Thanks Reanne!!!
That is wicked info! I'd love to do the backpacking/hitch hiking but I have to take days off work to do this so the bus will have to be our option of choice since it will be more reliable. The book you are mentionning, is it only for the JDF trail or is there more then that in it?
Thanks a bunch!
didnt know nsmb was only for pros
its not, its only for dicks.
My Flickr
You're welcome.
The bus does not start running until May, so make sure you book your time off accordingly LOL
Giant Cedars, White Sands covers only the JDF and it has lots of info on it plus a map. You can't really get lost so the map isn't a must, but it's handy because you can see the creeks and plan your water filtering and also plan for the tides, and figure out where the side trails are if you're exploring any of those. There is a book called Hiking on the Edge that has info about both the JDF and the WCT but I think it's mostly info about the WCT. Personally, I don't think the trails are comparable. Even though they are close by eachother, they are a totally different experience. Love them both though. I prefer the JDF because I can take the dog, which is not an option on WCT since it became so busy.
There's a lot of great info on the trail already posted up here, especially be Reanne, but I have a couple of things to add :D -
A friend of mine in Victoria and I did half the trail last February in a day, and I would say that it's definitely do-able in two depending on the trail conditions. When we went there were a couple of landslides between Sombrio and Chin beach that had taken out the trail, and that were… tricky and definitely slowed us down a lot. I'm not sure if they got cleaned up over the summer, but even as they are it's not too much of a challenge. Example:
Other than the landslides/slumps (that they might have cleaned up), I've read on the BC Gov website that it was designed as an "All Access" trail after the Commonwealth games, so most of the rest of the trail is a pretty easy walk/hike.
I think that this summer we're going to try and get an early start from Botanical beach and meander our way south to Chin beach on day one with pretty light packs (no tent), camp at the emergency shelter on Chin beach the first night, and then finish it off on the second day with another long meander.
At least… that's the plan.
As we say on the backpacking boards, "hike your own hike" but if you have the time, why not spend it in leisure on the trail? Yes, it can be done quickly, but why not take time to enjoy it. :)
Also, I'm not sure what "all access" trail means, but it's definitely not all access LOL.
The going definitely depends on the weather. If it's relatively dry and not tons of blowdown it goes quickly. If you're knee deep in mud, well that slows you down a bit! haha.
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