In June of 2018, I got to check off a bucket list item: hike the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island!
I grew up in Victoria, BC and I remember always hearing about this hike. How remote it is, and challenging, but absolutely worth it. While in high school though, I hadn’t yet been introduced to backpacking so it wasn’t until I moved to Seattle and met a bunch of outdoor enthusiasts that I discovered my love for backpacking in the wilderness.
After that, it was easy to find a group interested in going on this week long adventure with me!
The week before doing the West Coast Trail, my friend Andrew and I also did the Juan de Fuca Trail, the Provincial trail neighbour to the West Coast Trail.
The West Coast Trail is a 75km (47mi) trail along the West coast of Vancouver Island starting near Port Renfrew and ending near Bamfield.
We took 6 nights/ 7 days to complete the trail. If you’re lucky with the tides like we were, there are large sections of the trail where you can walk out along the water. We took our time looking into tide pools and admiring the unique landscape.
While part of the trail was spent walking along the water and on the beach, the other part is spent climbing up ladders and navigating boardwalks in the forest. This trail was so interesting because you are constantly going down to the beach and then straight back up into the woods.
Most nights you camp down by the beach, and we had the pleasure of enjoying many amazing sunsets and beautiful ocean views in the morning.
This turned into a photo dump more than a description, but I’ll be sure to post more about the trail soon!
