Aug. 11th, WCT Day 2: Darling River - Tsusiat Falls

Day 2: Darling River to Tsusiat Falls, 11km

Another day with good weather and two thirds of the way along beaches and the rest up along cliff edges with good views towards the ocean. Furthermore the beaches were quite diverse: Flat rock with tidal pools, sand, small pebbles and medium sized stones. We saw again plenty of whales at Darling in the morning, during our way from the cliffs and also at Tsusiat in the evening. We also experienced our first cable car crossing at Klanawa river. The campgrounds we passed also looked all good.

Breakfast at Darling River. The kelp fields where the whales typically hang out are seen in the background.

Morning view from Darling River campground at low tide.

Kelp field at Darling River.

Getting ready to go on. In the background a portion of Darling River campground. The tents are typically within the stranded tree trunks.

On the way still close to Darling River

On our way. This time on sand and small pebbles. Uta and Margaret did the smart thing by already using their gators. I ended up with small pebbles in my shoes causing the first (small) blisters.

Walking over medium sized stones/pebbles takes quite a bit of energy.

Back in the forest looking down

Every so often the trail went down to a creek and later back up again ...

Forest impressions. Please note that the boardwalks here are good and well above average

Another look down to a beach

The kids managed another ladder!

A well earned break after a lengthy set of ladders.

Back down at the beach near Klanawa

Another break near Klanawa. Note the coloured balls in the left background are the sign of a trail beach access.

On our way again.

Barbara navigating a tree trunk: Way more elegant compared to me.

Hiking again on flat tidal rock: Always a joy

Crossing Klanawa river with the cable car. Nobody wanted to cross the river with me ;-). In the picture here the river is very wide, but at the beach it is narrow and maybe 1m deep ...

View from a cliff edge between Klanawa and Tsusiat: The view from the cliffs are very scenic

View from a cliff edge

The whale can be seen in the middle of the picture! It is not a large stone.

View from the cliff edge towards Tsusiat Point (the stone forming a bridge/arch). A part of Tsusiat campgound is at the very left of the picture where the stranded tree trunks are. Tomorrows trail path goes from the left all the way to the bridge/arch along the beach.

Another whale picture

Somewhere along the way

And another whale picture for the fun of it!

Heading down to Tsusiat Falls campground via a serious of ladders.

Our fire place at Tsusiat Falls campground. Most of the tents are pitched right at the edge of the cliff. The idea being as far away as possible from the tide.

Tsusiat Falls. The falls are right beside the campground. On the top Barbara and Uta are collecting the water for the day (obviously yet to be filtered).

Hansi and me in the water: Swimming in the Tsusiat pool was a real treat. We all sweated quite a bit to get to Tsusiat.

The beginnings of a fire: Tobi was very good at that

Relaxing

Tsusiat Falls in the late evening sun. This summer the falls were exceptionally small because of the lengthy draught. But still there was enough water to make sitting underneath the falls and cooling down fun.

Our fireplace in the evening sun. Hansi and Uta's tent is still close to the fire place. Right before going to sleep Uta persuaded Hansi to move the tent close to the cliff where all the other tents (including Barbara's) where ...

Hansi watching whales

Late evening at Tsusiat Falls (view towards north): Time to sleep!

Tsusiat is definitely a special campground on the trail with its water fall and the cliff behind the beach. It also felt relatively crowded. All camp sites are in relatively clear sight of each other because everyone camps right at the cliff for one reason or another. Tsusiat is also a logical start and end campground because it is located next to the 17km trail section south of it. Whale watching was again a fun occupation in the evening from the fire or right at the edge of the water.

Today I had my first encounter with the mud. Somehow I tried to navigate a muddy section and stretched my legs to far and slipped. Once the slipping motion starts there is no way to avoid it: The heavy backpack takes care of that ... and you end up flat on the floor with your chest. But I wasn't hurt. I happened to fall into a muddy portion of the path without a sharp stone or a tree root sticking out and ended up with dirty pants and a T-shirt. The swim in Tsusiat and a quick wash of my pants in the pond there took care of things later. This was the first of 2 such slips by me on the trail. Hansi also fell once and I believe Margaret as well once. I don't recall the others.