The West Coast Trail is a 75km multi-day backpacking trip along the West Coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Along the way, you’ll hike through the rainforest on rough trail, boardwalks and mud bogs, walk along sandy beaches, boulders, and slippery coastal shelf, cross rivers on high bridges and cable cars, and climb in …
Backpacking Guides
If you’re looking to explore some of Olympic National Park’s rugged coastline, I recommend hiking to Toleak Point from Third Beach. It’s a moderately challenging trail that travels along beaches and across steep headlands. The area around Toleak Point is dotted with dozens of offshore islands and sea stacks, making it really picturesque. Plus there …
I’ve done a fair amount of backpacking, but I had some trouble deciding what to pack for my trip on the Berg Lake Trail in early September. The trail is at a high elevation in the Canadian Rockies, so I knew the weather would potentially be colder and wilder than I am used to. As …
When most people think of Tofino, BC, they think of surfing or walking on one of the many sandy beaches. But did you know that by taking a short water taxi ride you can escape the crowds in town and hike and camp on a remote wilderness beach? Head over to Flores Island, just off …
There’s something special about hiking and camping on an isolated west coast with nothing between you and Japan but the wild Pacific Ocean. Shi Shi Beach in Washington’s Olympic National Park gives you that experience, and it’s a short and easy hike to get there. I’ve made several trips to Shi Shi Beach since the …
Way back in the summer of 2006 I was living in Halifax to go to university. I figured since I was on the East Coast for a few years, I should explore the Atlantic Provinces. I booked some time off from my summer job and headed to Newfoundland with some friends. Our plan was hiking …
In early September of 2016, I went to Nepal to go trekking to Annapurna Base Camp with my husband and two friends. Here’s the story (and tons of photos) from my ten-day trek. Our guide Chandra, of Pokhara-based Friendly Trekkers Adventures, put together an itinerary for us that had us heading to the viewpoint at …
Over the Easter long weekend I spent three days backpacking a section of the Sunshine Coast Trail with a group of friends. We hiked from Manzanita Bluff to Rievely’s Pond, then finished near Powell River. Never heard of the Sunshine Coast Trail? The whole trail is 180 kilometers long and stretches the whole length of …
Ever since we did the West Coast Trail in 2004, my husband Greg and I had wanted to hike the Nootka Trail as it was rumoured to be like the West Coast Trail “used to be”: no permits, no boardwalks, no crowds. If you aren’t familiar, the Nootka trail is more of a route and …
On Easter weekend we headed to the East Bank trail on Ross Lake in North Cascades National Park in Washington. Apparently Good Friday isn’t a statutory holiday in America so we hoped it wouldn’t be crowded. (Spoiler alert: it wasn’t!) Our group of seven hikers drove down in a convoy of two cars on the …