Day 5 - Rain Forest

Walbran Creek to Camper Creek (9km)

I better get this story down before I forget the dirty details. On day 4 I noted the sound of the rain on the tent as we fell asleep. Well, it was still raining in the morning and on Day 5 we had finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest. The rain had moved in and sat on us for the entire day. We set up camp in an efficient manner and started toward our next destination: our full day of travel in the forest (no beach).

Before anyone can go on the West Coast Trail they have to go through an orientation. In it they tell you about the animals, the campsite amenities, the ladders, the cable cars, and they walk you through the whole trail. Here they tell you about which sites might be closed, and where water can be found. We did the orientation at Port Renfrew so they walked us through the route from south to north. They always mention that the south portion is the easy part and if you are heading north once you hit Walbran you've finished the first (difficult) section and you have only 53 km left (easy). You'll notice that on Day 5 we started at Walbran Creek (kilometer 53).

We trudged through Day 5. I remember being in good spirits despite being soaked. I also recall huge sections of ladders and a long bridge at Logan Creek. With about one or two kilometers left, Josh and I went ahead to find a spot at Camper Bay and hopefully to get a fire started. We arrived to find one of the smallest sites we'd seen on the trip and certainly the one with the smallest amount of firewood and none of it dry. Surprisingly, the site does have two food lockers and two toilets.

Despite the lack of dry wood we were lucky to be the second group to arrive that day and we began to salvage any wood that looked like it might burn and try to get a fire underway. Some native Vancouver Island guys made up the group that beat us to the site and had already claimed the good wood. They also had a tarp up and had a fire going. The rest of our group arrived shortly and soon we were all freezing. Priorities included getting the tent up and changing clothes. About an hour after I arrived we still had very little flame going and I got in my sleeping bag and took a nap. Feeling lazy and hearing everyone else still outside and moving around I got up a bit later and found that our fire was under way. Rob, who was without a change of clothes and flush with solid fuel for a stove we would never use, had been working on it and finally got it going. We could not have done it without him and an awkward German/Japanese guy who came over to our camp and sawed some wood. Thanks guys.

Eventually the rain subsided after what I estimate to be about 21-22 hours. We somehow had the most kickass fire in the whole bay. By now travelers were rolling in along with stories about the route ahead and how tough it would be from here to the finish. Some arrived after nine hours of wet hiking all the way from Port Refrew but all of them looked at our fire with envy as we dried our clothes. Some people even came over to use it on their own clothes. In the morning it was more of the same, we got the firs going and dried some more before setting off. It wasn't the sunny weather we had enjoyed earlier in the trip but we had weathered the worst of the storm. After such a trying day there was some argument about how far to go on the next day. Some thought we could push all the way to the finish, but we would have to get an early start and reach the Gordon river crossing before 4:00 to catch the ferry. Others resisted the pressure and insisted we not push it and see where we are as the day progressed. Neither of those happened.

Day 4 - Monkey Farts

Cribbs Creek to Walbran Creek (12km)

Coming off the high of Day 3, and anticipating more great weather we once again opted for an early start. This would get us moving and set up at the next campsite with time to relax and enjoy the evening. Getting to site's early also ensured that we would get space in the food locker, firewood - though this was hardly ever in short supply - and a good campsite.

Once packed up at Cribbs our day went pretty much as expected. The early morning mist burned off just as we came to Chez Monique's. This is the very famous 'restaurant' set on First Nation land along the trail. Crab omelets and burgers were available for $20 as well as soda, beer and an assortment of candy. They even had bottles of wine for purchase. The whole situation is a little weird with huge piles of trash behind and next to the kitchen area. For the first time in days we saw pieces of the civilization they had tried to escape briefly and it was a bit ugly, albeit delicious. At the same time I think I romanticize it all more than others. Sitting around the table the group engaged in some vigorous debate and complaining about kids these days. A woman, perhaps Monique herself, chimed in and imparted a bit of wisdom about how giving makes one rich, and ironically Rich was the least willing to accept this.

