#67

Post by Magi604 »

I did this years ago solo. I told my neighbor about it, and old-school type fellow, and I was describing all the ladders and cable cars and established campsites. He laughed at me. He told me he did it in the 70s where basically no amenities of any sort existed and it was like bushwacking through literal wilderness.

Definitely a life bucket list type item, a true world-class hike.

>Another huge issue is peeing in the middle of the night. When you are warm in the tent, you have to change, walk to the bathroom, then walk back. Imagine being at home, and instead of walking to your bathroom, you have to walk to the building next to you.

Piss bottles my friends. Take an empty gatorade bottle (MARK IT SO YOU DON'T USE IT FOR DRINKING) and keep it in the tent at night. Easy qol hack.

Re: West Coast Trail – The 75km/48 mile hike in Vancouver Island (2021)

#68

Post by Fricken »

quake wrote: post #13
sva_ wrote: post #10

6 days for 75km? I suppose this guy must've really been enjoying himself along the way. Don't think you need to precook stuff like quinoa. Can just cook it on an ethanol hobo oven pretty quick.

It's a very difficult hike. I did it in 2008 and between the ladders, knee-deep mud, timing your hikes with the tides, and general swampiness, 6-8 days is average. There are sections in the South end of the trail where it's not unusual to only get 8 km in.

The fastest known time is 9.5 hours, set by Matt Cecil in August 2014.

Re: West Coast Trail – The 75km/48 mile hike in Vancouver Island (2021)

#69

Post by yamtaddle »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #34
sva_ wrote: post #10

6 days for 75km? I suppose this guy must've really been enjoying himself along the way. Don't think you need to precook stuff like quinoa. Can just cook it on an ethanol hobo oven pretty quick.

A lot of people have attempted this trail with your attitude and got absolutely wrecked by the physical demands and environment. It’s much harder than scenic photos of the island would lead you to expect. It’s also hard to understand how serious and unrelenting the mud and rain can be if you haven’t experienced west coast downpours before.

> It’s also hard to understand how serious and unrelenting the mud and rain can be if you haven’t experienced west coast downpours before

Yeah—it's literally a rainforest.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rain_forest_location...

Re: West Coast Trail – The 75km/48 mile hike in Vancouver Island (2021)

#70

Post by the_third_wave »

empressplay wrote: post #14
tonyarkles wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LOL, it started raining about 20 minutes after we left Bamfield and didn't stop the whole time.

I did Carmanah before they closed it and yeah it rained the entire time, we camped on the beach and it was foggy and rainy and the foghorn went all night long... good times!

I did Carmanah after it was closed, this was after I first paddled the Yukon from Whitehorse to the Bering Strait [1], camping in the forest, avoiding the bears. The track was partially overgrown but doable, the weather was mostly fine with even some sunshine now and then - it is a temperate rainforest so rain is to be expected. Standing there with my tent between those enormous trees after having first hitch-hiked up from Vancouver to Whitehorse, then paddled the Yukon to Alakanuk, then made our way to Haines to take the Alaska Marine Highway to Prince Rupert, from there on the Queen of the North [2] to Port Hardy where we staid with some friends before hitchhiking to somewhere close to Carmanah where we spent a week, then to Vancouver to take our flight back to the Netherlands - or so we thought. We got some breakfast and noticed a television screen in the back showing images of the World Trade Centre in New York with smoke billowing out of it. It was the 11th of September, 2011 and we were not flying out that day... nor that week.

[1] Alakanuk - we met a teacher who invited us to give a presentation at Alakanuk School, if anyone here was there and remembers a Dutchman coming by in 2001: that was me.

[2] ...which went down 5 years later... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Queen_of_the_North

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