Why?
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Safety & Staying Healthy
Blisters?
Wear comfortable, broken-in footwear. If you feel a hot spot, stop & take off your boots. Put your feet into cold water if you can.
Wicking inner socks may help prevent blisters.
Bring Leukoplast or Elastoplast bandages, duct tape & any other blister first aid products you like, just in case.
If you do get a blister, using a sterile needle, prick the blister a few times. Drain without touching the fluid or holes. Seal with liquid Betadine and, when dry, place some tape over it. We usually use duct tape — it's inexpensive and seems to stay as well as anything else.
Duct tape.
Insect Bites & Stings?
We’ve never had much trouble with bees or mosquitoes on the coast. You may have wasps or hornets, though, especially late in the season. If any of your group is allergic, let everyone in the group know where the kit is kept. A First-aider will need to administer adrenaline (epinephrine).
You might see the orange centipede which bites. Don’t worry about the black & yellow millipede which doesn’t.
No worries about the many hundreds of giant banana slugs, by the way. They will slime your food bag, however, if you leave it out. It’s a good challenge to try to hike the WCT without accidentally stepping on one.
Banana slug.
Bruising?
Expect some colourful bruises on this hike. It is almost impossible to completely avoid bumping and scraping. If you bruise easily consider wearing protective long pants rather than shorts. You’ll get the worst bruises scrambling boulders & fallen logs.
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