The day went on in sunny, gorgeous fashion that was all beginning to seem pedestrian (pun intended) to us. When we arrived at at Walbran I laid down next to the fire ring and took a nap in a bbq pit, as Matt so appropriately described it. Our final custom-made-Duke-dinner was prepared: re-fried beans and rice with cheese in soft wheat tortillas. There was also more bacon from the huge Costco bag, which miraculously was finished on its second day. Duke suggested that we also go ahead and make the field tiramisu that we had prepared for Matt's birthday (still 2 days away). We all agreed that it was a good night for it and it would make the packs lighter. This line of reasoning is what also led to the early devouring of the biscotti (2/person) on the previous night. Field recipe tiramisu probably sounds risky to impossible but it was awesome. Well done Duke and Graham on all the prepared meals!

The rest of the night was spent creekside skipping rocks, chatting and throwing monkey farts - a trick Matt showed us. You take a rock that might be good for skipping and throw it high up into the air. You want it to hit the water exactly opposite of what you are going for with skipping. The sound you hear is supposed to resemble that of a monkey farting. The rocks here and the still, deep river are perfect for it.

Walbran Creek is the first site where we heard about the mice. Some of the sites are very close to the woods and at night they come out and they will get into things. Matt and I had selected a spot right at the edge of the woods and we heard tons of them scurrying around and squeaking to each other. At one point a mouse came under the fly and onto the tent. To be exact it was on the outside of the tent right over Matt's head, which because of the design of the tent and the height of Matt meant that Matt could feel it on his head. We are wimps. I'm not sure how we
fell asleep but I remember it starting to rain before I drifted off.

Day 3 - Swimming

Tsusiat Falls to Cribbs Creek (16km)

I woke up this morning nervous about the back of my foot. I had a sharp pain from the way the back of the boot folded and put pressure on my Achilles when I took a step. Also, I had just finished a day that I thought was the worst of the trip so far but I was not about to quit or complain. Of course neither would have done me any good. Richie "Hollow Point" Powell hooked me up with some anti-inflammatory meds and I laced my boots up in their old 'classic' way (the same as from the first two days, but I had strayed from this style the on the day before). I felt pretty good as we set off from the falls.

This day's hike was scheduled to be a long one, since there were limited points at which to obtain water and a camp site in the middle - Cheewhat River - was closed due to bears in the area. It would be our longest of the trip at over 16km. Thus we got an early start and the organic rhythm that began to make itself apparent the night before again appeared, this time a bit more refined still. The early start did us well. We started on the beach and came up to Hole in the Wall within the first hour, a classic spot on the trail.

In addition to the early start the group had vowed to avoid the mistake of the prior day which was to skip lunch so as to reach our final goal even faster. This last goal wasn't much of a problem because of the ferry crossing at Nitinat Narrows. When we arrived the sun was shining and the sky was blue. On the other side of the crossing there were fresh crab lunches ($20) and beers ($5) to be had by the rich.
Following lunch we continues on in the good weather and after km36 we popped out on a beautiful beach and took some time to admire it. The weather seemed to carry us and the weight of the packs was no longer obvious but more assumed and beginning to feel natural. I think it surprised everyone when we arrived to our destination; I thought we had about 3km to go.

On the far side of Cribbs Creek we found a nice shelter next to a small stream and a wall of rocks. We all went for a dip in the ocean, tried to dry some clothes in the sun, and made the most of this late afternoon glory. Josh and I tried to do some climbing on the rock wall next to the site. For dinner we had what was called the unwrapped baked potato. It was dehydrated mashed potatoes, vegetable medley, pepperoni, cheese, bits of real bacon and butter buds. That's right we carried with us pepperoni, smokes salmon, and real bacon (a huge Costco bag that was subsequently used for snacking, throwing a pinch in like a chew and with meals that followed) through bear country. It was a bit salty but hardy. We sat on the rocks and watched the sun set. Having accomplished our loftiest goal thusfar and with our spirits lifted by the beauty of the place we were part of, we felt optimistic about the rest of the journey.

