Hiking the Nootka trail has been a dream of mine ever since I was young. While growing up in Gold River both my mom and Grandma worked on the Uchuck III. The Uchuck is an old mine sweeper that has been converted to take supplies and tourists around the Nootka Sound. As a kid I would accompany my family and enjoy the pleasures of weekly trips to Friendly Cove (Yuquot). Here I met many hikers coming off of the Nootka Trail. They would speak of finding Japanese glass floats, camping on remote sandy beaches, and taking in breathtaking sunsets. The Nootka trail runs 37kms along the west coast of Nootka Island. Getting to the trail requires a bit of planning, since it is remote and off the coast of Vancouver Island. Darryl, Lauren, and I decided that we would drive to Gold River and fly to the start of the trail in Louie Lagoon, chartering a float plane from Nootka Air. Then we would take the Uchuck back from the end of the trail in Friendly Cove to Gold River. We set off on our trip on July 3rd. We arrived at the Nootka Air office eager to hit the trail on what appeared to be a magnificent sunny day. We weighed our bags before the flight, with Darryl taking the cake for heaviest hiking bag. She confessed to packing four tall can beers as a luxury item for the trip. We took the first flight out of Gold River at 0800. The views were phenomenal. I was so excited to see the coastline I had travelled as a kid on the Uchuck. Seeing it from the air was really unique. We touched down in Louie Lagoon after what seemed to be a very short flight. We had heard mention of a wet exit from the aircraft and were pleased to find that our pilot was able to run the floats of the plane slightly onto shore so that we could hop onto dry land. He tossed out our bags and taxied back across the lagoon without us. That was it, we were left to find our way to Friendly Cove. |
A short while down the beach we encountered our first (and last) bear of the trip. We were totally fine with the situation having thoroughly gone through the phases of group bear protection. Phase one, yell loudy. Phase two, deploy air horn (yes, we brought one). Phase three, bear spray. Phase four, stab the bear with a knife. Phase five, accept imminent demise and lie down on the ground in the fetal position. Luckily for us we never had to get past phase one. The bear took a a look at us and high tailed it into the bush after a few of our loud yells.
We hiked on after having a few snacks on Skuna. The going was pretty mild over some sea shelves and pea gravel. At 1400 we arrived at Calvin Falls and what a sight it was to behold. A spectacular waterfall onto a sandy beach. What more could one ask for? We pulled off our boots and crossed the river at a lowish tide. After looking around for a while we picked a camp location and began assembling our tent and organizing our gear. We had hiked a total of around 12k that day.
By this time the fog was nowhere in sight and the sun was beating down. We had hit the lottery. All of us quickly removed our hiking clothes and headed for a dip in the falls. The water was fresh and inviting. I floated for a time and then sunbathed, all while taking in the beautiful surroundings. That evening the sunset was magical as we sipped vodka-lime drinks (all except Darryl who had BEER!) and propped ourselves up on logs. We watched a number of groups make their way to the beach and set up camp. We were surprised at the number of people joining us on the trail.
Crawling our way towards Crawfish Lake was absolutely the worst bushwack I have ever done. The salal, brush, downed logs, and trees were so thick that every step took extreme care and effort. I was painted thick with moss, leaves, spider webs, sweat, scratches, and dirt in no time. We trudged on for nearly two hours gaining only about a quarter of the distance needed to get to the lake. We made a group decision to sit at the river for a snack and regroup before heading back to the beach. The lake was not worth destroying ourselves over... We emerged back onto the beach wild eyed and filthy. Again, we peeled off sweaty hiking clothes and made for the falls.
The next morning we awoke to bluish skies and packed up camp. Our goal was to get to Beano Creek and spend a night there. Our day included more pea gravel hiking along the beaches. We stopped for a snack at one point, but kept a good pace forward. We spotted countless bald eagles along the way (Lauren's apparent spirit animal).
Beano Creek was a really neat spot. The creek itself was very tidal and flowed out to the ocean in a winding manor. We crossed it with ease at a lower tide and made our way farther down the beach to an apparent water source on the map and GPS. We figured this would save us time on our departure the next morning. We examined the many cabins along the beach. Each unique and beautiful. Many connected by boardwalks through the old coastal forest.
Eventually we settled on a camp, sort of unsure about the water situation. We took our time leveling the gravel for which we would lay our tent and then created a decent tarp structure to hide from the sun and rain. It was probably our most elaborate and well constructed camp of the trip. Not long after setting up, Lauren pulled off her hiking boot and took a close inspection. Here she noted that the sole of her boot was beginning to peel off in an alarming fashion, which set a "slight" wave of fear over the group... At first, I sort of laughed at the situation. However, we realized how grim it might be if Lauren indeed had no footwear to endure the hardest day of the hike. Yikes!
We passed the rest of the day by hanging out around our camp. We watched seals floating around the bay and various sea birds walking along the shore. I read the information I had about the high tide problem, which clearly stated that there should be a high tide trail. I trekked solo down the beach again in search of the trail and to my luck found it. This put my mind at ease. We also spent some of the evening taping Lauren's boot together with duct tape in preparation for the hard day of hiking to come. We thought of the phases of boot repair. Phase one, duct tape. Phase two, twine. Phase three, crocks. Phase four, bare feet... Phase five, roll up in an old beach tarp while pressing the emergency search and rescue beacon and curl up in the fetal position...
The day consisted of numerous muddy, wet trips into forest to avoid rocky headlands out into the ocean. We used many a "manky" rope to climb up off of the pocket coves and into the bush. It was tough going. The rain made the day ominous. It was hard to judge distance and Friendly Cove was nowhere in sight. We passed the time by singing songs together, chatting, and laughing.
I was so happy when the Uchuck finally let us on board. I knew a few of the friendly faces on the boat from growing up in Gold River and it was neat to be on it with Lauren and Darryl. I purchased a sandwich and pop for the ride back, it was magic to have food that didn't need to be made with hot water. When the boat docked in Gold River we made a mad dash for the pub there. We had heard many other hikers talk of doing the same and didn't want to have to wait for food and a beer. Luckily we were the first to be seated and enjoyed a tasty burger and crisp cold beer. Cheers to a great hike and ticking off a long time goal!