Aug. 12th, WCT Day 3: Tsusiat Falls to Cribbs Creek

Day 3: Tsusiat Falls to Cribbs Creek, 17km (first section)

Day 3: Tsusiat Falls to Cribbs Creek, 17km (second section)

Another day with good weather. We again walked along a very diverse set of beaches, saw wild life (seals and similar) and also walked through slippery and easy forest sections. It was a 17km section with no campgrounds in between. During the planning phase it looked challenging, but in hindsight it was just another beautiful day despite it being the longest section we did on a single day. Part of the reason was that the trail went along plenty of beaches and that a lenghtier section in the forest (after Cheewhat River) felt like a highway as well.

On our way again, shortly after Tsusiat Falls

Heading on the beach towards Tsusiat Point

This picture should have been the first one: Uta and Anna with Tsusiat Campground on the right side beside the cliffs in the morning.

Looking backwards (north). The Tsusiat campground is already 2km or so away.

Tsusiat Point

Tsusiat Point

Onwards from Tsusiat Point, still along a beach

View backwards to Tsusiat Point

Just a nice area: Looking back to Tsusiat Point

The final portion of the first beach section of the day

Up in the forest again looking down: I don't want to be a stranded sailor down there having to climb up ...

The forest sections are getting gradually a bit more rugged and muddy

View of another beach: In hindsight we probably could have gone down there and go along the beach again. But the map advised us to stay high up in the forest.

The tree roots are getting also gradually more in the way ...

Another scenic beach section

A well earned break with a nice ocean view

And another muddy section for the fun of it

Nitinat Narrows: We were thankfully given a ride

The natives are operating a "bistro" at Nitinat Narrows: Buying their salmon is irresistible. A portion of the Edmonton team sits in the back. The one on the right is just looking up the "Blisters and Bliss" book ...

The salmon was the best I had in my 20 years in Canada so far. The fish was fresh and tasted super delicious. Definitely not a farmed salmon.

We arrived at Nitinat Narrows sometime around noon. Pretty much everyone makes a break here and either eats the fish cooked by the natives (20 to 30$ if I recall correct) or goes for a can of beer or coke. Around Nitinat Narrows the various groups hiking with us the trail in the same direction also sorted themselves gradually out in terms who travelled with us roughly at the same speed and who was faster or slower. Some of the slower ones compensated by getting up earlier or arriving later at a given campground. We ended up hiking with 3 couples from Edmonton at more or less the same speed from here onwards until the end of the trail. A 2nd group was from Langley BC and New Zealand to which we got closer towards the end of the trail.

The Edmonton folks like several others used the "Blisters and Bliss" guide book and introduced it to me. Obviously becoming aware of this guide during the middle of the trip is not the way to plan for such a trip ;-). When I did the planning I focused mostly on blogs, web pages and Parks Canada material which was adequate but I could have certainly added more planning substance if I had perused some actual trail guide books. Whenever we were unsure going forward we walked over to discuss a bit what the Edmonton folks thought. One of their couples also had done the trail 15 years earlier which was a good thing to know. We also got used to inquire with folks coming from the south about trail conditions and their latest weather forecast.

After Nitinat Narrows we definitely felt we had committed ourselves and that "the way" was to go forward south. No chicken out and returning on the supposedly "easy" way back north. We also felt that the trail was superb and a treat and offered something none of us had really seen before.

Boggy area close after Nitinat Narrows

Back up on a cliff looking down at sleepy seals

One of the larger trees we encountered

Looking across Cheewhat River. Unfortunately the beach across is no access to protect wild life.

The bridge over the Cheewhat River

View from the bridge towards the delta of the Cheewhat River

Back in the forest: This portion of the trail was actually easy to walk and we progressed fast

Finally the long awaited ladders providing the access to the beach.

View from top of the ladder system down towards the beach

And a well deserved break at the bottom of the ladders

Still enjoying the break

And some folks even napped a bit! We had to wait for low tide.

Seals right beside us at our break place

View from our break place towards north

Uta coming back from seal watching

On our way again navigating through rocks and tidal pools

Rock area around Dare Point

Hiking along Dare Beach with Anna chasing sea gulls

Some of us took a short cut over the tidal rock on Dare Beach :-)

The final rocky stretch towards Cribbs Creek campground

The final rocky stretch

And still more rocks ...

Navigating off the rocks with Cribbs Creek campground in the background. We were the only ones taking the trail along the beach in the late afternoon, early evening

Barbara and Uta feeling accomplished

The sandy beach at Cribbs Creek campground. Hansi and Tobi even went for a swim in the ocean.

The girls feel accomplished as well: Anna is stretching ...

Cribbs Creek was another cool and yet different again campground. It offers plenty of sand beaches. I recall feeling tired at the end but also very happy about the scenery we had seen. The tidal pools around Dare Point and Dare Beach were full of crabs, see anemonies and plants I had never seen. Tsusiat Point with its arch and beaches in the morning sun was cool as well. It paid of that I used gators today. I had definitely less stones in my shoes. However the existing blisters started to grow but they did not really hurt. This evening we did have a good feeling about the fact that we navigated the 17km with all the luggage without real problems. Yes, my shoulders hurted a bit from all the weight too, but somehow it was way down the worry list of things. Our main concern at that point of the trip was how the weather would develop. The forecast at the Pachena Bay trail had predicted a worsening of the weather during the next 2 days. There was also the question if we should insert a break day sometime.