Juan De Fuca Trail, Vancouver Island

The Juan De Fuca marine trail is one of the hardest things I've ever done. Scratch that. It's the hardest thing I've ever done! I've never been a particularly fit person and I've never gone out of my way to do anything nearly so physically strenuous. I was also unbelievably unprepared and greatly underestimated how tough hiking can be. I was surprised by the constant ups and downs and massive mud pits but the lush forest and breathtaking views were worth the struggle.

Day One - Mystic Beach:

I hitch hiked straight from the Sooke Potholes to the eastern trail head at China Beach. This was my first time hitching and it went pretty well. I got three rides and made the trail head in no time. After a quick chat with the friendly park staff ,I headed to Mystic Beach only two kilometres away in hopes of finding a travel partner.

The trail to Mystic is easy and the beach is beautiful. It was blazing hot out so I dipped underneath a waterfall at one end of the beach and tucked into a site to make camp. Lack of wood was a bit of a problem for my ghetto fab cook stove. I really should have forked out a couple bucks taken a proper gas stove. That evening I lazed on the beach and watched as the fog rolled in over the setting sun.

As I was about to tuck in for the evening, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. A rat. It scurried right under the driftwood log in front of me. This served as a reminder and I hung my pack in a tree but there were no good branches so it was only about four feet off the ground. The last line in my journal entry that night read, "One thing that I've discovered is that the beach has rats. Legit."

Day 2 - Mystic Beach to Chin Beach

My next journal entry began with, "There are rats on the beach and they chewed through my pack". Yup.  The dirty mothers. They gnawed at it in four places! They only broke through in one spot and ate all but one graham cracker. Lesson learned. Always take extra time and find a good place to string food packs. After a not so lovely rehydrated breakfast I packed up and was off. The goal was Chin Beach, a whopping 18.7km away with a stop at Bear Beach 7km in.

I made it to Bear in what I think was good time. I don't really know though because I didn't bring a watch and my phone was dead. Brilliant. I know. I was really unprepared. I had lunch on the beach and grabbed a quick nap on a log and then made a move. I was already tired at this point. My pack must have been over 60lbs and I was starting to understand how difficult hiking can be. Bear was deserted and beautiful and so tempting but I decided to push on. Another mistake. Know your limits. I didn't. 

The next stretch (Bear Beach to Chin Beach) was labelled most difficult on the trail map. "How hard could it be to walk through the woods?" I thought to myself. I found out quick. After a large climb up, I went straight back down. And then up and down over and over. That was about when the mud pits started. They ranged in length from 5 to about 20 feet. There were logs to step on to avoid the mud but my shoes had absolutely no grip so I slipped every time. Yet another and probably the most important lesson I learned. Wear proper shoes. It will save you from so many unnecessary falls.

Rather than continually slipping off the logs, I decided it would just be easier to walk through the mud. Wrong. The first time I sank right to my waist. The next time my shoes got stuck and I had to scrape out whatever muck I could before continuing. Some of those pits are way deeper than they look. Back to the logs it was. Every time I slipped though I would bash my knee and by km 15 I was hurting.

If that wasn't enough I was starting to worry about being in the woods after dark. Having no way to tell the time was stressing me out. I just kept watching the sun and hoping I would get there before the fog and dark set in. Vancouver Island has the largest concentration of black bears and cougars in the world and dusk is their dinner time. This was making me nervous so I short breaks and pushed myself harder than I should have. There was no enjoyment in it for me. It was hard and I was tired. By the 16th km I wished I had someone with me and I started to lose heart. Every km got harder and I felt more and more beat down. I just wanted to sit down and cry. Finally I reached the 20 km marker. I could smell fire. Almost there. Descending the stairs to the beach, I felt overwhelming relief. I had done it. 

Chin Beach is very rocky but has plenty of wood at the east end. There are camp sites in the bush or at the edge of the beach. I opted for a spot on the beach so I could take in the view but had to deal with a lot of wind in the evening. The fog rolled in thick.It got very cold and I was glad for my large fire.

Day 3: Chin Beach

I woke up at Chin feeling weak and defeated. I was so scraped and bruised from the previous day's hike that I was afraid to continue. I had bit off much more than I could chew. I had fallen so many times. I was in no rush and decided to take a day to recover at Chin Beach.

Good choice. Chin is gorgeous. In periods with no fog, the Olympic Mountains were visible in the distance.  Low tide revealed small rocky tide pools with the occasional star fish. It was serene. I spent much of that day in the shade of my tent looking out on to the water and writing. Every once in a while a set of hikers would pass by  and early that afternoon I saw a pair of people I recognized. They stopped in for lunch, which they were kind enough to share and we traded notes on the trail as they were headed in the opposite direction. They mentioned a suspension bridge with a great view and a reasonably easy stretch of trail for the most part. By the time they left I was in better spirits.  I started to get excited for the next day.

That evening was beautifully clear and mild. I gathered enough wood to keep warm for the night and as I sipped my tea, I relished in the beauty of the beach. I've never beach camped before this trip. I love it more than I can express. It was really worth all the trouble. Every single beach on this trail was stunning.

Day 4: Chin Beach to Sombrio Beach
 
The trail to Sombrio Beach was definitely my favourite. There were only a few climbs on the trail before the path levelled out along the hill tops. A haze hung in the trees with dripping leaves and beams of light peaking through. Thick hanging Spanish moss added a dense feel to the old growth forest. After a while the trail levelled out on what must have been an old logging road. It made for a great leisurely walk. This leg of trail also had a suspension bridge that offered a fantastic view. 

