What you need to know:


On the cheap: From Vancouver, you can fly Air Canada Regional to Nanaimo or Pacific Coast to Victoria. Or take a BC Ferries passenger & car ferry from either Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay (Nanaimo), or from Tsawwassen to Duke Point (Nanaimo). See www.bcferries.bc.ca/, or call 1-888-BCFERRY for schedules.


It’s a 3 hour drive from Nanaimo (on gravel after Port Alberni) to Bamfield. If you’re on foot, there’s the West Coast Trail Express Bus (wcte@pacificcoast.net) from Victoria or Nanaimo to Bamfield. A nice variation is to take the M.V. Lady Rose, a local steamer built in 1937, which runs from Port Alberni to Bamfield (about 4 hours one way) on a regular schedule, thereby avoiding the gravel road sec- tion. See www.ladyrosemarine.com/ or call 1- 800-663-7192 for details.


You can camp at Pachena Bay


Campground, 5 km outside Bamfield (www.huuayaht.ca/pachena/) or see www.alberni.net/bamcham/ for local B&Bs and cottages. Bamfield Kayak Centre offers rentals, instruction and guided tours. Call 1- 877-728-3535 for rates (currently $40/day for single, $60/day for double).


Going First Class:


From Victoria, Island Adventure Tours will transport you to and from Bamfield, recom- mend and arrange all your activities, make all reservations and book you into the premier lodge on the coast. Call 1-866-812-7103, or see www.islandadventuretours.com/. 3-day, 2- night all inclusive packages (transportation, accommodation, all meals, kayak rentals, moth- ership with a maximum of 6 guests, skipper, and paddling guide) are offered at $799. Options include air charter to and from


Bamfield, extra days of kayak lessons, addi- tional days paddling, fishing or hiking.


Recommended reading:


Richard Wells, A guide to shipwrecks along the West Coast Trail, Sono Nis Press, Victoria, BC


Leadem, T. 1998. The West Coast Trail and Other Great Hikes: eighth edition, Sierra Club of Western Canada, Douglas and McIntyre. Vancouver, BC


Sierra Club, The West Coast Trail and Nitinat Lakes, Douglas and McIntyre, Vancouver, BC.


Bruce Obee, Pacific Rim Explorer, Whitecap Books, North Vancouver, BC


Ian Gill & David Nunuk Hiking on the Edge, Raincoast Books, Vancouver, BC


George Allen, Timeless Shore, Bayeux Publishing, Calgary, AB


Two fishing boats resting above the tideline attribute to the West Coast Trail coastline being labeled the graveyard of the Pacific. Over 80 ships were shipwrecked on the rugged coastline between 1850 and 1980. photo by Rick Hudson.


greet the sous-chef,who is bringing appetizers—nachos smothered in melted cheese and black olives, oysters baked in Cinzano and herbs and filo pastry rolls stuffed with BBQ chicken.To retain bal- ance, it’s best to wash them down with Canadian beer and Australian shiraz.Hey, it’s a global village. Later, a three-course dinner is served at the long table, while the sun sets into a blazing sea, sprinkled with island silhouettes. Between the steak and the dessert,a log-carrier passes slowly down- channel, carrying douglas fir, sitka spruce and jobs to foreign ports. Someone promises to write to Ottawa about the whole sad soft- wood mess here on the West Coast.Then the cheesecake takes our minds off such matters and an after-dinner liqueur at the bar puts the whole thing into better perspective.


36 FALL2002 We are indeed a global village. Out on the Trail, hikers from


around the world are snuggling down into damp sleeping bags and saying good night in a dozen languages.Now more than ever before, the wilderness, the country, the whole planet itself belongs to everyone.Are those our jobs going out to sea? Is the WCT reserved for eco-purists only? Can we truly appreciate the beauty of this wild coast without experiencing the discomfort? There are no easy answers, only compromises. Right now, it’s


time for a last nightcap, a final coffee,and bed between clean crisp linen.


Rick Hudson started paddling whitewater in 1976. Age, injuries and common sense have turned him into a sea kayaker where accidents happen more slowly. He now lives next to the ocean on Vancouver Island, BC. rickhudson@ shaw.ca


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