A walk on the WCT with Hodge

“A big thanks to the Hodgeman for putting together an awesome 7 day trip on the West Coast Trail! Here is some of the fun we encountered in his playground (note - there was a comment on the second day that if the Canadians were trying to do away with the Americans.... it would be easier on us if they would just shoot us!):

Endless ladders, slippery boardwalks, stumps, boards and rocks to keep you out of the mud bogs (if you missed one, you found yourself knee deep in the muck...), ropes to pull yourself up the muddy slopes with your heavy pack (I suppose they thought it wasn't worth just ONE more ladder?), ropes to keep you from slip-sliding away into the surge channels (next time you are with JVZ, offer him a beer - ok 2 or 3 and ask him about this one), logs to walk across gulleys, cable cars to carry you and your pack across rivers (this was a lot of fun.. could be because JVZ and Hodge had to be on each side of the river and pull us over?) and this is just what the mere mortal Canadian Parks trail crew put together!

Mother nature had her own trail ideas also.... green slippery stuff attached to the top of the logs you are trying to walk on, not to mention those @#$$% slippery boardwalks, enough rain to keep things slicked up, slippery beach boulders (big as a greyhound bus.. ok..not quite as big, but sure seemed like it at the time!), landslides that wiped out the trail, ladders & boardwalks so you could detour about 500 miles straight up, plenty of rain to raise the river crossings to make crossing realllllly interesting, high tides that lapped at tent doors, trees down over the trail that were too big to climb over so the belly crawl was the preferred method.

This was the most challenging trail I have ever done (even more than the Wonderland Trail). It was spectacular! Listening to the ocean roar all night, appreciating that my tent (the new MSR Hubba - Love it!) did NOT leak during the pounding rains at night, the beautiful forest, special friends around the campfire (including a new friend - Trillium from BC also), grey whales not far from shore, sea lions, seals, oyster catchers, spectacular tidal pools - I've lived on the coast all my life and have not seen any like these!, abundant wildflowers, great hiking weather, hamburgers (6 oz patty, by the way)and beer and breakfast on day 4 at Chez Monique's gourmet restaurant on the beach (we were seated at the coveted ocean view tables), new friends from Austraila, HOT crab and beer at the Nitinat river crossing (was NOT easy to finish the trail to camp that afternoon!) and most of all the hotel at the end with HOT showers, food served on real plates and WINE (beer for everyone else), good friends and fun stories.

The road trip was provided by the Navi-mobile and included the Naviguesser himself (aka Tevas-R-Us, born in LA eh?), his lovely wife (however, I'm still holding a grudge that she would not let me have my glass of wine until I finished puttin my gear together), JVZ (aka lost, headbanger, cliffhanger) and myself (blisterwoman and international incident starter). The road trip started off with breakfast in Portland at "Wanker's Corner"...Need I say more? We met up with the Hodgeman (Hodge is quite adept at slippery beach log walking.. ahem.. he can now sing saprano)and Trillium (ask her how she is coming along in the 12 step program for pyromanics?) in Coquitlam and the rest is history!

Following is a link to Hodge's website that has the "real" trip report and all the pictures.

http://www.hodgeman.ca/main/content.htm

I suspect there will be additional comments about the trek that I may have (I'm sure not intentionally :-) left out. Navi, Hodge, JVZ, Trillium... Fill in any blanks, eh?
last edited: 5/29/05 2:30:29 AM”

“!@#$% #$#$%%^ %^&$#$%#$!!!!!”

“Hey ladyhiker..I hate you ,I hate you..lol
Sounds like you guys had a slippn'/slidin' good time.. ooowww
I have the Hubba also.. and love it
Hot Dang!! we'll be twins in the Sierras.
Be great to see you again.

Awesome pics Hodge..I wanna be there..NOW”

“fun reading, sounds like a great time.”

“Great pics by everyone. I had gotten a sneak peak of this trip from the Sierra thread.
Ladyhiker, I enjoyed your trip report. It will be nice to meet you and the rest in the Sierra's

You guys are making hard for me to pick a place to backpack in next yr. Jasper NP, Mt Robson or WCT..decisions, decisons”

“Awesome pics.”

“Awesome trail discriptions! My wife and I did part of the Juan de Fuca and I could picture what you were talking about.