Unfortunately all of my previous falls were catching up on me and I decided I wouldn't make it beyond Sombrio Beach. The last few kilometres were my slowest. I was constantly climbing over massive roots into mud pit after mud pit. I could see the beach but it felt like it took forever to get there. Sombrio was absolutely breathtaking and I regret that I didn't camp there. The beach stretched on and on. There were so many good places to camp. It was magnificent. I was done though and didn't really take the time I should have to appreciate it. I hiked to the highway, stuck out my thumb, and headed back to Victoria for my last few days on the west coast. I regret now that I didn't finish the trail but know that I will go back one day more prepared and will be able to enjoy it all the more.
 
About the Trail:

The Juan de Fuca Marine Trail stretches across 47 kilometres of coast and forest from China Beach to Botanical Beach. Camping is $10/night and follows basic wild camping rules. Pack it in, pack it out and the like. Fires are allowed on beaches but not in forest camp sites.

Special Thanks to Sam for letting me use his pictures!

Have you done the trail? What did you think?

Sooke Potholes, Vancouver Island

When I think of travel, I usually think of going abroad. Or at least far away from where I live. I forget about the things in my backyard. Like the Sooke Potholes. What a great way to spend the weekend! If you enjoy, hiking, cycling, swimming or camping then Sooke is for you. And if you're feeling adventurous its a great place to try cliff jumping!

I don't drive which can be a real pain while traveling but the Potholes were SO accessible. I packed my gear, met up with a friend, hopped on the bus and an hour later we were hiking towards the park. The walk to the gate takes about an hour and its another hour to the camp site so I would recommend just sticking out your thumb and hitching a ride in. We didn't realize how far it was but a nice fellow stopped and gave us a lift. For you nifty cycle folk, the galloping goose takes you straight there. The Goose is beautiful and reasonably flat most of the way. Plus, its only 50km! Make sure you bring a patch kit though as the Island is riddled with blackberry bushes and you will most likely get a flat somewhere along the way.

The hiker biker site at Sooke is amazing. Its so spacious and has a communal fire pit as well as a covered picnic area. It's also only ten bucks. We were extra fortunate in that there were no other hiker bikers on the Friday night so we had a massive site all to ourselves. We got to the site just before dark so there was no one around to sell us wood. This gave me the opportunity to test out my ghetto fab cook stove. It was just a stainless steel dish with a grill over top. We grabbed whatever sticks we could find and lit a fire in the dish. We had boiled water in about 5 minutes. Not bad if I do say so myself. This was also my first chance to try re-hydrated dinner. It wasn't quite as bad as I had imagined. Just after we finished dinner the park ranger rolled up, sold us wood, and we ditched the weenie camp stove. After sitting by a roaring fire for a while and sippin bevies it was time to turn in.

The next morning I woke up to a bit of a surprise. As I rolled over to grab my sneakers I was surprised to find a 7 inch banana slug sliming across my left shoe. That may not be a big deal to you but where I come from anything over an inch is freakishly big. I was disgusted. I decided that I didn't really need shoes that bad after all and marched towards the toilets. As I walked along a little kid came up beside me and asked "Why don't you have any shoes"? I explained about the nasty mother on my shoe and he casually said to me before walking away, "You should really try to get over your disgust". Thanks kid. I'll work on it.

Breakfast was rehydrated and looked pretty terrible. It tasted about the same. I really wouldn't reccomend it. I've since realized that Oatmeal is just as easy and tastes way better. After breakfast we went to find a place to swim. An easy trail runs along the river and there are plenty of little swimming holes. There are also 3 proper beaches. We went to beach #1 which is busier but has a great place to cliff jump. The water is SO clear and SO deep. After watching a few people, I had to do it. I climbed up to the cliff where my friend had already been sizing up the jump. I peered over the edge, asked if it would hurt, hummed and hawed and went for it. What a thrill! It felt like it took forever to hit the water! It does hurt the toosh a bit if you don't jump straight. Totally worth it though.

After the jump, my friend left and I had a night on my own in Sooke. The hiker biker site filled up that night by about 5:00 and everyone there was super friendly. They gave me tips for my next adventure (the Juan de Fuca trail) and about better foods to take camping. Seems I'm not the only one that dislikes re-hydrated foods. Whoda thunk? Tips they gave me included taking oatmeal with little boxes of rice milk, pasta or rice for dinner and wearing proper shoes (which I most certainly did NOT have).

That evening I went swimming in a pothole quite close to camp. Both times it was entirely deserted. It was so peaceful. The water was beautiful and I could see and feel little fish brushing up against my legs. I turned in early and hitch hiked out the next day towards the Juan de Fuca Trail. I would have loved to have spent more time there and would go back in a heartbeat. If you are on the Island this is a MUST DO. I promise you its well worth it.

Special thanks to Ashley for the pics <3

Hello

I've spent the last month travelling and I've never been happier. At first I thought that living out of a backpack was crazy and that I wouldn't be able to adjust. How can someone live with so little? And with no plan? The day I left Victoria, I was all nerves. "What the hell am I doing"?! I can tell you now that I made the right choice. I'm in love with the people I've met, the things I've seen and the lifestyle. I could not have asked for better.

That's why I'm writing to you now. To share my experiences and maybe encourage someone else to jump outside their comfort zone and see the world in a different way. And maybe learn from some of my mistakes. So here we go! To a new blog and a new chapter of life <3