Once we were parked and set up at Cluxewe, we drove to the Port Hardy Visitor Center to obtain more information about the Cape Scott Trail. The staff said that it usually takes 3 hours from the highway to make it to the trailhead and the last 60+ km is on an active logging road. They also said to prepare for wet and muddy conditions.
Day 1 – Cape Scott Parking Lot/Trailhead to Nissen Bight 15km
We left Port McNeill shortly after 7am to make sure we arrive at Nissen Bight with enough light to set up camp. Since Jeff has a truck, the drive on the logging road was not an issue, we arrived at the trailhead at 8:30am – in half the estimated time.
Since it was raining, we had our rainpants on and started the long trek in.
Corduroy
Boardwalk
Mud pit
Marcus started whining around the 7km mark and I encouraged him to keep on going because we don’t want to spend a night in the forest with all the mosquitoes – we need to get to the beach. We ran into Marcus’s Scout leaders on the trail who were completing the North Coast Trail around the same time. The encounter boosted his mood as they were impressed to see the kids with full packs on and hiking with us.
spider web
Balance and teamwork to cross the mud river
6.5 hours later we made it to Nissen Bight! Yay! We were so tired. When we got to the beach, there was a lady that was sitting on a log, all by herself and looked very tired. She just completed the North Coast Trail and was doing nothing but ranting about her banged up bruised legs, her weary body etc. She would rant again when someone new came along… (Hate to say it – she essentially killed any potential for me to take on the North Coast Trail.)
We found a nice spot on the beach to set up camp. The water was unfortunately a 40min walk away – Jeff made the water trip twice as we were too knackered to be useful. The water source is a little stream that eventually flows into the ocean. Unfortunately the colour of the water is like ice tea and it smells like… wet dog, stinky seaweed, I don’t know, it was terrible!
Water source at Nissen Bight. Yucky
That evening, we gathered driftwood and had a campfire to end our first successful day on the trail.
Our camp on the beach at Nissen Bight
Nissen Bight
Day 2 – Nissen Bight to Nels Bight, 6.64km
The next morning, we woke up to quite a bit of condensation in the tent – we weren’t too pleased with how the new tent performed – but then again we had 4 people in a 3-person tent and our sleeping bags were touching the tent wall which probably did not help. We packed up and hiked to Nels Bight where we stayed for the next 2 nights. This was a fairly short hike, but the kids and I felt real tired hiking out of Nissen Bight. We met 2 Park Rangers along the trail to Nels and they were impressed to see kids. They were surprised to learn how young Marcus is and said 7 years old is the unofficial record with a full pack. When we arrived at Nels Bight, we were in awe – at how much more beach there is here at Nels Bight when compared to Nissen. Good news, the water source was much closer at Nels, bad news, there wasn’t any improvement in the quality.
Getting water. The log bridge was washed out laterthat night because of the high tide
Nels Bight
That afternoon, we explored one end of the beach and we saw a lot of seaweed as the tide was quite low. We found a buoy swing which the kids had a great time on. They also built their own little hammock with drift wood and part of a cargo net.
Buoy Swing
Hammock made with marine debris and drift wood
seaweed at low tide,
After dinner, we walked along the other end of the beach and visited the Ranger Cabin. It is a nice cabin that is also the emergency shelter during the off season. We met one of the rangers and he gave us a quick tour. The ranger cabin has propane power and their drinking water is from their rain barrel – ya, not the stinky water we had to drink!
Ranger Cabin
Day 3 – Cape Scott Lighthouse Hike, 12.4km
It wasn’t a surprise to wake up again with more condensation in the tent plus the overnight rain made it worse. We moved to another site that had a tarp. As soon as we finished moving, the thunderstorm started – fortunately it was over in 15mins and we were able to prepare breakfast.
Our tent under a tarp that was left behind by previous campers
Camp kitchen
At 9am we set off for the Lighthouse. The weather had cleared up nicely and it turned out to be beautiful sunny day. Whenever there is sunshine in Cape Scott, it is a good day as it tends to have more rain and fog than anything else as it is a temperate rainforest.
We followed the trail to Guise Bay but made a wrong turn and headed towards the other end of the sandy beach – but it was a good wrong turn that led us to a beautiful corner of this beach.
Guise Bay
Anyone need a wheel? Washed up from that last major tsunami in Japan
Experiment Bight
We hiked along the beaches at Experiment Bight and Guise Bay. It’s so wild and beautiful. Looking at photographs, one might think of a tropical beach but then you realize, hey, there aren’t any coconut trees.
Experiment Bight
Guise Bay
Trail towards the lighthouse
When we arrived at the Lighthouse, there was no one in sight. We walked around and then sat down to have our lunch. The Lighthouse keeper finally made an appearance to welcome us. He showed Jeff where to get drinking water. Since it was clear and clean drinking water, we drank as much as we could before heading back to camp. You can imagine the number of unofficial stops we made along the way.
Cape Scott Lighthouse
Diesel powered engine room
Lighthouse Keeper’s Home
Sea stacks barely visible through the fog
On our way back, we took a slight detour to see the sea stacks by the lighthouse and Jeff saw an otter by the beach. We couldn’t see much as it was foggy – back onto the main trail we go.