Funny thing is I asked Hodgeman if the trail was muddy like usual and believe he said it wasn't bad. LOL.

I remember one part on the Juan de Fuca where you cross a wet log with one hand railing... well this log is atleast 30 feet above a waterfall cascading into the ocean below. I wanted to freak crossing that!

I'm heading to check out the photos now.”

“LadyHiker, JVZ, Navi & Trillium - Thanks to all of you for making this another awesome trip on the coast !! This was my fifth tour of duty on the WCT, so the part I enjoy most is sharing it with good friends.

Ewker - Tough choices alright - We'll have to chat a bit in the Sierras, so maybe I can help a bit with the decision.

Feeney - A little muckier than the super dry conditions that we had last year, but I've seen that trail in seriously heavy weather, when the rainfall for a day hit 6 inches. So my standard line is "It's only wet dirt until it goes over your knee... and it's not bad mud until it's up to your butt... hehehe
last edited: 5/29/05 11:25:04 AM”

“Looks like a lot fun!

Great pictures everyone!

Maybe we can plan a Strathcona Trip for next year? I've always wanted to do a mountain traverse there.”

“Feeney - There are endless ridge loop possiblities in Strathcona. Despite being the oldest and one of our largest provincial parks, I've yet to explore much of it beyond the Forbidden Plateau area, or skiing Mt Washington. I really need to get in there sometime soon !

Other than the location on Vancouver Island, it might be one of the few parks up here where a full-on palooza would be possible. No reservation, group size or permit issues”

“Oh Jeez... gotta say thanks again for those 'lovely parting gifts' The H&D chocolates and Oregon wine are awesome. And a big thanks to Trillium for carrying the birthday pie all the way to Logan Creek for the celebration. You guys are the best
:-))”

“Oh yea Mr. Hodge turned 41 and Trillium carried in a pie(not peach)and sparkler candles to celebrate. Ladyhiker did a great job of trip report and Trillium has another great one on her link.
I knew we'd incur the wrath of Rockman with this page. Sorry Rocky!
What a trail. Truly in all aspects nothing like you'll find anywhere else I'd guess. Challenging and fulfilling. We got verry lucky and had mostly dry days to do our walking and the rain came in on a couple of nights while we were nice and dry in our tents. Thanks Hodge,Kris,Trillium and Naviguesser. With Nav and Corliss getting there and back was half the fun.”

“Great photos and trip reports y'all!! I kept thinking "I wanna go........no I don't......yes I do........no, I don't....."”

“Yes you do! Hi Peppergod!”

“sounds like you had fun!! BTW..where exactly is the west coast trail? Ive never heard of it before...
last edited: 5/29/05 7:03:17 PM”

“It sounds like a blast. And knowing the crew, I'm sure you laughed 'til your stomachs hurt. I loved the pictures and both trip reports. And I really want to go one year.”

“The WCT is a section of Pacific Rim National Park that stretches 75 kilometres up the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, from Port Renfrew to Pachena Bay, due north across the Juan de Fuca Strait from the Olympic Peninsula

Map

It was originally established as a lifesaving & telegraph trail, following the wreck of the passenger liner Valencia in 1906. 108 of the 173 passengers and crew were lost including all women and children.

There are numerous other wrecks along the outer coast here in what's know as 'The graveyard of the Pacific'. Eventually lighthouses and fog horns were added at Pachena Pt and Carmanah to mark the entrance of the Strait. Actually, the one at Carmanah was supposed to be a bit further south, but they missed in the fog and droped the materials off in the wrong spot LOL.

Anyways, the area was finally included in the National Park in the early 70s, and a couple more inland sections at Carmanah and Walbran were added to the provincial park system to protect the watersheds and old growth forest. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of logging in the unprotected areas on the back side putting the coast at risk.

BC has lost half of its temperate rainforest and now has a quarter of all that remains in the world. Canada's largest trees, and the largest Sitka spruce in the world, grow here on the WCT”

“I woulda joined you all, had I not been plagued by injuries lately.

Great TR. I remember Hodge's from last year. That restaurant on the beach sounds so cool!!!!”

“Hey there, eh!!!!!

