West Coast Trail - Part IV: Cribs Creek to Walbran Creek

Another sea lion rock is visible from the Carmanah Lighthouse. This one seems to have more youngsters on it but the lighthouse manager informed us that this is not were they are birthed. Occasionally, a California sea lion will appear among the larger steller sea lions.

I don't know why little stairs like this still amuse me.

Ah, yes. The condition of the boardwalk continues to improve. That's why I'm
lying in the devil's club plant pulling thistles out of my pants.

BO-RING!

The natives have a shack set up on Carmanah Beach where they sell burgers. The burgers tasted delicious and the view of the lighthouse was quaint.

Many cable cars are utilized at river crossings but we can usually find a way around them. This one, at Carmanah Creek, was easily bypassed along the beach. Someone had placed a few logs over the river at a narrow place.

The bald eagle is a common occurrence on the West Coast Trail. Some fellow backpackers who recently completed the southern counterpart to the West Coast Trail, the Juan de Fuca, said there are far more gulls and less eagles there.

Very interesting rock formations jut like sore thumbs from the limestone shelf.
Formed when the surrounding softer rock erodes away, these formations are
unstable and often crumble away. Although some of these formations are thought
to be very old, they collapse so quickly I don't imagine they are much more than a
couple thousand.

We enter a boulder fields. The chef at the burger place did everything he could to
dissuade us from taking this rout, claiming the trail was infinitely easier. However,
our exploratory nature got the better of us. And besides, we were told by other
hikers that it's worth the view and the boulders aren't bad if they are dry. The real
boulders, however, wont be passed for another few days.

Seals litter the rocks like sacks of potatoes.

A small cascade falls from Bonilla Creek.

The sandstone shelf looks like the ploughed garden of mermaids, but the ridges are only caused by the waives carving around clumps of algae.

This bald eagle was sitting far out at low tide, probably scavenging for decomposing gifts.

We have seen a couple eagles chasing oyster catchers and ducks but, although they came very close, there were no captures.

We are often torn between walking on the slick, algae-covered shelf, and the sand. For me, the shelf wins out. Sand is usually to soft and drains one's energy.

Cormorants look like little trees growing on islands. But that rock will be submerged at high tide.

Cormorants. Gotta love 'em.

Muscles grow wherever they can find a foothold. In this case, a pit in the limestone.

Coraline algae gives the tide pools a salmon-pink colour.

Myself.

Dad crosses a makeshift bridge to avoid the use of the cable car over the Walbran.

Walbran Creek will be our home for the night. The water of the river looked so clear and cool, and we were so hot and sweaty. But we didn't have any swimwear. When the other hikers started going in with only their underwear, we followed suit. Stick with the cultural norms, I suppose.

The West Coast Trail - Part III: Tsusiat Falls to Cribs Creek

A new day starts foggy and damp, as always. Usually we have two choices: hike on a deteriorating trail on top of those cliffs or along the beach under them, tides permitting. We choose the beach when we can.

There are often a couple different kinds of rock overlaying each other on these cliffs.

There were lots of gray whales close to the beach along the trail.

The hole in the wall is drawing closer.

The Hole in the Wall is much larger in person.

The sandstone shelves can be slick (sense the foreshadowing?).

This is a surge channel. Wouldn't want to fall in there (Sense more foreshadowing?).

Seals have a good life. They just eat and relax and eat and relax and eat and relax and get eaten by a killer whale. Simple life.

Good by to the Hole in the Wall.

Okay. So sometimes seals actually spend time satisfying their curiosity in between eating and relaxing. These ones are having a conversation like,
"You say they walk the beach voluntarily?"
"Ya, dude."
"Why don't they swim?"
"Same reason they do it wearing a giant bag on their back."
"Why is that?"
"I guess their insane."
"Oh, ya. That makes sense, there."

These are sea palms. They are a kind of kelp that grows on rocks in pounding surf. When a wave hits them they face-plant on the rocks and rattle there until the wave recedes. Then they spring back up like, "boinnngggg!"

Sometimes we have to backtrack to find the trail into the forest. Despite the warnings of other hikers that it was a dead end, we just had to go down and look around for ourselves. We should have listened. Exploring is better saved for times when you aren't carrying 40 extra pounds on your back.

Sometimes the trail runs unnervingly close to the cliff ledge.

"Enough with the photos already!"

This, our third day, is when the boardwalk started looking even more rough.

This is the beautiful Rana aurora. My favorite ranid.

This looks like a really evil roller coaster ride more than a hiking trail.

Hmn. That looks like good hiking. Why are we up here on this nasty boardwalk?

An old cabin by the seaside in gif form.

These pretty little white bells belong to Moneses uniflora, a single-flowered evergreen perennial.

I always get that gloating grin whenever I catch a snake. This one puffed up a little bit like he might think of biting me but, as usual, it was just a bluff. I released him unharmed.

Some of the coastal Thamnophis sirtalis have those blushing red cheeks.

There were several juvenile garter snakes on the trailside and I managed to capture a few of them.

He's soooo cute!

Lots of bridges.

Carmanah Creek.

Walking the sandstone shelf is fairly enjoyable, but those patches of green algae are slick as "bug snot," as my dad likes to say.

These slanted shelves of limestone must tell an epic geological story of shifting plates and tectonic catastrophe!

Cormorants are built for this kind of weather.

Whale bones! There must be a carcass around.

I confess! I fooled around with this one in photo shop to give the illusion it is in the evening. Looks nice, eh?

Another wrong turn took us to this cliff. We had two choices: climb a rope up a steeper part of the cliff, or try to climb down this slipper slope above the sea with our 40-pound packs trying to drag us down. Dad thought we might be able to do the rope, provided we took our packs off and pulled them up tied to the end of the rope, but I opted out. Neither sounded so hot, so we decided to go back.

These immense bones probably belong to a young grey whale. There were pools of white blubber underneath the carcass and ravens waited near by for another feed.

The sunset at Cribs Creek was beautiful, but it was surprisingly difficult to get a good picture. There were a lot of people who took this opportunity to walk into the sunset.