Well, I’m back from our long weekend trek of the Juan de Fuca trail. It was a hard 47km, but not the hardest thing I’ve ever done. We had great weather; it only really lightly rained twice – and we had already set up our camp for the night. For food we brought mostly dehydrated meals (which were actually really good), as well as rye bread, cheese, sausage, oranges, and then the normal cliff bars, trail mix, etc.
We stayed on budget with everything except for food. It was expensive because of the dehydrated meals (about $4-6 each), but I think in the future we’ll keep using them because it’s worth it to have less weight in our packs – than to bring in fresh veggies & other ingredients – which we’ve done numerous times before. All you have to do is add boiling water.
Day 1
We drove to the south trailhead and ditched our backpacks. Then we drove and parked at the north trailhead, and proceeded to hitch hike back to the south end. After getting picked up for the first 3km of the drive, we walked for about 5km before getting picked up and dropped off at the south end. My first time hitch hiking, but it’s a common occurrence in the area where we were – because obviously the trail goes along the coast, so it isn’t a loop.
Anyway, we hiked 21km this day. It was hard – the hardest part of the trail, and the longest day of the hike. The trail itself was a muddy, disgusting mess. Lots of up-and-down through river valleys. It was definitely harder than either of us had anticipated, and I really struggled with the idea of continuing for the entire weekend.
Day 2
This was a bit of a rest day for us. Our plan was to go 20km-20km-7km, but we switched it instead so our ‘easy’ day was Day 2 instead of Day 3. We hiked 7km to the next beach (Sombrio) and set up camp. It wasn’t a long day, but the hiking was up-and-down again – a continuation of the day before. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and we spent the afternoon and evening just relaxing and enjoying the beach. We were on vacation, after all! :)
The only downside was since it was a very very popular beach on Vancouver Island, we were surrounded by drunken hooligans pretty much the entire time. They left garbage strewn about the beach, let their dogs take craps in the fresh water streams (where hikers were continually filling up their water packs throughout the day). So gross to even think about. And obviously they didn’t care to clean up any of their mess. Thankfully, we were able to camp down the beach from their ridiculously crazy Tent City, and we ended up near a few other backpackers that had set up camp.
Day 3
A 19km stretch hike to the finish. Not nearly as hard as Day 1, but on sore legs and with our backs killing us, it wasn’t that enjoyable. We were up by 5:30am, and on the trail shortly after. The trail itself was a disgusting sloppy mess, but I’d take the mud any day over the hills of Day 1 and 2.
After we finished our hike, we raced to the ferry terminal to catch the boat back to Vancouver. But not before devouring a huge meal at A&W. It was so disgustingly good. I love finishing a super long hike and eating whatever I want.
Anyway, here are a couple of pictures from the weekend. I would love to go back and do this trip again.
15 Responses to “Hiking over the long weekend”
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Those are gorgeous pictures! You must be in fantastic shape to make a trek like that. Sorry to hear about the campers. Always astounds me when people make a huge mess and leave it. The dog poo is revolting. We have ppl who walk their dogs during the school day across our property and let them go and not clean it up. I mean come on people!! There are children playing here.
Hope you are not too sore today. Loved reading about your hike.
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Those are gorgeous pictures! You must be in fantastic shape to make a trek like that. Sorry to hear about the campers. Always astounds me when people make a huge mess and leave it. The dog poo is revolting. We have ppl who walk their dogs during the school day across our property and let them go and not clean it up. I mean come on people!! There are children playing here.
Hope you are not too sore today. Loved reading about your hike.
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ok kind of a stupid question but what EXACTLY is a dehydrated meal? Are they really any good? And those pics are beautiful! The second one reminds me of La Push from the twilight movies lol
They are surprisingly tasty! Here is a http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/familydetail.cfm/DehydratedFood” rel=”nofollow”>link to one of the brands we ate. There are tons of options for all different kinds of food.
Basically they are just ziplock pouches of dehydrated food and all you have to do is add boiling water. Then you wait 10 minutes and it's ready to eat! The first night I had meat lasagna and it was so freaking good. Seriously, you would have never known it was a dehydrated meal.
I like them because the pouches are so much lighter than carrying fresh food, it takes less time to make, and you can eat something nice and hot that you otherwise couldn't make while camping.
They are surprisingly tasty! Here is a link to one of the brands we ate. There are tons of options for all different kinds of food.
Basically they are just ziplock pouches of dehydrated food and all you have to do is add boiling water. Then you wait 10 minutes and it\\\’s ready to eat! The first night I had meat lasagna and it was so freaking good. Seriously, you would have never known it was a dehydrated meal.
I like them because the pouches are so much lighter than carrying fresh food, it takes less time to make, and you can eat something nice and hot that you otherwise couldn\\\’t make while camping.
Man, you really make me want to get back into hiking…and date a guy who loves to hike/backpack! :) Gorgeous pictures!
Man, you really make me want to get back into hiking…and date a guy who loves to hike/backpack! :) Gorgeous pictures!
Great job. My wife and I did some hiking near Duncan (we have to head to Sombrio one of these days – she has never been).
I agree having been there before with too many holligans.
I like the Port Renfrew area also.
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Yeah I had never been to Sombrio before this weekend. Luckily the beach is huge, so we were able to stay relatively far away from the hooligans. The waterfall there is very cool!
Great job. My wife and I did some hiking near Duncan (we have to head to Sombrio one of these days – she has never been).
I agree having been there before with too many holligans.
I like the Port Renfrew area also.
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I love the pictures! Especially the rays of sunlight coming down..
I can't believe the mess people make like someone else is responsible for cleaning up their crap! When I walked through Central Park yesterday, there was a huge pile of garbage strewn across the grass that the crows were picking at because the people had filled up the garbage cans and a seperate garbage bag. It's ridiculous! I especially get mad when people throw away perfectly recyclable stuff like cardboard boxes from cans of pop just because they're fuckin' lazy! Grrrr
Great job. My wife and I did some hiking near Duncan (we have to head to Sombrio one of these days – she has never been).
I agree having been there before with too many holligans.
I like the Port Renfrew area also.
My recent post Rickis Coupon For 20% Discount (Ends May 30)
Great job. My wife and I did some hiking near Duncan (we have to head to Sombrio one of these days – she has never been).
I agree having been there before with too many holligans.
I like the Port Renfrew area also.
My recent post Rickis Coupon For 20% Discount (Ends May 30)
unfortunatley dogs but not drunken hooligans are banned from parks in Australia. Would love it if it was the other way round. Though I have very good dogs though and I'd love to take them hiking.
unfortunatley dogs but not drunken hooligans are banned from parks in Australia. Would love it if it was the other way round. Though I have very good dogs though and I'd love to take them hiking.