Trillium signing in from Abbotsford, BC. It was so great sharing some *Canadian trail* with y'all. It was a spectacular backpacking adventure for sure. Thanks again, Hodgeman, for your awesome organizing skills and putting together this amazing adventure. JVZ, the_(one and only) Naviguesser), and Ladyhiker_03, it was a pleasure!!!! We had so much fun and I sincerely hope to cross paths with you in the future. In the meantime, mundane things like *work* call!! ;-((

Hey ladyhiker, anytime someone needs a fire going, we should be there don't you think???
last edited: 5/30/05 9:19:45 PM”

“Hey welcome to TT Trillium - I guess we'll need to get ya signed up for TT palooza next year
:-))”

“hey Hodge, how about a TT Canadian palooza next yr..hint,hint”

“Ya gotta know you're not the first one to suggest that Ewker
;-)

There's really just no way to pull off a palooza in the places that I'd really want to show y'all. The reservations, quotas, group size restrictions, permits, trailhead logistics... etc, etc, etc make it pretty much impossible.

Don't think I haven't thought about it though. Sure there's lots of wilderness trails and some unrestricted provincial parks etc, but hey if you're coming all this way I'd want to show you the best of the best.”

“If you're going to do the WCT again next year, count me in!

For the post hike resupply that is. 8^)”

“I vote for Palooza in the NW too! (cause then I can just drive on over. hee hee)”

“Nice pics (what I saw so far). Lunch is over, so I'll check out the rest later. Thanks!”

“I'm back from the Dr.
NO SURGERY!!!!
Physical Therapy for 4 weeks and I should be back on the trail!! Woohooooooo”

“Good news Navi !! Just in time”

“Hey Hodge, I just spoke to Kenhiker on my way to lunch.

He's taking a summer course.......gluton for punishment.”

“Trekngirl - Glad you have the Hubba tent. It's a keeper. Can't wait to see you on the Sierra!

Peppergod - Hi! How are you?

Trillium - I still have fire starters left! Can you believe that? I must have pried those out of your hands! LOL

Navi - Glad to hear you'll be back on the trail soon. By the way.. I'll trade what I have for what you have.....

I've sure enjoyed reading everyone's posts! Too bad my camera died on the 2nd day.. I'd have a lot more butt shots to share! :-) (Always looking up at a ladder...)”

“It's deal Lady!

LOL!!”

“Hey MarkO - Is that the HikerKen that I almost broke, out here on the coast mountains? He almost didn't make it to the Rockies with us.... hehehe. I bet there wouldn't be too many TTers joining my trips if I'd lost one LOL”

“Looks like a cool trip!
Great photos...love that suspension bridge! Those ladders and logs are a trip...wow!”

“Those ladders were great, specially when you thought about what kind of "trail" they'd build to get you up and down those cliffs. 8^)”

“Now imagine yourself washing up on that shore from a shipwreck..... ya might as well have died on the boat

=8-0”

“HikerKen, yeah-yeah.

I always get it wrong.

He did say you guys busted his hump pretty good.

He moved here from Florida and is working of a degree in Speech and Hearing........or something like that.

With all the knuckleheads trashing their hearing with heavy bass car stereos, he will have plenty of work.

Maybe I can lose him out in West Virginis some time.”

“Thats great news about just needing therapy. All those drugs to do surgery man you don't need that.
"... hehehe. I bet there wouldn't be too many TTers joining my trips if I'd lost one LOL”
Hodgeman of BC" Not that you didn't try eh?Ladders..yea you said that. Boardwalks..yea, muck..yea...stream crossing..yea. Bungee jumping? Hmmm never knew that part of the trail.”

“Drugs?!
Did you say Drugs?”

“No not the pain ones all the stars get hooked on. I mean the anastetic(sp)that makes ya all sick and sleepy. You'll need the pain pills for after a therapy workout.If it hurts when you do that they'll make you do it again 8P.”

“Therapy started yesterday. Not too bad, until about 3 hours later. Ow, ow, ow.
And that after I told him my going to the Gym Philosophy: "No pain, NO PAIN!"”

“Get well soon you only have about a month and a coupla wks now.”

“I ordered the ULA P2 pack for incentive.


The therapy helped a lot.
Now I just have to excercise. 8^(”