- Date Completed: Wednesday 2018 July 18
- Distance: Vancouver to Gordon River
- Time: Left at 4:10am; Arrived at 12:30pm
- Elevation Gain: up down swervy
- West Coast Trail KM’s: Getting to KM 75
- Map of the Route & GPS data: No; we drove; However google map directions:
- Best Description of the Day: Eat Up, Relax, Finish Packing, Last Epic Dinner
I’m a bit old school with tracking our adventures in my Moleskin Notebook.
Day 0: Vancouver to Gordon River – 2018 July 18
4:10 (yes it exists in the am) Alarm
Roll out of bed. Played with our dog Jack. Had some coffee, etc. Best friend comes over to stay with dog for the duration of our hike. Out the door and on the road by 5:00. We made our way from Downtown Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay for the 6:30am ferry. Both vehicles had reservations, so arriving within the window paid off. Also, the first ferry of the day is really busy. Note – we opted fro 2 cars, as the Defender is not the roomiest. 5 people, 2 cars.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND MAKING RESERVATIONS WITH BC FERRIES.
Boarded the ferry and reality of our trip was sinking in.
8:24 Docked in Nanaimo.
We departed the ferry with our vehicles. First stop Gas Station to fill up. Then off on Highway 1 we went. We arrived at Lake Cowichan at 9:30 where we opted for a proper breakfast and a chance to pick up any last minute items (e.g. food for tonight at the Airbnb). IF YOU ARE DRIVING, THIS IS THE LAST STOP TO GET ANY ESSENTIALS, FOOD, BEVERAGES AND CASH. There are no ATM’s in Gordon River that we were aware of.
Some food later and a pit stop at the grocery store, we were on the road at 10:42. And on the road for a full blast of road weaving across the island we went. Then onto a logging road to get to Port Renfrew.
11:31 After needing a much needed break, and realizing that we are well ahead of schedule. We stopped at a random river crossing where we parked the vehicles and enjoyed a brief time in the sun and a beverage. This started our teams fascination with racing man-made boats.
12:12 Continued on to our destination.
12:30 we arrived at Parks Canada West Coast Trail Registration within Gordon River. It took a bit for us to figure out what building it was. See image below for your own reference. The check in site is at the Pacheedaht Campground just down the road from Butch’s Wharf (Ferry to the trail head on Day 1).
We checked in, learned that you need to purchase a National Park Pass separately from the $192 WCT fees. #lessonlearned. Orientations were not until 14:00, so we opted to head over to our Airbnb and check in early as we had some time to spare.
Airbnb Check-in Later. Back to the WCT Gordon River location for the orientation. [as mentioned on the previous page, orientations are held at 10am/ 10:00 and 2pm/ 14:00 daily.
The orientations are really helpful to let you know the upcoming conditions, what to do in certain scenarios, and how to deal with any madness mother nature may impose. Listen and absorb the information. The Park Rangers are a breadth of knowledge of this area.
Once we finished up the orientation, we headed back to our Airbnb to finish packing our bags, enjoy some drinks, and eat an EPIC meal. Some people opt to camp at the trail head before setting off the next day. It comes down to your choice and what your budget allows. For our group, we wanted to enjoy a relaxing night before heading off.
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