West Coast Trail Slide Show

[Tha Wookie]

Wanted to let everyone in the area know about our upcoming slide show about our walk along the entire West Coast Trail (Pacific Tideline) that we did this summer. There will be awesome music also, courtesy of Joel Williams.

It will be a different version from the upcoming AHS SE trails conference presentation, so I hope to see some folks at both.


April 16th, 6:30pm

Athens, GA

Nuci's Space

$3 entry donation goes to Trekking for Children 501(c)3 fundrasier, Welcome Home.

Hope to see some of you there. I know there will be many past and upcoming thru's and trail lovers.

For more info, go to www.thawookie.com

Love and light, Wookie

[Tha Wookie]

Just a reminder that the WCT trail presentation will take place this weekend in Athens. I hope to see you there.

take care

Wookie

[DMA, 2000]

How did you deal with things like Long Beach/LA Harbor and Vandenberg?

[Tha Wookie]

DMA,


At the La Harbor/LB we had walked around the steep coastline of Palos Verdes, but were forced inland about a quater miles while we walked the most paved segment of the WCT at the LA Harbor. There was simply no other route to walk across. It wasn't as bad as we thought, but we got a hotel room right at dark, in the most shady hotel I've ever been in.

That part was here: http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=81961

All access to the VAFB was restricted to civilians, and most of of it was closed to military personel as well, becuase of the endangered wester least tern breeding season. So we had to walk through the hot inland route, around the base, down miles of highway through little towns. It was the furthest inland route we took on the coast. Not the most pleasant segment. On night we slept right on the side of the highway in sagebrush. The night before we had been in "Paridise".

http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=81296

It was really an awesom ehike, the whole way. A totally different experience than inland hiking. The most fun hike I've ever had.

[jags]

I just did the Canadian West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island and I found it tougher than expected.
I'll have to cut down on packweight and body weight- if I'm ever going to do the AT.

Great scenery but tough hiking.
http://www.bluepeak.net/canada/wct/index.html

Jags

[MOWGLI]

I just did the Canadian West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island and I found it tougher than expected.
I'll have to cut down on packweight and body weight- if I'm ever going to do the AT.

Great scenery but tough hiking.
http://www.bluepeak.net/canada/wct/index.html

Jags

That was one amazing slideshow! Makes me want to drop everything and head to BC to hike that trail! Seriously! I spent time in BC in 95 - off Tofino on an Island with David Brower and a bunch of other activists - along with my wife. It was one of the best weeks of my life. The only thing that could have improved the trip was seeing some Orcas.

[jackiebolen]

I'm doing the WCT in early September...I have a trailjournal at: www.trailjournals.com/jackie if you want to check it out. I have three early prep. entries there and will be posting more when my plans become finalized. Looking forward to it a lot! How could I not do it now that I live in Vancouver?

[Footslogger]

Great scenery but tough hiking.
http://www.bluepeak.net/canada/wct/index.html

Jags

==========================
Jags ...thanks for sharing that slide show. We might consider adding that trail to our 2006 list. Intro section says to allow 6 - 8 days ?? Is that accurate. With all that scenery and variety of terrain/trail/obstacles I would want to allow more time.

'Slogger
AT 2003

[Tha Wookie]

Jags, well done! I like the fisheye effect... very cool

For those who can't make it up to Canada, The American West Coast Trail offers a very similar section on the Olympic Peninsula in the National Park's Coastal Strip. Really amazing. I have not done the Canadian WCT, but I hear it is very tough, like Jags mentioned. The above stretch is also very tough, and so are other stretches along the 1,800 mile length of the American Portion. The Lost Coast is like southern Maine, not exagerating. Some of the river crossings can very extremely hairy....

Onward, tideblazers!

By the way, looks like I might be showing the AWCT slide show at ALDHA. Look for an update at www.thawookie.com

[jags]

[QUOTE=Tha Wookie]Jags, well done! I like the fisheye effect... very cool

For those who can't make it up to Canada, The American West Coast Trail offers a very similar section on the Olympic Peninsula in the National Park's Coastal Strip. Really amazing. I have not done the Canadian WCT, but I hear it is very tough, like Jags mentioned. The above stretch is also very tough, and so are other stretches along the 1,800 mile length of the American Portion. The Lost Coast is like southern Maine, not exagerating. Some of the river crossings can very extremely hairy....

Onward, tideblazers!

By the way, looks like I might be showing the AWCT slide show at ALDHA. Look for an update at www.thawookie.com[/QUOTE]

Sorry to have given the wrong impression, guys - the photos were not mine but came from a website on the WCT.
I didn't take a camera because mine is a rather heavy Minolta SLR and I didn't take my wife up on her offer of her point'n'shoot. I should have, as the scenery and weather was great for two days of beach-whacking.
I wasn't feeling too much like photography while beating my way through the bogs and rock in the first few days.
I saw some grey whales blowing spray offshore but other than that, no sign of large wiildlife; although I heard there was a visit from a bear at Michigan Creek, one day behind me.

Have a look at some of the other photo galleries at this link, some good, some poor but most show off the beaches and not the tougher parts.
http://www.i-needtoknow.com/wct/photos.html

Jags

[Just Jeff]

Wookie,

I went for a short hike around Monterey Bay today...more like rock scrambling, actually. Then we drove down 17 Mile Drive. Everywhere the trail intersected the road, I imagined how nice it'll be to hike the whole stretch and thought about you guys hiking that area (and sneaking across Pebble Beach golf course). Out of the blue, my wife says in a British accent, "Pardon me, are you Tha Wookie?"

Remember all of the ground squirrels? They're not shy at all...I guess because of all the folks ignoring the "Don't feed the wildlife" signs. And the sea anemones so close you can touch them and watch them close up?

I can't imagine hiking the whole coast like you did! I'll have to make do with this area for now...should be plenty to explore, though.

When you did the Monterey area, where did you camp? Stealth on the beach?

[Tha Wookie]

Wookie,

I went for a short hike around Monterey Bay today...more like rock scrambling, actually. Then we drove down 17 Mile Drive. Everywhere the trail intersected the road, I imagined how nice it'll be to hike the whole stretch and thought about you guys hiking that area (and sneaking across Pebble Beach golf course). Out of the blue, my wife says in a British accent, "Pardon me, are you Tha Wookie?"

Remember all of the ground squirrels? They're not shy at all...I guess because of all the folks ignoring the "Don't feed the wildlife" signs. And the sea anemones so close you can touch them and watch them close up?

I can't imagine hiking the whole coast like you did! I'll have to make do with this area for now...should be plenty to explore, though.

When you did the Monterey area, where did you camp? Stealth on the beach?

We stayed in a house in Santa Cruz... then hiked to a stealth site in a monterey pine stand, right in a populated area just before the city limits. We were a bit worried about being discovered, until a group of college kids camped right in front of us and proceeded to drink their sandy butts off. In the morning, we collected their beer cans and threw them in a pile right in the middle of them sprawled out everywhere. Two were still awake... they just stared at like like we had crawled out of the ocean!

that's funny what your wife said. that means she has to buy you lunch. Then, take the front nine, hiker trash style!