Day 2 - On the Trail Again

Darling River to Tsusiat Falls (11km)

We woke up on this morning to find ourselves engulfed in the misty rain that is so characteristic of the region. It creeps in and then just sits there on top of you. The weather does, however, help everyone pack up with increased efficiency. Rob had dazzled us just two days prior with his modular, stripped down pack from eBay. Unfortunately, the ultralight pack, which sat on a hook on a belt, broke before we were 5km into the hike. Today he was once again exhibiting the pinnacle of equipment performance with his rain poncho/pack cover all in one. The concept - like that of the pack - was solid but in practice it presented issues. The elastic cord to cinch up portions of the poncho ended up dragging behind Rob, occasionally getting hooked on roots and branches. Josh, who was Rob's unofficial guardian on the trip, would have stop Rob once the cord had stretched about 25ft behind him and before it would release and snap back at Rob.

Personally I felt this was the worst/hardest day of the entire hike. The trail was much more rugged than the first section but not as rugged as we would run into later and I had this biting pain in my Achilles from the boot. It made the relatively short day go on forever. Day two did give us our first cable car of the hike. No matter how bad the day is going the sight of some serious mechanical hardware makes you feel like a kid.

Our stopping point for the day was the Tsusiat Falls campsite, perhaps the most picturesque of all the sites along the trail. We got there at a decent hour and had some time to enjoy this idyllic spot. We were sure about the rules regarding bathing in the water since everyone was also using it to obtain their drinking water but we some people go for it. For dinner that night we had hummus, textured vegetable protein (TVP) flavored with Middle Eastern spices, couscous and tomatoes. Also we were beginning to realize that our planned meals were actually much larger than needed for the group. We managed to give our extra hummus and couscous to a young Vancouver Island native to whom we gave the name Lars and whom we saw at several other points along our trip. Despite my feelings about the day's section of trail our trip was back on track and we were moving closer to our ultimate goal.

Day 1.2 - George Returns

Darling River to Pachena Trailhead to Darling River (28km)

George earned the nickname Penny Candy, during our treat-crave-fueled theme for nicknames on this trip. He was continuously telling stories that could have been, and at times were, preceded by "back in the good ol' days." We figured that in those same days candy could be procured in individual samplings for the price of one hundreth of one American dollar, hence he was Penny Candy.

As you might expect, before falling asleep the first night discussions were taking place about the goings on the first day. One of the main topics was what George was going to do in the morning. That first day he had fallen behind and needed assistance at several point on the trail. All this starting from the north end of the trail, the section that everyone agrees is "the easy section." Everyone knew that he was not going to make it but we also felt that he would have real troubles getting back to the trailhead with his equipment if we did not help. George knew most of all I think and was at a point where he was willing to accept the help offered by others. So in the morning a party of three - Matt, Josh, and I - split up George's pack weight and escorted him back to the trailhead. He was in pretty good spirits, singing his show tunes all the way back to Pachena, but it was sad to see him defeated and leaving.

The return party ate lunch at the trailhead and started the breakneck journey back to camp. Now we had two packs between the three of us and enjoying that same good weather that had chaperoned us just one afternoon earlier. We did in just over three hours what had earlier taken us over five. Our compardes back at Darling River had spent the day licking their wounds (aches, perhaps) and gotten the site in proper order, including secure spots in the food locker for our things. Duke (I assume it was Duke) even made us a small, modestly decortated dining area where we sat and were waited on for dinner. This evening's offering was one of the planned meals that Duke and Graham had researched and tested back in Seattle: real smoked salmon and dehydrated peas added to rehydranted pasta primivera with spices from the traveling 'pantry.' This is a bag that Duke prepared that included spices and things like butter buds to add to each night's meal and made it just a little but more than a readymade meal in a bag. I highly recommend putting one together before any big trip. We went to sleep fed, relaxed and one man down but looking forward to moving after a day of rest.

