West Coast Trail Day Two

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Foggy Morning at Darling River 

Wednesday, 29 July 2015. Darling River to Tsuquadra Point

We woke to fog coming off the sea. We took our time that morning, drinking coffee, making breakfast – this morning it was cheesy grits and ham – a perfect savoury meal made with Bob’s Red Mill Grits, simple dehyrdrated deli ham, and some generous tablespoonfuls of dehydrated milk and cheese. DD especially wanted to explore the tidepools exposed by low tide. I did not go out as far, fearing that my $2 Japanese rubber slippers, rubber nothwithstanding, might not be a match for the slippery, wet rocks strewn with seaweed.

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West Coast Trail Day One

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Where Darling River meets the Ocean

Tuesday, 28 July 2015. Victoria to Pachena Bay; then Pachena to Darling River, 8.7 miles.

The alarm went off at 5:15am, so we could take our last showers before our 6-day trek in the wilderness. 6 Days with 2 outfits, 2 pairs of underwear (DD brought 3, which made me jealous), 2 pairs of socks and sock liners.

Royal Scot Hotel Room 

We also made hotel coffee, and slurped down some Shin Ramyun ramen we had found at the 7-11 the night before. Continue reading →

West Coast Trail Day Zero

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View from Clipper Ferry

Our day of travel began by arriving at SFO in time for our early 7:30am flight. With priority status from splurging on First Class (using points), we checked our backpacks at the Virgin America luggage counter and breezed through security since we both also had TSA Pre. We got to our gate comfortably with thirty minutes to spare, but unfortunately our flight was delayed for about an hour.

When we reached Seattle, we then had to wait in a very long line and for what seemed to be an inordinate amount of time for a taxi. Not sure what was going on, but it seemed that Uber/ other ride sharing services was still prohibited from operating at the Seattle airport. Continue reading →

West Coast Trail Planning

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West Coast Trail Vancouver Island 

When I proposed that we spend our 10-year anniversary of being together at the Willows Inn on Lummi Island, DD jumped at the chance to say “Well, why don’t we also hike the West Coast Trail?” The West Coast Trail, as it turns out, is a 75 km, 47 mile trail on Vancouver Island that brings trekkers through a meandering path of rainforest and beach, with various types of terrain – boardwalks, mud, fallen trees, boulders, rocks, soft sand, firm sandstone, and ladders. Lots of ladders, apparently. Continue reading →

Laos Zipline Jungle Adventure Days 2 and 3

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In addition to ziplining…

There were some sounds of scuffling in the night. And there might have been what was a rat or mouse fight near the wooden walls by Dan and Katrina’s beds. I might have woken at one of the sounds, but I don’t recall as clearly as Dan or Adam did. Apparently there was a bit of pounding and a “shut up!” as well. I did wake to go to our en suite bathroom in the middle of the night, but thankfully did not encounter any creatures.

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Laos Zipline Jungle Adventure Day 1

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3-Day, 2-Night Zipline Adventure with Green Disovery Tours

In December 2013, DD and I took a monthlong trip to Southeast Asia. We spent the most time in Thailand, with shorter visits to Laos and Cambodia.

Thanks to our friend Adam, who also had relatives – his brother Dan and Dan’s then-girlfriend and now wife Katrina – visiting around the holidays, DD and I got to tag along on what was billed as a “zipline jungle tour adventure” with a stay in a “treetop hotel.” Sarah was unfortunately not able to come along because of a little one being due.

It was one of the most amazing experiences I’d ever had in my life and a definite highlight of our trip.

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Point Reyes Training Hike

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Limantour Beach Afternoon

Two weekends after our Rae Lakes excursion and no hiking, DD definitely wanted to head out for a trek. His goal was to do a 16-17 mile training hike and he found us a route in Point Reyes. He mentioned it would be good practice for the West Coast Trail, as we’d do some beach walking. I was a little apprehensive about the distance, and worried about leaving Harlow alone for such a long time (I estimated we’d take 6-8 hours, at least).

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Rae Lakes Loop Recap and Random Thoughts

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One of the Last Bridges

Some last thoughts about my first-ever backpacking trip/ visit to a National Park…

Planning/ reservations

Jared handled all of our reservations to obtain our permit, which is required during peak season – May 22 to Sept 26. Not only should you make a reservation in advance, but you also need to pick up your physical permit at your starting trailhead before you embark on your hike. There is a limit of 25 people/ day to hike either clockwise or counterclockwise, and 3/4 of those reservations are able to be made in advance. The rest are available as day-of walk-ups. My friends Justin and Stephanie were able to get a walk-up permit on 4th of July weekend last year. We were lucky to make and get our reservations for a clockwise loop well in advance – early May for our late June trip. Make sure to pick the correct entry trail for the direction you wish to go in. Going clockwise, your entry trail is Wood’s Creek; counter-clockwise, the entry is Bubb’s Creek.

Here is the helpful trip planner from SEKI, but you may want to peruse their Rae Lakes Loop info page first.

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Rae Lakes Loop Day Four

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Roaring creeks make me happy

Bubb’s Creek by our last campsite at Junction Meadow

Friday, 26 June 2015. Junction Meadow to Road’s End, 8,400 to 5,035 feet. 10.4 miles. 

I didn’t take too many photos on this day, perhaps because we were all hustling and ready to be done with the hike. Visions of showers danced in our heads.

We woke to overcast skies and a certain mugginess in the air. We were a little nervous that it might start raining, so out came our rain gear and backpack covers to reside in the most accessible areas of our backpacks.

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Rae Lakes Loop Day Three

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The View from Glen Pass at nearly 12,000 feet

Thursday, 25 June, 2015. Rae Lakes, Summiting Glen Pass, Junction Meadow, 10,800 to 11,978 elevation, and back down to 8,400 feet. 8.6 miles. 

We rose late again on Day 3. I woke with a dull headache, which I initially chalked up to sleeping poorly with a badly-stuffed pillow (Zpacks Cuben Fiber stuffsack filled with clothing). Breakfast was the chicken jook that was Danny’s idea  — even reconstituted it was fantastic: chickeny and gingery and topped with bits of sweet-salty pork fluff.

The trail up to Glen Pass would take us around 1,900 feet in elevation gain to a summit of 11,978 all in the space of 2.8 miles. We left Rae Lakes around 9:15am, intending to take it relatively easy, with lots of breaks.

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