I am going with a group of five other ladies to hike the Nootka Island trail. We’re taking a float plane from Gold River over to the island and then will take five days hiking the trail where we will be picked up at the other end by the float plane again. I’ve done a three day hike before so this will be my longest. It will be good prep for West Coast Trail which I will be doing in August. I’ll also be having my 55th birthday out on the island. I’m packing a freeze dried ice cream sandwich and a tiny bottle of whiskey to celebrate on the day.
Beach camping. I have the usual sort of gear for multi day hikes. A nature hike one person tent, all my cooking/kitchen gear fits into one small pot. Dry bag for food with rope to hang because apparently the wolves on the island will steal not only your food, but your shoes if you leave them outside your tent. Water filter. I splurged on two items last year: a Nemo sleeping bag and a Helinox zero chair. All my stuff fits in/on a 50 litre Gregory pack. Pack, all in, weighs 35 pounds.
I’m hoping not but most likely yes. I do a lot of training hikes but with 15 pounds on my back. But I’ll take that on a 15 km hike with a 500 mt elevation gain. I did a couple hikes last week with my full pack and yes, I was a bit sore after.
Well I’m back! Nootka Island was amazing. One of the hardest things physically I’ve ever done, hiking through muddy swamps, bush whacking, climbing up and down steep rock faces, and along an ancient lava flow. But so worth it. Woke up on my birthday to a wolf on the beach. I was about 10 feet away from a gray whale scraping barnacles off its belly on the rocks. Everyone in my group was lovely. Total hiking was 45km which took 24 hours of hiking time. Amazing amazing adventure.
That sounds amazing! I admire your enthusiasm and health. It somewhat reminds me of the wilderness camping I did when I was younger, where getting to our camping spot required a good deal of paddling of the canoe with all our supplies, and periodically portaging the canoe and all our stuff over ground between the lakes. Those were truly beautiful and memorable experiences. Not so much the schlepping of all our stuff, but the wilderness experience itself.
Today the most hiking I do is from the kitchen to the car in the garage, or the front door to the driveway, depending on where the car is.
[quote=“FloatyGimpy, post:1, topic:1019704, full:true”]
I’ll also be having my 55th birthday out on the island. I’m packing a freeze dried ice cream sandwich and a tiny bottle of whiskey to celebrate on the day. [/quote]
