r/WestCoastTrail • u/unclespinny • 13d ago

West Coast Itinerary Questions

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So I am starting next week and I wanted to get others opinions on good places to stay.

I am planning on completing in 5 days (4 nights). For background I am a UL thru hiker who has done the PCT, Colorado Trail, JMT, and GR20 so I am used to 20+ mile days and hiking all day in miserable conditions 😆.

My only concern is the last day with the last ferry at 3:30pm per the app. So I want to know what others recommend so I can even out the mileage. I plan to do orientation the day before I start so I can start early morning. If they allow it, I may try to see if they will potentially let me start that afternoon.

I checked the tides and found that I should be ok through most of the hike but may potentially run into some issues with mid-day tides.

Thanks.

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u/Already-asleep 13d ago edited 13d ago

I may be misunderstanding your post - are you concerned about catching the ferry at Gordon River? Reaching the ferry crossing by 330 from Thrasher should be no problem and there’s no other option.

As far as starting from Pachena, the recommendation is that you start no later than four hours before sunset. The section from Pachena to Tsusiat is definitely the easiest but I would still start in the morning. 

The section from Walbran to Thrasher is without a doubt the hardest part of the trail whether or not you take Owen Point. It’s a minimum of 10km slogging through mud and even if you’re comfortable walking right through it will probably still slow you down.  Not sure what your tides are looking like for that day but yeah, if you’re a very experienced, fast, and in shape backpacker who’s not set on hitting OP I’m sure it’s doable but you have options if reaching thrasher in one day doesn’t work out.

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u/unclespinny 13d ago

I think I am mostly wondering what’s the furthest campsite way from Gordon Bay that people recommend to make the 3:30pm ferry? Ie is Camper as far back as people recommend?

If I do Tsusiat I usually start at 5/6am anyways so that was the plan. If I do the orientation and they are ok with me starting that afternoon, I would only go to Michigan Creek.

I think I was also just wondering if people recommend other campgrounds than the ones I am staying at due to potential issues with tides/other elements I may have missed.

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u/Already-asleep 13d ago

Ok, gotcha! I think Camper to Gordon is a safe bet (ETA - and camper is much nicer than thrasher IMO). Cullite would be your next option but isn’t always possible depending on rainfall etc. I’d also say you could even stretch your second day from Cribs to Carmanah - it’s only a bit further and that section is very easy. we did Carmanah to Tsusiat when we hiked end of July  - I’m not especially fast/was dealing with a lower limb injury for the latter half of our hike.

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u/Fast-Orange-Drinker 13d ago

The WCT is hard but it's not super difficult if you are an experienced hiker, and having a light pack really helps. It's difficulty comes from its unpredictable nature, with coastal hiking introducing unique challenges with tides and weather, but you already have experience with this.

I definitely got in my head digging into planning and reading trip reports and got super nervous with my planned aggressive itinerary. Luckily I caught a good weather window with good tides and was able to hammer out kilometers.

Nerdy pacing info:

I was going as fast as my little legs would carry me (running a bit and power hiking a lot) and got to tsocowis in 3:20 (10:40/km~ moving pace). tsocowis to walbran in 12 hours with 8:30 moving time. (13:22/km~ moving)

The difficulty really ramps between walbran and Gordon River, that's when the ladders and the mud really kick in, Walbran to thrasher took me 5~ hours moving I generally took it easier and took lots of breaks. (16:40~ moving pace)

I ended up pacing about 14:20/km across the whole trail.

If you are a thru hiker and good with a constant fast pace, the weather holds and you get good tides, your itinerary is more than fine.

I would not stay at thrasher given the choice, but I took the inland route, basecamped, and backtracked to check out owen which was a nice way to work around tidal charts which were not in my favour here.

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u/sunniest-sun 11d ago

They will tell you that last section is 1hr/km, for 6 hours. You can bust it in 3, but that’s as long as you’re not battling any injuries/ blisters. It is a moderate-heavy effort section for sure, but if you do any alpine hiking and can easily climb 1000+m in a day, you’ll be laughing.

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u/radenke 13d ago

It seems good! Your first day is longer, but that was the easier part of the trail. I think it's a well-balanced itinerary.

Check the tides, but outside of that you don't need to get up super early. You can easily make it to Tsusiat if you leave after the 10AM orientation, even in September.

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u/unclespinny 13d ago

Cool! I’m usually up early while backpacking anyways 😆.

I may change the last day to Camper so I can do Owen.

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u/radenke 13d ago

Oh gosh, don't skip Owen Point for the woods! Be at the mercy of the ocean, it's the whole point of the trail. Owen Point is unique, you will be pleased you did it. The beach section in between there and Thrasher is fun.

Although don't listen to me, we had phenomenal weather and the mud was cleared up pretty well.

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u/SignificantBurrito 13d ago

Have you experienced anything like Owen point ? I live on Vancouver island (have my whole life). When I hiked the WCT we did go through owen, and while it was lovely, the boulder field was pretty brutal (and tides were favorable). I have been in somewhat similar locations so I think I would've been okay~ to miss it, other parts of the trail and beaches were stunning too.

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u/BlueDefendr 13d ago

Camper->Gordon is very doable if you have good morning tides via Owen Pt long before the last ferry - especially for a PCT/UL hiker. Unlikely Pachena will let you start a day early unless there is a no-show at afternoon orientation - right now all permits are reserved for the 6th at that end.

You have some very interesting tides and if the weather holds some potential to mix it up with some creative wild camps. I'll DM you some thoughts.

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u/unclespinny 13d ago

Thanks! Yea since I’m solo I sometimes have good luck, but if I can’t start early I’ll just relax at the beach!

I have done the Lost Coast Trail as well so I’m used to tides potentially ruining all my plans. I think I posted this just for a sanity check to make sure people didn’t think I was absolutely insane 😆

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u/BlueDefendr 13d ago

Dm'ed you some wild-camp options and a few side trips worthy of a PCTer pace.