North Coast Trail – day 3

Sept 2012 trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

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Sutil to Shuttleworth Bight

A short day planned, still I packed up early. Left my backpack with the kayakers. And headed out to explore Cape Sutil off-trail.

From high vantage I saw the girls finally arriving.

Sutil Cape is impressive. I got far enough to see this bird rock.

Bird life?

You spend a lot of time with seagulls. I did see a few distant bald eagles. And visited with a few ravens. But not as many as on other west coast hikes.

I was surprised to see two loons on the ocean at one Bay. I thought they were exclusively fresh water.

The flying highlight for me was the Steller’s Jay, Provincial bird of B.C.

There are entertaining to watch.

Walking is easiest on the rugged coasts of Vancouver Island at low tide.

Tidal pools on my trip were good, but not as good as I’d seen on the WCT or Juan de Fuca. Nor are there as many. The highlight for me was colourful starfish.

There are dozens of assistance ropes hung to assist on steep sections. But the ones everyone remembers best are these.

At times the grade ranges from 70 degrees to vertical. And they are LONG.

Straight UP. Straight DOWN. Straight UP. Straight DOWN.

This excellent video — shot by another group earlier this Summer — at 3min 8sec gives you a good idea of what the ropes are like. That’s the worst the trail throws up to challenge those afraid of heights.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (3min 8sec)

Ropes are mainly needed for descent. I tended to avoid them on the climbs. Roots are better and more stable.

Those folks were crazy to take dogs out there, by the way. 😦 A really bad idea with so much wildlife here. At least 2 dogs have fought with wolves this summer.

We were tremendously LUCKY with the WEATHER. Seven days, no real rain.
Coastal hiking is paradise when the sun is shining.