Local Hikers Try North Coast Trail

The newly opened North Coast Trail on Vancouver Island’s northern tip proved to be a challenging and rewarding 6-day hike for local adventurers Kip Hoy, Jeff Hoy, Brock Snobelen, and Bill Rickson. The foursome has been exploring the Island’s recreation areas for years and news of the trail’s opening initiated a flurry of emails and phone calls which lead to the hike.

The trail connects a previously inaccessible stretch of coastline to Cape Scott Provincial Park and runs from Shushartie Bay in the east to Nissen Bight in the west. If hiked together with the Cape Scott Trail, the total distance is about 60km. Construction of the stairs, boardwalks, and campsites is of good quality and ropes installed on steep sections of the trail provide necessary assistance. The trail is not a quick one and the group averaged 1-2km per hour.

As with anywhere on the BC coast weather can be a dangerous foe or a valuable ally. On this particular trip the hikers got lucky and for the most part experienced cool, overcast days, good weather for doing strenuous exercise outdoors. Evenings were brought to a close with a fabulous sunset on five of the six nights, while sitting around a fire on a sandy beach. The one night it did rain, the group camped at an established campsite in the forest with tent pads, bear cache and outhouse. The trees made it easy to set up tarps and stay dry.

On the last night camp was made at Nissen Bight, a familiar spot visited regularly by the hikers since their teen years. This was the first point since setting out on the trail that other hikers were met and it proved to be an exciting location to finish the hike. A dramatic rescue was unfolding on the beach which their tired minds could only be thankful they were not the cause of. The previous night a hiker burnt his foot and was not able to hike out on his own. A coast guard vessel was now circling the beach looking for a place to get ashore however the surf was to much. Eventually, a small skiff was able to get a technician ashore and meet the patient. An evacuation was deemed necessary and since a water landing was not safe, a helicopter was brought in to extract the injured hiker off the beach. All this happened about 50ft from camp.

The group returned to Comox the next day feeling tired and satisfied. They would now part and resume their everyday lives, letting the energy slowly rebuild until the day of their next adventure; the natural world once again the perfect setting for reconnecting with friends not seen enough.