When we arrived back at camp, we were hot and sticky. Some of you can relate – 3 days no shower is not a very nice feeling. We all stripped down to our underwear and jumped into the ocean to wash up. It was kind of crazy trying to clean up with all that seaweed in the water but we managed. (I found seaweed on my body 2 days later….). We did not bother changing into dry clothes, we let the Sun dry us..
Lay-about
That evening we went for a stroll along the beach and ran into the Park Rangers who were making sure that everyone had their backcountry camping permit. While chatting away, one of the rangers spotted a water spout way off in the distance. There was a whale out there.
Day 4 – Nels Bight to San Josef Bay, 18.4km
The day that I dreaded arrived – Both Jeff and I had concerns about the kids making this long hike out. We decided that we will try our best and a worst case scenario would be a night in the mosquito infested Eric Lake campsite.
The weather was on our side – we woke up to a clear morning and had a hearty breakfast before setting out.
In our many hikes, we learned that Jeff cannot lead on the trail because the rest of us will fall behind. I will have to lead and the children follow closely, just like mama duck and her ducklings. I was able to set a good pace for everyone (but I’m sure Jeff thought it was a tad slow). It was fantastic weather heading out as the sun was shinning, the boardwalk was dry, the mud pits had more or less dried up and everyone was in good spirits.
After about the 11km mark, the kids started to fade. Marcus was really struggling and then he cried. It broke my heart… I encouraged him and told him that mommy also cried on a trail before and it’s quite ok to feel that way but he needs to continue, one step at a time. I gave him another granola bar and we talked about cartoons, school, friends etc to take his mind off how tired he was.
We made it to Eric Lake and Jeff prepared a quick lunch while we were all being eaten alive by mosquitoes. We (adults) were reluctant to stop but we had to – the kids needed to rest. After lunch everyone had more energy for a few more kilometers but the last couple were really tough. I had to hold Marcus’s hand as we hiked and we talked about silly things to take his mind off how tired he was – we had imaginary conversations with Santa Claus, he wanted Santa to give him Rudolph’s red nose so he can use it as a warming lamp to keep the chicks warm. Ya, he was tired alright.
At 3pm, we finally arrived at San Josef – 7 gruelling hours. We were all so tired and just had to sit on the beach and rest. I should mention that whenever I say “we were tired”, it refers to everyone except Jeff – he always has more stamina and strength to keep on going. Where does that man get it from??
Once rested, we found a nice little camping spot and gathered some drift wood for a campfire.
San Josef Bay
Throughout the day we saw more backpackers coming in – you can tell if they were coming in from either Nels or Nissen Bight by how stiff they looked. Anyone with a bounce in their step came from the parking lot which is an easy walk under an hour. There were also many people who come to San Josef Bay for the day – couples, families with children and some even pushing a stroller on the sand! Seeing day visitors was strange – because we hiked for days to enjoy these remote places but then you see families and couples strolling on the beach which in some ways seem to trivialize our effort.
Dinner that night was some Uncle Ben’s rice product – it was our emergency “just-in-case” meal.. Well, I wasn’t too sure we were camping the full 4 nights so we didn’t put too much thought into planning a 4th dinner… Despite it being Uncle Ben’s, the kids and I quite enjoyed it even though it wasn’t #1 quality Thai Jasmine rice.. haha!
After dinner, the tide had gone down and it meant that we could walk to the 2nd beach to get drinking water. We walked along the sandy beach past sea stacks and sea caves.
Towards 2nd Beach, San Josef Bay
Going to get our water
Sea caves
sea stacks
The last campfire on the beach was really nice. It was our time to reflect on this backpacking trip and we were glad that the kids enjoyed it even though it challenging at times. That night we slept with the sweet smell of the campfire waffling into our tent…
Day 5 – Final hike out – San Josef Bay to Cape Scott parking lot, only 2.6km
We woke up to another dry morning but the skies were kind of dark – perhaps it was going to rain soon. As it was a short hike, I mean short walk to the parking lot, we decided to pack up and skip breakfast as we did not want to be packing up in the rain. The mosquitoes seemed to be out too, not something we expected on the beach but the mosquitoes were determined to leave their marks on us…
After we have packed our gear we made the final hike out.. When we saw the clearing ahead we knew we were close – finally. Cape Scott Trail, mission accomplished.
Final Thoughts
We hiked about 55km for this backpacking trip. Jeff and I are incredibly proud of the kids. Many backpackers on the trail have been so impressed seeing young kids on the trail with a full pack. I think we must have had at least a handful of people talk to us about it. I shared with Jeff many times that this backpacking trip has been surreal for me – I can’t believe we hiked to these beautiful remote places and I can’t believe that my body did not give up on me. I am so happy that I am able to share this unbelievable adventure with Jeff and the kids. On the walk back to the parking lot, I mentioned to the kids not to ever forget this experience – despite being so tired, their determination and focus helped them complete the hike and this determination and focus will serve them well in life.
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