I only had 3 km to hike and my shuttle to Port Hardy wasn't due until 1:00-2:00 PM, so I stayed in my tent as long as I could, hoping for a break in the rain. I had no such luck, so when 10:30 rolled by, I tried to do the fastest tent tear down of my life. It was made difficult by the fact that the tent pad and surrounding boardwalks were all soaking wet and extremely slippery. I got my tent put away in record time and departed around 11:00.
I did in fact survive the North Coast Trail |
The shuttle arrived early, and the other hikers who were taking it weren't far behind, so we got to leave the parking lot much sooner than I had expected. The shuttle driver was really friendly and knowledgeable of the area. He stopped at the famous "Be Prepared for the Unexpected sign" and the shoe tree. Both were kind of funny attractions.
This guy clearly wasn't prepared |
The shoe tree |
We stopped in Holberg, a tiny community west of Port Hardy. We went to the Scarlet Ibis Pub where I had one of the most satisfying meals of my life. After 6 days in the bush with no hot food at all (yes I hike without a stove), having a filling, hot meal was mind-blowing. I was impressed that such a small village could have such a good restaurant in it. It was one of the highlights of the whole trip for me.
Back in Port Hardy, I checked into the North Coast Trail Backpackers Hostel again. The people there were nice enough to set up an area for me and another hiker to dry our tents. This was really helpful for me, since it meant I could start the Juan de Fuca Trail with a dry tent.
I bought my bus ticket for the next day, had a filling dinner at Captain Hardy's, and went to bed much later than I had in a while (7:00 PM is my hiking bedtime). I had finished the NCT and could look forward to starting the Juan de Fuca Trail in a couple of days.
Maybe I didn't survive the North Coast Trail |
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