In Aug 2016 I took a trip to Vancouver Island. I tramped the Northern Half of the West Coast Trail. Snappily called the WCT. Walking from Nitinat Narrows to Pachena Beach over the course of 3 days. It was an unsupported walk meaning I carried camping kit / food and water. As well as my photography equipment.
The WCT follows the coastline of the Pacific Rim National Park. Sometimes in the rainforest and sometimes walking along the beach. The Park is home to Bears, Wolves and Cougars. A large part of the briefing for the walk and a large part of the conversation with other hikers was about the wildlife. What had you seen and where? 'Bears were on everyones minds.
Personal supplies for the trail (or anything that may attract a bear needed to be stored in bear boxes, or strung up 2.5 - 3m off the ground and a good distance away from tents.
When a place is described as a rainforest there's a pretty good chance of wet weather. A lot of the time I got variations of 'in between' weather, neither foul nor fair. Generally it was overcast and a lot of the time there was a sea mist seeping in from the beaches and through the forest. When it did rain, it did so with whole hearted gusto, with big thick raindrops that drenched everything very quickly. If it wasn't actually raining on me, then I was getting damp from secondary contact with the wet. Brushing past wet leaves, climbing wet ladders, being enveloped in sea mist and sea spray were just some of the additional ways of staying wet. Still I carried several dry bags as protection for all my kit including extra protection for camera stuff.
Ignoring the strong potential for seeing wildlife I was geared up for landscape photography. For those who like to know I took a dlsr, 18mm and 35mm prime lens, two filters ( polarising / 10 stop ND) and a tripod. I didn't use the polariser ( blue skies were in short supply for this trip). Wheras the ND filter was quite well used.
The notable points of interest on the first day were the 'hole in the wall' (distantly visible on the horizon in the first image). And the Tsusiat Falls (I'll let you work out which one that is).
