Travis does dishes... only his dishes.

Mike looks confident as he and I load into the first car.

The cable car is a blast! We have to climb up onto a small tower that suspends the cable car 50 feet in the air over the river. Then, one person holds the car while two others get in, stuffing their packs in the space on the floor between them. Have you ever seen those little cans of oysters and noticed how they pack those babies in there? Well, this is very similar and, come to think of it, most of us even smell a little bit like oysters after our day of hard work yesterday! Anyhow, when the car is all packed up and ready to go, the spotter lets go of the cable. The weight and steadily building momentum of the packed car sends us soaring about three-quarters of the way across the water, leaving us hanging in the air over the river! We break into a little sweat pulling ourselves across the remainder of the way.

Mike and I enjoy the ride!

Tsusiat Falls.

Hole in the Wall.

We end up arriving in plenty of time at 3:30pm , but are dead tired. We don’t take off our packs gently like normal; we drop them like rocks and plop down on the ground in a heap! After about twenty minutes, Carl Edgar Jr. arrives to ferry us across the Narrows and we take the opportunity to buy his last two chocolate bars with a round of Coke - he’s got quite a business going on the side! We decide to break for our long overdue lunch right on the dock, even though it’s already 4:30pm and we’ve still got 10km to go to reach our campsite - not to mention fresh water.

Negotiating with Carl Edgar Jr.

Unloading after our successul crossing.

Endless boardwalks...

Continuing on, we encounter some huge sections of boardwalk. The entire trail is full of these, but there are more than usual here and, despite them being rickety and slick, we cautiously make some good time. Arriving at the Cheewhat River , or “ River of Urine ,” it becomes overly obvious why the water in this section is no good. Hopefully it’s mostly because of the color and not the taste! Not surprisingly, no one volunteers to find out.

With still another 5km of trail to go, we are exhausted. We decide to make camp around Dare Point which is only a few minutes away; we think we have enough water to last the night.

Mike has proven his determination through this day. We could tell his knee was still hurting, but with the help of a walking stick he kept up through a gruelling pace. I am glad and now hopeful that he will be able to go on. The entire team is important, but it was years ago that he and I started this whole thing together -I’d be absolutely crushed if we didn’t cross the finish line together.

I don’t know how Sean managed to carry the heavy load of the tent through this, our longest day yet, but he did a heck of a job! Although we haven’t talked about it, I think many of us have made the completion of this trail more than just a trip: it’s a personal challenge, for our own reasons. I think that Sean is on his way to a great victory.

Camp, Day 3.

  Rice Crust from the Bottom of the Pot: A Journey Across South East Asia  

If you've been there, this book will bring back some vivid memories.

If you're planning to go, it will give you a flavor for what is to come.

If you're one that is content to sit back in a chair and just read about it, 

this book will take you there.

Although in creating this site I have tried to make the information as accurate as possible, it is not meant to be a guide, and I accept no responsibility for any loss, injury, or inconvenience sustained by anyone using the information.

 Backpacking the West Coast Trail

 © 2005 Parry Loeffler