Collect your drinking water, when possible, upstream in quiet pools where the silt has settled. Filtering is best. But you must (at minimum) boil your drinking water as there is risk of Giardia.

Bathe & wash clothing at the river mouth, downstream from the water-collection spots. On a cold day we often heat water and take a nice hot sponge bath rather than risk getting chilled in cold water.
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Campsites

Expect wonderful, unique wilderness sites.

Best campsite? Favourites include:

• Third Beach (when it's sunny) - map
• Calvin Falls - map

Some of our contributors prefer wilder sites out of sight of other hikers.

Camp when possible on the beach, but well above the high tide mark and not too close to a creek where a flash flood might surprise you.

If the weather is windy or otherwise nasty, you can often shelter your tent by pitching between large drift logs on the beach. In very bad weather you will probably want protection up in the trees.

You may be surprised by how far the surf spray carries at high tide. Your tent may get soaked if you setup too close to the sea.
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Cooking

All cooking should be done on a lightweight camping stove. Bring a back-up stove if possible in case your primary stove breaks down.

Don’t count on cooking over your campfire. The rain may douse your fire.
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Toilets

On the coast the best toilet is between the low and high tide lines — the intertidal flush. Do it.

Don’t defecate between drift logs where people often setup to eat lunch.

Responsible camping means burning your TP (toilet paper). Don’t bury TP as animals may dig it up. Used toilet paper is the worst litter of all.

Only the best hikers can burn TP in the pouring rain. (It always refuses to burn when you are most in a hurry.) Our Swiss hiker allows you only 1 match. If you’re not that talented, carry the paper in a plastic bag. Burn it in the hot campfire along with tampons, sanitary pads, etc.

Need more advice? Get a copy of How to Shit in the Woods, by Kathleen Meyer, a useful, frequently hilarious guide for hikers.

A few jots from Kathleen Meyer:

• Giardia was a disease unknown in the US wilderness prior to the 1970
• Face uphill. Steady yourself by holding on to a tree (or your pack).
• Urine evaporates rapidly and is relatively sterile.

Men often simply pee in the sea.

Defecating. How to:

• at least 60 m off the trail
• bring a light trowel (or stick) to dig your own toilet pit
• Find a nice mossy area that is easy to dig-up
• cat hole 10-20 cm deep (some people dig the hole after they do their business)
• in the forest, best is soft, dark soil
• if possible, cover the cat hole with a heavy stone

By the way, at the Grand Canyon, since 1979, all solid human waste from river trips must be packed out in watertight boxes!. Other US hikes require you bag and carry out your feces.
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Campfires

One of the great pleasures of the Nootka is a driftwood fire.

Set your fire on the beach, below the high tide line. Use previously established fire spots if you can.

Don’t blacken & burn the big drift logs by using them as a wind break – it’s not necessary. Dig a pit in the sand.
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Clotheslines

Every chance you get (every time the sun comes out) you will want to dry damp clothing. Be ready at an instant to hang a line and get your heavy, wet duds out of the pack. You can twist a doubled line to help keep your wet clothes from being blown off the line. Those who pack-in light plastic clothes pins are usually happy they carried the extra weight. The winds are always gusty on the coast.

Many hikers hang their wet underwear on the outside of their pack. This usually results in wet, dirty underwear -- the first time you fall or take off your pack.