Details
Water
It's best to filter on the West Coast Trail. The water sources are dodgy. At minimum boil your drinking water as there is risk of Giardia.
Collect your drinking water, when possible, upstream in quiet pools where the silt has settled.
Bathe & wash clothing at the river mouth, downstream from water-collection spots. On a cold day we often heat water and take a hot sponge bath rather than risk getting chilled bathing in cold water.
Campsites
The campsites are great but often crowded. Don't expect solitude.
Camp when possible on the beach, but well above the high tide mark and not too close to a creek where a flash flood could surprise you.
If the weather is windy or otherwise nasty, you can sometimes shelter your tent by pitching between large drift logs on the beach. In very bad weather you will probably want the protection of a site 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 set-up too close to the sea.
Best campsite? Our favourites include:
- Tsocowis Creek
- Tsusiat Point (Hole in the Wall) ... unofficial campsite
- Carmanah Creek
E-mail us with your own favourite.
Look for a wilderness site. Between Bamfield and Michigan are the least visited spots.
Least favourite?
- Michigan is often crowded & lacks firewood late in the season
- Tsusiat Falls is crowded (though some hikers like it best!)
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.
Meals should be as simple & quick-cooking as possible. This doesn't mean boring. Some of the (expensive!) dehydrated camping food sold in gear shops has become remarkably palatable over the last few years!
Even better, get a food dehydrator; reduce your favourite meals to compact, lightweight, non-perishable ziplocs. Label the baggies clearly so no one will get confused on the Trail.
Don’t count on cooking over your campfire. The rain may douse your fire.
Toilets
On the coast the best toilet is between low and high tide lines — the intertidal flush. Do it.
Responsible camping means burning your 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 tips 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 faeces.
Campfires
One of the great pleasures of the coast is a driftwood fire.
Set your fire on the beach, below the high tide line. Dig your fire into the beach — don't use stone fire rings. (River stones sometimes explode in the fire when tiny pockets of water in the rock turn to steam.)
Share your fire with other hikers if you can.
There's a good chance cinders will burn holes in your clothing so don't wear your best duds when sitting around the campfire.
Don’t blacken & burn the big drift logs by using them as a wind break.
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 by gusty sea winds. Those who pack-in light plastic clothes pins are happy they carried the extra weight.
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.
