Adventure Ollie

Day SIX Monday July 10th 2017 I hate my boots At least I have no blisters  :)  lots of people that I have seen are sporting them. Today's hike is 14km. Darling river to end of the trail at Pachena bay. I'm Up at daylight. It's Hard for me to sleep in, I'm always excited out here. Out of the bag at 4:40, Food collect, washroom, and then leisurely breakfast and camp/ bag organize. All packed up by 6:00am, then just another ten or so minutes to filter water for the day. Luckily t here is a patchwork rock bridge over Darling river. On one of the rocks there is a fresh, water bear print next to a deer print. An Ocean walk to start today. A mix of sand, pebbles, rocks of various sizing, and rock platform with Algae and seaweed. Also since the tide was out lots of tidal pools to peak into for sea life viewing  :) After 2km of beach walking then I hit the final campground and then onto the inland trail. Easy walking now, a few mud sections, bridges, ladder work, and short ...

Day FIVE Sunday July 9th I hate my boots Up at 5:30. Very misty. I Went and grabbed my food from the anti bear food locker. It's an Easy hike today so cooked up some warm apple cinnamon oatmeal crumble and extra strength coffee to start. Just as I finish cooking the mist turns into rain! So it becomes Breakfast in the tent, and day prep in tent. It Only rained for an hour then turned into mist again. I Probably hit the trail at eightish this morning. I Quickly catch up with t wo ladies plodding along but I decided to join them for a chat and so we both can help each other with the cable car in about one km. It's a surprise Wide cable car river crossing this time, most crossings have been small creeks. It was a Heavier car that only took one person at a time. Both the ladies and me were glad we had help with this one. On Trail day two I had one scary cable car load and I didn't want to repeat another. After the cable car I left the ladies so I could travel at my normal p...

Day FOUR, Saturday July 8th I hate my boots Up early 5ish then packed up and ate trail mix on the go. Beach walk to start the day with a bald eagle flying overhead, freaking awesome  :)  I walked past the burger and breakfast spot , it wasn't open yet, although it looked like a road side Mexican taco stand but sketchy, so that's saying a lot  ;)  I never knew where it was on trail so missed out eating there but maybe a good thing. Although everyone on the trail talks about it an d the character of a lady who runs the joint. Lots of beach walking this morning watching my step for slippery seaweed and tiny crabs. Those crabs are feisty with Claws out ready to battle with you. Lots of tidal pools with sea life since the tide was out. After beach there were lots of boardwalks until the ferry which is about at mid point in the West Coast trail and has a fresh seafood restaurant. I had BBQ salmon with a baked potato with sour cream, bacon, and chives, also a coffee for...

Adventure Ollie Day THREE Friday July 7th I hate my boots Freaky Friday. Lots of scary stuff to deal with today. High logs bridges across muddy creeks, crazy high ladders up and down. I can't image how even more crazy this place would be on a huge downpour day. On rain days The ranger described it as boardwalks totally submerged in water pools, waterfalls pouring off the tops of the ladder platforms, and bum scootching across those high log creek crossovers. I had a Scary cable car ride for  one, then I went over the suspension bridge of doom! It was Rated for six people but no way in hell if ever want anybody else on there with me. Breath and survive was my cross over style. Today was Half forest/mud slog and half epic beach walking  :)  I ended at trail marker 46km with an epic beachside camp spot called carmanah creek  :) 16km completed today. I Ended early just before 2:00 since I started walking @ 6:30am. This site was rated excellent and I so stopped here ...

Adventure Ollie Day TWO Thursday July 6th I hate my boots Of course I couldn't sleep. Woke up from 3:00-4:00am then just before 5:00am again which became the early start to my day    I  left the Airbnb at 5:20am then walked to McDonald's 5:30, breakfast sandwich with an added hashbrown for my calorie reserve for the day. I arrive at bus stop at 5:45 only one hour early, can you say excited? First there of course, so I walked around for a bit, then chatted with all the backpackers who start ed to arrive. Two from Switzerland, one from Chicago, two from Alberta, and one from Richmond. Picked up a dad who I name bill Murray and his four adults kids 19 minutes down the road. The bus ride was about 2.5 hours on a paved but slow windy road with several one lane bridges. Arrived in Gordon river for orientation at 10:00am which lasted 1.25 hours. A Mellow parks dude gave the presentation which included trail info, wildlife cautions, tide table reading, and of course all t...

Adventure Ollie Day ONE Wednesday July 5th Melody and the kids dropped me off at Tsawwassen ferry terminal at 2:00pm. A relaxing ferry ride over to Swartz Bay on a beautiful blue bird day. In Victoria I Went to Red Fish Blue Fish for a delicious fresh two piece cod and chips. Next to the Airbnb. Relaxed and chatted with owner. Early to bed. Debated going to MEC to buy trail runners 

September 2016 Rainy pass @ 4166km USA/Canadian Boarder @ 4264 Km Manning lodge 13.7km from boarder Sept 3 Saturday Excited  :)  up at 6am Melody and Melanie up shortly after me. A speedy morning and out the door about 7:15am Not long of a wait at boarder, 10 minutes Friendly guard teased me about cheating on the pct by jumping to the end. He also teased Melody about finding a hotel last minute on a long weekend. Stopped in Marble Mount for lunch at 11. Huge portions. Then the driving scenery got rugged and the elevation went up up up. A rock bolder even tumbled on the road in front of us. Another 1:15 hours to rainy pass trail head. A wonderful but a little sad of a goodbye. A great send off  :) . Started hiking 12:45 I sure love my family  :)  xo I was well pleased in the pct, well engineered. The elevation climbed gradually always. Trail easy to follow. And it's true, wide enough for a horse. I didn't expect a thru hike trail to be so spectacu...