Category: fauna

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North Coast Trail – day 1

Sept 2012 trip report by site editor Rick McCharles


» day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | day 5 | day 6 | day 7 | ★ recommendations ★

My cost = $256:
$90 – water taxi (6 people)
$75 – shuttle from San Josef (10 people)
$10 – map
$60 – trail fees (6 nights x $10)
… plus 12% tax

Shushartie to Skinner Creek

Sunday morning, Port Hardy. End of the World.

The N.W. corner of Vancouver Island is remote, even for Canada.

I was early arriving at the offices of the North Coast Trail Shuttle at Quarterdeck Marina, allowing time for one LAST restaurant breakfast.

It didn’t take long to load 6 hikers and gear. Departure shortly after 8am.

Skipper, George, filled us in on what to expect. It sounded much tougher than what I’d been thinking.

En route we saw our first bear of many.

On arriving Shushartie Bay, we spot a wolf.


That’s actually the first wolf I’ve ever seen in the wild.

Seas were calm and we stepped ashore easily.

Skipper, after unloading, maneuvered his boat to capture some unique footage. A moma bear with 3 cubs.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

She’s training them to hunt for small crabs. (VIDEO)

Moma finally “puts the run” to the wolf. (40sec)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I assume the wolf was hoping to nab one of the cubs.

Skipper’s spent a lot of time in these wilds, but he’d never seen anything like that before.

So here we are. Still clean and healthy.

3 young ladies from Calgary & Victoria. A couple from Germany who had done this same hike in 2011 — and returned in 2012 because they enjoyed it so much. And one hiking blogger, already out of line.

Most on this trail are from BC, Alberta and Germany. As we were.

We did the “standard” North Coast Trail — starting at km 58.1 and working backwards. … Yes — counter-intuitive for a Trail officially opened in only 2008.

Enjoy the view at km 57. That’s the last time you’ll see the Ocean for many hours.

Enthusiastic to get started, I was quickly depressed by MUD.

The only fun sections this day are new boardwalk, this being one of the best.

Plenty more construction material has been helicoptered in — with which to build more boardwalk. But I heard the budget had run out. Even with cash I’m not sure this stretch of trail will ever be worth hiking.

No sea views, a mud slog of 8.7km from Shushartie to Skinner Creek has little to commend itself. Avoid it if you can. It can take 9hrs or more for some groups!

… Yep. An hour / km. That’s dead slow.

That photo’s actually from the infamous South Coast Track in Tasmania. This hike rivals for infamy.

Another hiker, JT, calls this the “North Coast Swamp“.

The girls had rented a marine radio from North Coast Trail Shuttle. If they called for help, rescue costs $1000.


But what do you do if someone is injured far inland, hours from the sea?

😦

How can you avoid the day 1 mud slog, you ask?

Request the water taxi to drop you at Skinner. Or even Sutil, instead.

They can — IF sea conditions allow. The water taxi can make it to Shushartie almost every day, but not necessarily any further.

There was a bear on Skinner when we finally arrived — as there often is — our 6th bear of the day. But I was too tired even to notice.

Good night.

More photos.


» day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | day 5 | day 6 | day 7 | ★ recommendations ★

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bear mauling death in Denali

A hiker in Alaska’s Denali National Park photographed a grizzly bear for at least eight minutes before the bear mauled and killed him in the first fatal attack in the park’s history, officials said Saturday.

Investigators have recovered the camera and looked at the photographs, which show the bear grazing and not acting aggressively before the Friday attack …

A state trooper shot and killed the male bear on Saturday.

The hiker was identified late Saturday as Richard White, 49, of San Diego. He was backpacking alone along the Toklat River on Friday afternoon when he came within 50 yards (50 metres) of the bear, far closer than the quarter-mile (0.4 kilometres) of separation required by park rules, officials said.

Calgary Herald

This is another bear in the same area 2008. … That photographer survived.

more details on National Parks Traveler

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lynx crossing highway

This unique image, captured by motion-sensitive cameras, offers an extraordinary glimpse of an animal that many Canadians have never seen. A Canada lynx uses the Redearth Creek wildlife overpass to cross the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park at 8:34 a.m. on March 28, 2012. Since 1996, over 200,000 animals, including grizzlies, wolves and cougars, have safely crossed the highway using wildlife overpasses and underpasses.

The overpass is one of six that are part of the wildlife-crossing project in Banff National Park.

Combined with 38 underpasses along the stretch of Trans-Canada Highway that cuts through this wildlife-rich area, the intent of the crossings is to keep the number of animal deaths on the highway to an absolute minimum …

Calgary Herald – Rare photo of lynx using Banff highway overpass delights wildlife experts

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Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, Glacier Park

Colleen Contrisciane-Lewis, of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania won an all-expenses-paid grand prize from Backpacker magazine: an assignment to hike—and report on—her dream trip.

Read about her 85-mile, weeklong transect of Glacier National Park on the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail:

Naturally, Rowan and I want quality time alone–we eloped just weeks before our hike, and this Continental Divide-crossing route will not only be my Reader Leader dream trip, but also our honeymoon. …

… When I backpack solo, I can do breakfast and pack in 30 minutes. With Rowan, it takes two hours, and my frustration is building to a boil. …

… “Would you mind silencing your bear bell?” Rowan asks. “The incessant jingle is grating. And I’d love to see a bear.”

