WEST COAST TRAIL | Hike of a Lifetime | 7-day Backpacking South to North | Vancouver Island

This video will show you the general trail conditions, highlights, statistics, campsites we stayed, itinerary and some guide in hiking this epic trail. Hope you find this helpful in planning your hike. Thank you for watching and please subscribe for more of my hiking adventures.
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The West Coast Trail is a world-renowned 75-km point-to-point multi-day backpacking hike in the Vancouver Island which stretches from Port Renfrew to Bamfield, British Columbia.
This hike treated us with amazing views of Vancouver Island's West Coast with sea lions serenading us, humpback whales breaching and spouting as we walked along the shores, colorful sea urchins, corals and other diverse marine flora and fauna, sea caves, gazillion of seagulls, sunset and sunrise, waterfall and many more.
No doubt this hike is not easy. We tackled numerous ladders, scrambled on boulders and driftwood piles, beat tide restrictions, walked on deep sand , surge channels, crossed rivers by manual cable cars, and to top it all, had two bear encounters. I'm thankful for the beautiful weather all throughout our hike, the beautiful people we met, and great supportive spirit of our hiking team which helped us finish this hike safely.
This hike could be done in different directions:
- South to North (Gordon River, Port Renfrew to Pachena Bay, Bamfield) - hard part first when you have fresh energy and mellow part later when you have less energy. This is what we did for 7 days.
- North to South (Bamfield to Port Renfrew) - easy part first when your pack is heavy and hard part later when your pack is lighter
- Start midway at Nitinaht Narrows and go either south or north
Some logistics to consider (this list is not all-inclusive):
1. Permit from Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is required and books really fast. More info here: parks.canada.ca/pn-np/bc/paci...
2. Since this is point-to-point, you need to plan your transportation after the hike to get back to where you parked your car. The road between Bamfield and Port Renfrew is rough and around three hours drive. Taking the shuttle bus which runs between trailheads, in my opinion, is the best option. Booking the shuttle bus in advance is required. More info here: trailbus.com/
3. Ferry schedule at Gordon River and Nitinaht Village
4. Tide tables
5. Pre-hike briefing at the trailhead
Sharing our itinerary with sections on this video:
0:00 Intro / Highlights
1:31 Day 1: Gordon River to Thrasher Cove Campsite
- hiking distance: 6 km - all inland; no tide restrictions; highest elevation on the entire trail;
rough, rooty, muddy and challenging sections; 14 ladders
- Gordon River ferry crossing
- Highlights: Donkey Engine at KM72, views of Port Renfrew and Port San Juan
4:37 Day 2: Thrasher to Owen Point then Camper Bay Campsite
- Hiking distance: 7 km for beach route (inland trail alternative exists for this section); Beach
route has tide restrictions; scrambling on boulders and driftwood piles; several surge
channels; 7 ladders
- Highlights: Owen Point - passable at tides below 1.8 m.; unique rock formations, Camper Bay
9:45 Day 3: Camper Bay to Walbran Creek Campsite
- Hiking Distance: 9 km; 28 ladders and the longest are on this section
- Highlights: Cullite Cove, Logan Creek Suspension Bridge
11:12 Day 4: Walbran to Cribs Creek Campsite
- Hiking Distance: 11 km
- Highlights: Bonilla Point, Carmanah Creek, Nytom Burger Shack, Carmanah Lighthouse,
sea gulls, lots of sea lions and whales on this section
15:10 Day 5: Cribs Creek to Tsusiat Falls Campsite
- Hiking Distance: 17 km; Nitinaht River ferry crossing
- Highlights: Cheewhat River suspension bridge, Crab Shack at Nitinat River, Hole in the
Wall, Tsusiat Falls
19:56 Day 6: Tsusiat Falls to Michigan Creek Campsite
- Hiking distance: 13 km
- Highlights: Klanawa River cable car, Donkey Engine, Red Chair at Valencia Bluffs viewpoint,
Tsokowis Creek bridge, Darling Creek, Michigan Creek
21:50 Day 7: Michigan to Pachena Bay
- Hiking distance: 12 km
- Highlights: Pachena Point, Pachena Bay
23:26 Summary of the Hike
Music:
Music by Marko Topa from Pixabay
Music by Vitaliy Levkin from Pixabay
Music by Lexin_Music from Pixabay:
Music by MarkJuly from Pixabay
Music by Daddy_s_Music from Pixabay
Music by Stock_Studio from Pixabay
Photo / video credits to: Daniel, Kenneth, Eve, Lenie, Jolene
Huge thanks to Daniel for all the hard work in planning, organizing and leading us on this hike
#westcoasttrail #backpacking #vancouverisland #explorebc #beautifulbritishcolumbia #owenpoint #pachenabay #pacificrim #gordonriver #portrenfrew #hiking

