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Just fifteen years ago, after a long struggle between environmen- talists and logging companies, the Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island’s extreme West Coast was created to preserve a string of spectacular sand beaches.At the time,amidst the euphoria about land saved and history preserved, there was little considera- tion of where the park was heading. In 1993 the land covering the West Coast Trail to the south was added to the park’s boundaries. Less than a decade later the West Coast Trail hosts over 8,000 hik-


ers during the official season between April 1st and September 30th.At any one time in the summer, there can be up to 400 people on the route, spread out over 77 kilometres.That means 5.3 hikers per kilometre. It’s a trail that draws trekkers from Europe and else- where in droves, and has been described in travel literature as one of the finest hikes in the world.That may be true, but the word wilderness should be used with caution. Nor is this wilderness cheap.Why, I have to ask myself, would


anyone want to line up to apply for a hiking quota ($25/person), then pay good money to the Parks to use the Trail ($70/person), to the ferry operators for the two water crossings ($25/person), and


finally to the bus company to get back where you started ($55/per- son)?


Paddling outside the box By contrast, a competent sea kayaker can start at Bamfield


Village, take in Cape Beale as a bonus and finish at Port Renfrew in a long day,or two at the most,a distance of seventy-five kilometres. No long waits at the ferry crossings. No hassles at the cable car creek crossings and no mud. Of course, there are always purists who say that part of the


WCT’s pleasure is skinning your knees on logs, or falling off board- walks into shrubbery. Camping in the rain is fun, they insist and watching the fog roll in is all part of the charm of the Trail.Sure,and removing devil’s club thorns builds character. If it’s character you’re looking for, the Tyee Lodge sits atop the headland at the mouth of Bamfield Inlet. From the rhododendron- splashed hot tub, perched on the cliff’s edge, there’s a panoramic view that’s hard to equal. On the right, the village boat traffic is a constant source of interest. In front of you, ocean-going ships throb down the Alberni Channel, bound for foreign ports.


History of the West Coast Trail


1786 — The wreck of two British vessels, with the loss of over 100 men, is the start of a string of maritime disasters which later results in the coastline being nicknamed the graveyard of the Pacific.


1800s — Almost 70 ships meet their doom. Many survivors reach dry land, only to die of hunger or exposure on the jagged coast, unable to reach Victoria to the south.


1890 — A rough trail is cut to build a telegraph line from Bamfield on the West Coast, to Victoria in the south, as an aid to wrecked sailors.


1891 — Lighthouse built at Carmanah Point.


1906 — The celebrated wreck of the Valencia, with the loss of 126 souls, prompts the federal government into upgrading both the telegraph line and the accompanying track, which becomes known as the Dominion Life Saving Trail.


1954 — With the rapid increase in use of radar and depth sounders after World War II, and the consequent drop in shipwrecks, the federal government officially abandons the Trail.


1970 — After years of lobbying, environmental groups achieve protection for a strip of coast- line from logging interests. The Trail’s historical and recreational possibilities start to develop.


1980 — The entire Trail is upgraded.


1993 — The 77 km long, 25,640 hectare area is incorporated in the Pacific Rim National Park, and officially named the West Coast Trail.


2001 — Over 8,000 hikers traverse the Trail from April 1 to September 30. There are about 200 recorded injuries.


Brilliant sea anemones and purple starfish cling to the sheltering walls of deep channels in the Deer Group of islands. photos by Rick Hudson


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