Who am I to argue with a man who’s lived with lions? So, against my better judgment, I silence my bell, and zip my lips. We hike 30 minutes before seeing a grizzly 20 yards off the trail …

read her trip report – GLACIER MAGIC

Bowman Lake in Glacier National Park (Jeremie Hollman)

That’s one unforgettable honeymoon!

Backpacker posted 7 more reader submitted trip reports:

Shoal Creek Loop, Gros Ventre Wilderness, WY

International Appalachian Trail, Parc National de la Gaspesie, Quebec

Creekside Loop, Pisgah NF, NC

Evolution Loop, Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP, CA

Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail, Castle Rock SP, CA

Grasshopper Glacier, Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness, MT

Appalachian Trail, 100-Mile Wilderness, ME

details

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shooting a Grizzly only makes it angry

At a New Years Eve party I happened to meet the man first on scene at this tragedy.

It turns out that the hunter in Idaho who the authorities thought was killed by a wounded grizzly bear was actually shot by his young hunting companion, who was trying to kill the bear, an autopsy has revealed.

Steve Stevenson, 39, died on Sept. 16 when he was shot in the chest once by his 20-year-old hunting companion, Ty Bell, officials said. The two men, both from Winnemucca, Nev., were tracking a grizzly bear they had wounded in rugged country on the Idaho-Montana border, thinking it was a black bear, the surviving hunter said. …

details on NY Times – In Bear Attack, Hunter Killed Hunter, Autopsy Shows

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Bigfoot in my back yard

… wait a minute. It might just be a dog.

But a film crew from Discovery’s Animal Planet show, Finding Bigfoot, is in my back yard:

… Reports of hairy encounters with Bigfoot-like creatures in the Banff area are on the rise.

Earlier this month, crews from Discovery’s Animal Planet show, Finding Bigfoot, visited the mountainous region after seeing photos and video from the Sylvanic group claiming a colony of unidentified primates lives near the border between Banff and Kootenay National Park. …


Banff-area Bigfoot reports ‘credible’

… credible …

We’ll finally learn the TRUTH when Finding Bigfoot premieres Oct. 15th. 🙂

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Howe Sound Crest Trail to the Lions

trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles

The Lions are a pair of pointed peaks (West Lion – 1,646 m (5,400 ft); East Lion – 1,606 m (5,269 ft)) along the North Shore Mountains in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They can be seen from much of the Greater Vancouver area …

The city’s BC Lions CFL football team is also named in their honour. …

On the September long weekend, a friend dropped me off at Cypress Bowl Ski Resort, only 20min from North Vancouver.

Of several trailhead options to visit the Lions, I recommend this one. Check the elevation profile:

(Most hikers, instead, start closer to sea level on the Binkert Trail, a long slog uphill.)

Here’s my first view of the Lions:

The first hour or so climbing up out of Cypress is tree locked. But you soon find yourself on a wonderful ridge walk with vistas like this:

In early September the #1 question was still: “How’s the snow?”

No problem when I was there. In fact, where the trail crossed snow the footing was good, progress just as fast as on ground.

For lunch I decided to set up the tent on a warm rock.

I read my book. Listened to audiocasts on my iPod. And had a nap. The tent was essential to escape the voracious mosquitoes and bothersome noseeems, unusual on the west coast, especially in September. There were none at lower elevations.

Look closely and you’ll see people atop the west Lion:

There are helicopter rescues nearly every summer weekend. And hikers do fall.

On arriving at the base of the west Lion I instantly decided not to scramble up. It looks sketchy. And there were all kinds of inexperienced, unprepared idiots crowding the route.

Instead I continued on the Howe Sound Crest Trail between the Lions. This traverse section was the trickiest of all. Considerable exposure.

The views of the Lions are stunning from every angle.

east Lion

Past the Lions there are very few hikers. The trail is indistinct, to say the least.

Here I glissaded down towards the lake.

… Unfortunately, the actual trail stays high on the ridge. I need to bushwhack back up to find it.

At this point someone had installed a chain and comfort rope, not needed in this ideal weather.

In a nearby cairn, I left a Summit Stone.

Soon after that chain, the trail gets very rough. One hiker with a dog decided to turn around. It was canine impassible.

I got fed up myself after one particularly steep, ugly down scramble. And decided to finally set up my tent for the night.

There was no suitable cliff nor tree limb for hanging my food, so I used the Ursack system for the first time.

… 45min later I could hear some animal clawing a tree. I assumed a bear had taken my food.

I stayed the night as it was impossible to find the faint trail in the dark. When morning dawned I went to photograph the damage, and found the food untouched. One small tree nearby had been broken though. (… I’m still not sure what animal had caused the ruckus I heard the night before.)

Due to too rough trail, I decided to escape the Howe Sound Crest Trail early. The nearest exit was via some new (wet) trail recently hacked out of the woods. It was flagged but poorly signed. People had created home made signage to compensate. This was the most artistic:

I ended up in Lions Bay after connecting to the Binkert. From there you can find a bus back to Vancouver.

_____

Leave a comment if you have a recommendation on the best trail back down to Highway 99. Is it worth continuing to the end of the HSC trail?

In the end, I’d still rank this as one of the best hikes in B.C.

On a clear day, the vistas are stunning.

I have 80 annotated photos posted from the 2 day hike.