[@Amora986]

Wow,such a Beautiful trail with such Majestic Beauty,such a experiance,so very healing and wonderful,Thank you for sharing it dear,with such beautiful imagery and music🌄•°●☆●°•🌄🧡🤗💫

[@globetrotter3546]

Beautiful hike! Love all the scenery. Now I really need to complete West Coast Trail. Thanks for sharing. ❤

[@MyTravelChannel-RO]

Fantastic video! I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful scenery, captivating spots, and interesting places you explored during your hike. It was truly spectacular, and watching your progress was a joy.👍

[@tynwang]

wow this is beautiful and great hike loved watching it have a great day see you god bless

[@lifeinflipflops]

So beautiful 😍...thank you for sharing 👍 ( Life In Flip Flops channel 🇨🇦)

[@RambleandCurry]

The trail looks amazing and I have to give it to you guys for really backpacking and going on this voyage for 7 days, what an amazing video and thanks for documenting the experience and showing us the wonderful views..

[@SabrinaFederlein]

wow i love this Place

[@TravelHungryForLife]

Fantastic video share here really enjoyed this stay safe cheers

[@zlukaszemprzezswiat]

fantastic adventure!! this cable car was amazing!! and even little dangerous^^

[@bfoz]

Incredible vlog of your hike. 9:23 interesting ladder situation. Thanks for sharing. Didn't know there were so many ladders.

[@andrewbryan1444]

This trail is on my bucket list. Great vid! Thx!

[@NorwayHikesTrails]

Beautiful place to go hiking. Lovely video 👍

[@shadyberero6809]

Fabulous video - really loved the scenery, beauty spots and places of interest, and following all the details of your hike. Spectacular, a joy to watch along as you progressed

[@graceescapes4637]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for watching!

[@DaveCollierCamping]

Amazing scenery

[@mvstormyoneadventures]

good for you getting out there to do this incredible hike. wow, must have been so beautiful the entire journey

[@elenilabaki]

Όμορφο μέρος Καλή διασκέδαση

[@user-bq6op9xc6e]

اتمني لكم قضاء وقيت ممتع جوله في منتهي الجمال

[@JenniferLupine]

Epic adventure Grace! Great that you had such nice weather. I loved seeing the sections where you walked along the beach. Amazing views. I can tell you really had to keep an eye on the tides and plan carefully, looks like you hit it just right every time. It’s wonderful to see the tide pools, I might have wanted to stay and look at all the sea anemones and sea urchins. How fun to camp right on the beach every night, beautiful sounds and amazing stars too. Those stairs look super challenging, whew. Great job, really enjoyed the video! 🙌🙌👍👍😄💙💙 - Jennifer

[@graceescapes4637]

Thank you Jennifer :-) Yes, the stairs are really challenging. By the way, we could see some views of the US coasts from this trail :-)

[@JenniferLupine]

@@graceescapes4637 Beautiful! A big stretch of the northern part of the WA coast is national Park- I’ve hiked there a bit. Really exciting to hike along the ocean shore! Maybe someday we’ll get up to BC for some hiking!

[@panosexplorations]

This is a nice journey!

[@Phuong.Nguyen-]

Really cool ❤😊

[@furgoch2011]

Excellent video...thank you...well done

[@graceescapes4637]

Thank you too!

[@ervinslens]

What a scenery, this looks majestic my friend! 🔥

[@maxdexpeditions]

This was a beautiful hike along the coast, Grace. I could just imagine waking up with that morning sea breeze. The fresh crabs look so good! Good life!❤

[@MinuteontheMountain]

Those are some of the most amazing views I've ever seen. What an adventure. Thanks for taking us along.

[@jungseontv]

Good video my friend Have a happy day

[@GupshupCookingvlog]

Beautiful nature thank you for great sharing have a good day take care ❤❤

[@Tokyo_Fan]

Beautiful video. Thank you for sharing the wonderful tour.

[@matalens48]

Beautiful places