E7: Hiking the West Coast Trail and the Juan de Fuca Trail back-to-back

Vancouver Island, off the coast of British Columbia, is criss-crossed with hiking trails. One, in particular, draws thousands of Canadian and international hikers each year: The West Coast Trail.

The West Coast Trail is a 75 km-long coastal hike that follows some of the ancient paths and paddling routes used for trade and travel by Indigenous peoples for millennia.

It’s located on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, on the traditional territories of the Huu-ay-aht, Ditidaht, and Pacheedaht First Nations, and takes hikers over beaches, through temperate rainforests, rivers and deep mud and up and down more than 100 ladders. It’s very popular, and sites need to be reserved in advance. Also, because so much of it involves beach walking, hikers need to carry tide charts to plan their timing each day. They’re rewarded with views of the ocean though.

Just south of this iconic trail is a lesser known but probably equally awesome multi-day hiking called the Juan de Fuca Trail. Like the west coast trial, it follows the coast of the island and involves beach walking, hiking through mud and planning around the tides. It’s shorter, at 47 kilometres, less busy and sites are mostly available on a first-come, first served basis.

Laura and Kyle are a couple I met last year while hiking B.C.’s Sunshine Coast Trail. We met in town during a resupply and leap-frogged each other for the rest of the hike, often camping in the same spots. They explained to me that, a few years earlier, they’d attempted back-to-back hikes of the West Coast Trail and the Juan de Fuca. On this episode of Catch Me Outside, they share their experience, including the moment they helped rescue a hiker from a potentially deadly situation. 

This episode covers: 

• What to expect on the West Coast and Juan de Fuca trails 

• How to hike them back-to-back

• The trick to rehydrating dehydrated eggs so they aren’t disgusting

• The sketchy moment on the West Coast Trail Laura and Kyle would have loved a personal locator beacon for, and more.

Music: 

Yaki Tori and Mango by Smith The Mister https://smiththemister.bandcamp.com

Smith The Mister https://bit.ly/Smith-The-Mister-YT

Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/-yaki-tori

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/oZ0U4Q5epUs

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