A Hike on Victoria Day Weekend

 

The Coast Trail on southern Vancouver Island stretches along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the body of water separating Canada from its southern neighbour. We love hiking there, most often taking the trail to Beechy Head and back, easily done in about 3 hours. 

We've had a long weekend celebrating the birth of our sovereign. It began with Queen Victoria, hence the name Victoria Day, and always falls on the third Monday in May, no matter when the sovereign's birthday might be. 

Pink Thrift growing on a nurse log

Our son and his wife wanted to hike the full length of the Coast Trail, about 13 kilometres. This means taking two cars, so we both drove to one end of the trail in our cars, then they came into our car for the drive to the other end of the trail, a circuitous route. We thought we'd hike along with them for an hour or two and head back to our car. 

Then I had the idea to hike the whole distance with them, if they were willing to shuttle us back to our car at the end. So that's what we did. 

A narrow gorge - our daughter-in-law in the shadows on the right

The scenery along this route is spectacular as it follows the coastline, veering inwards on rocky bluffs, but always returning to the sea. The weather was perfect, sunny and not too warm. I wore a short sleeved t-shirt and a long sleeved cotton shirt and was very comfortable. 

Sea stacks, narrow gorges, blue water with a few whitecaps, and lots of wildflowers were a feast for the eyes.

 

Salal flowers blooming along the path

My Facebook memories told me that the last time I did this long hike was 17 years ago, this very weekend. I confess to finding yesterday's hike much more challenging than I remembered. There was a LOT of climbing up rocky bluffs with some long steps, then picking my way down the other side. In between, the short stretches of more level ground in the forest were a wonderful break. In all, we climbed 1700 feet in altitude, up and down, up and down. The up requires lung capacity and leg strength, the down requires care and is harder on the knees.

We stopped for lunch at Cabin Point, the site of an old fishing camp where men once pulled in hundreds of crabs. It was lovely to sit in the sunshine, eat our lunch, and rest for about 30 minutes before beginning our hike again. An eagle soared overhead - we would look up when his shadow passed over us. He looked like he was enjoying the air currents a lot. 

In the end, Tim and I cut off about 30 minutes of the hike by taking an inland trail. We waited for our son and his wife at the parking lot. There was a Search and Rescue vehicle there doing some training. I thought of going to ask them if they would give me a foot massage as my toes were sore from all the downhill climbing. Haha. 

It was five and a half hours on rugged terrain. I was exhausted, and I realized that I am not quite as strong as I was 17 years ago. I guess that's to be expected. Still, I'm glad I did it. And did I ever sleep well last night!