Day 1 - "A Whale of a Time"

Pachena Bay Trailhead to Darling River (14km)

What else can you say when the captain of the captain of the whale research vessel you just hitched a ride on asks you to sign his guestbook? (see post title) We started our day at a hotel in Port Renfrew and boarded the vessel sometime just after 6:30. I thought we were just getting a ride to the northern trailhead but it turned out that Brian (captain, my captain) was a whale researcher and halfway up there he got word of some orca and we turned that boat around. We got to see several orca and learned about the different types, how they are identified and how they operate socially - it's matriarchal with the oldest female (some nearing 100 years old) making all the decisions for the pod. We also saw gray whales (less exciting) and sea lions. Rob offered a kid (maybe 10) who had just finished the trail skittles in exchange for carrying his pack for the old man. From then on out we were calling Rob "Skittles" and thinking of nicknames for everyone else on the trip.

From the town of Bamfield we hopped in a shuttle van to the trailhead, signed some papers and were ready to set off. The first day's hike went pretty smoothly. We stopped for lunch at Pachena Lighthouse - very near Vulva Mouth Beach on map - , started to lay down a communication routine and began to understand what we were in for. About 12 km in we popped out at Michigan Creek beach camping - a popular spot for the northbounders - and kept on going to Darling River just 2k down the beach. The beach terrain of large rocks and then soft gravel was far different from the dirt and boardwalk of the forest trail we had started on. About 15 minutes into the beach travel we spotted a black bear ahead of us on the beach. We (6) all stopped and waited to see what it would do. It eventually turned and headed into the woods with a seal in its mouth. Half the group (led by Rob) pushed forward after about 2 minutes and even stopped where the bear had been to look around, fix gaiters, etc. Graham, Matt and I waited a bit longer. Eventually we proceeded and once about 100 ft for the spot of the original sighting we noticed a black mass that had re-emerged from the forest. We walked backward, Graham with his poles flying in the air, and sat on the beach for another 15 minutes. Meanwhile a bald eagle flew overhead, someone spotted a whale off the coast and we realized we were in the wilderness.

That night at camp was a little it rough. Everyone was still at the feeling things out phase and everyone had their own routines for camping - dinner, water shelter, etc. - but the group did not have a routine that was held in common yet. The planned meal ended up not happening as we arrived later than expected and instead we got by with readymade dehydrated meals in a bag. The food locker was full before we got ours in and trees to hang from were hard to come by. Our bags were hung just out of human reach and from a tree that was fallen and tilted out over the beach. Also one of our food bags was just a trash bag wrapped in rope like gift for the bears. We were obviously novice but the learning curve is steep. Stay tuned to hear if we turned this ship around (literally).

WCT - We (well, some of us) made it!!

I am now back safely from the trip to Vancouver Island and the hike on the West Coast Trail. The hike was exciting, unpredictable and rewarding. We had really good weather and saw a lot of wildlife. My walk from the train to work in Atlanta's code orange air this morning had me feeling more dirty than I ever felt in 8 days without a shower on the trail. I look forward to sharing our stories and experiences with you in person as well as through the blog. To whet your appetite I will tell you that we spent 7 nights on the trail, had mostly great weather (one big rain day) and started our trip with 8 hikers but finished only with 6.

I would like to start the adventure by introducing everyone.
Duke - the leader of the pack, lives in Seattle, has had this trip on his mind for some time now and made the whole thing happen

Rob - Duke's elder brother, ultralight, giggles a lot, answers questions like there is such a thing as a stupid question and you just asked him one

Richie - Duke's childhood friend from scouts, consultant to National Athletic teams for the Nation of Bahrain so he know what being in shape means

George - A jean-shorts-clad friend of Richie's in New Mexico, most recent conquest was a 31 day fitness boot camp immersion experiment that lasted 31 days

Matt - Duke's son, the guy who invited me along,

Graham - Duke's future son-in-law, patient and knowledgeable, fresh from a bike-car accident that had him in the hospital less than a week before (shoulder)

Josh - Graham's friend from childhood, unfortunate recipient of guff from the older guys

me - Matt's friend from grad school in Atlanta, Pacific NW first-timer and Canadian impersonator

I am planning to add posts detailing each day of the journey but wanted to put up a link to the pictures that many of you have asked about.

the photos

ATL-SEA

Today I leave from Atlanta and fly to Seattle to begin the journey to the West Coast Trail. There has been a flurry of activity over email between the eight men setting off on this trip. Some of the discussion was humorous other parts analytical, but hopefully we're all set mentally and materially for the hike. I have finally begun to research a bit about just what it is I've signed up for and the more you look into it the more you fear. At first you hear miles of British Columbia coastline in late July and beautiful panoramas appear in your head. Then you begin to read about the trials of the others who have gone before you and you instinctively second guess your initial leanings.

Seriously, it is rumored to be difficult but everyone says that it's well worth it. Stay tuned for updates upon my return. I've created a new label (WCT) for all the posts relating to the West Coast Trail so you can read the whole story start to finish if you like.

Mudhounds - a good diary with pictures from some folks who have been there and done that

House of Cards

Thanks to Chad for passing along this video, and thanks for the vote of coolness in thinking that I had already seen it. In fact, I had not and had no idea what was going on with it until I investigated further.

The whole video was shot without cameras or lights, which in passing sounds slightly unimpressive and takes some time to digest. This is not a digital recreation of the actors in the video characteristic of the Pixar productions we are all now accostomed to. Instead, the shapes and movements are literaly recorded using 3D scanning technologies at two scales: one that uses structured light(?) to small movements and fine grain topography, and a second to get record landscapes.

Radiohead has not only (again) embraced technology for its own expression but has taken steps to allow fans to use play with the technology themselves. There is a full google-hosted section of a site with info about the video, the technology and the code and an app that allow you to manipulate the data (the video) and create. There is also a making of the video (if we can call it that) that should be checked out. This follows their previous experiment with the song Nude, where they released snippets of the song to the world and asked for remixes.

Pitchfork says it all better and with much longer wind than me

Trips Abound

A week from today I head to Seattle and immediately on to Vancouver to hike the West Coast Trail. I have not been keeping up with a training regimen the way I would have hoped but I think I am in good shape for the trip. It will help that it is not 90 with 95% humidity out there, not to mention the break from the ground-level ozone. There'll be another hike on Sunday to warm up and then its all learning-by-doing. I appreciate any advice/suggestions for the trip people want to offer up.

Speaking of taking a trip, Jorge has returned home but not without his fair share of harrowing culture shock. First he forgot a bag containing passport, hard drive digital camera, books, etc. in a cab. But, as it goes in much of the world, there were many sets of eyes on the street and someone saw the the cab's number. He narrowed it down to two cabs and found the drivers before the police. The driver's were angry about the possible police attention and the accusations and didn't produce any reclamations. This all happened on his vacation on the coast and he had to move on, so he hired a guy there to stay on the case and low and behold the bag turned up, less camera, hard drive and some books. But he got his passport back and safely returned to Bogotá. But he wasn't done paying a second time for his own possessions. The bike he packed and mailed to himself from Atlanta was deemed an import and charged taxes. Is this an import? I am not sure. It was not in the condition that it is usually shipped from the company and sold, but there is surely a market for it as it was. In any event he's home and reminiscing his time here already.

And then there's the honeymooners. Paul and Hilary are somewhere still, hopefully not Bermuda, and soon Ben and Katy will be returning from their trip to Europe which sounded amazing. Their advice: drop what you're doing and go to Slovenia immediately. Finally, our friends Dave and Liza have taken a trip (one-way) out west to Salt Lake City. They've gone there to live and work as Dave continues his education/professional program. We'll miss them and wish them the best of luck.