Juan de Fuca Marine Trail - June 2009

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Day 2 - China Beach to Bear Beach

June 9/09 (Tuesday)


We woke up in the misty dawn, the sun just touching the tips of the trees making them glow amber, the crows attempting to wake the rest of the forest up. It was around 5:30, and brisk! No sense delaying, we quickly had breakfast and broke camp. Parking the car in the visitors lot just past 7, we began getting our packs ready for the day's journey. A quick self portrait of ourselves and we were off!

Self Portrait 1       Self Portrait 2       See you in 5 days, car!

The drawback to parking in the visitors lot is you still need to hike 2 kilometers to the actual trailhead, this proved a good time to get the packs adjusted properly. Already we could feel the difference between 2006 and now, less bounce to the packs, less digging in. The morning sun was shining full on us now, and the road sides were filled with flowers.

Morning Shadows on the highway

We had the small camera with us this time, and it would always be slung from one of our chest straps. We wanted to get pictures of each sign post on the trail, each map, along with the scenic shots. Our first would be the map at the trailhead, which we reached at 8:08am. Sure enough, the disabled car was still here. A quick mental check to see if we actually locked our car up, and we were off onto the trail proper!

China Beach Trailhead Map

Each kilometer of the trail is marked by a post with the kilometer number on it. These are both a blessing and a curse depending on how well the day's going for you, our first one today would appear just under 20 minutes into the hike. While this is an easy section of trail, we were both feeling pretty good about our fitness here.

Morning light in the forest       Log bridge before Mystic Beach

Near the 2 km mark you come upon Mystic Beach, which was fully in shade when we got there this time. The tide was out, so we explored along it for a while, as it has a small waterfall and small sea caves along with the usual interesting tidal pools. While exploring, we met a man from Victoria who had been dropped off by the JDF Trail Bus just before we had started this morning. He was on his way through to the end as well. Unfortunately I don't think we actually asked his name, so I'll call him Victoria Guy, I suppose.

Approaching Mystic Beach       Tide's out!       Kathy happy to explore       The view up Mystic Beach       Tide pool       Starfish!

By 9:30 we figured we should head back to the trail and get a move on.

Mystic Beach Exit Map

Over the clear creeks, through the fern gullies and up the hills we'd hike. Very little mud so far, though it had rained recently, the worst bits we encountered were sections where the winter storms had washed out a bridge or caused a slope failure. BC Parks had done a good job of fixing this up before the main hiking season though, and in fact they had an unofficial but up to date website with trail conditions at JDF Trail.com

In 2006 we had come in the late season and the salal bushes were massively overgrown and full of berries. In the early season of 2009, they were still somewhat flattened from the snow over winter, but new shoots were evident everywhere. These bushes grow so fast! On the wildlife front we saw a seal swimming in the ocean below us but that's about it. Pictures from this leg of the hike below:

Looking out over the ocean      Mike at Pat Philip Creek      Kathy at Pat Philip Creek      Kathy at (get) Bent Creek      Bridge and forest      Seal in mid upper right      Salal archway      Ocean view      Mike in the sun      Log steps      Kathy on more log steps

We were still clocking about a kilometer every 15 - 20 minutes and so by 11:30am we had reached the east end of Bear Beach, some 11 kilometers from the car. Last time we had camped very close to this entrance, not realizing just how long the beach was, and had to hike nearly 3 kilometers along the rocky shore the next morning. Today, we had plenty of time to spare, so would camp at the far west end instead. On our way across, we caught up to Victoria Guy who warned us that he had seen a bear just off the beach near where we were, so we gave that area a wide berth. No bear sightings for us yet!

Bear Beach East map       Waterfall near east end of beach       Kathy halfway across the beach

The east end of Bear Beach is peppered with some pretty nice campsites, particularly the one we had stayed in last time. The west end has very few, it's mostly all exposed camping above the high tide line right on the rocky beach. Fine for good weather, but would be unpleasant in a downpour. If you are a solo hiker with a bivy sack instead of a tent, however, ala Victoria Guy, you will find many little spots you can take advantage of in the trees and salal just off the beach. We had our tent setup by just before 1pm. Time for a little relaxing! Though the lazing around in the tent was amazing, we had the rain fly off and could watch the tide come in from the comfort of the sleeping pads, it made me exceedingly tired. Nothing a little hot dinner wouldn't cure!

Bear Beach West map       Tent setup, relax time?       Our view       Kathy cooling her feet off       Rock on a pillar       View from inside the tent       Strange mollusk thing we found on the beach

As the sun was starting to set, after our early dinner (a Moroccan curry, I believe?), my thinking cap was on. You see, this wasn't just a regular backpacking trip for me, this was where I was planning to propose to Kathy. I'd had this planned for months now, the ring was tucked away in a hidden pocket of my pack and this first evening on the trail had that magic quality to it. We were walking over to a log on the beach, planning to sit and gaze into the ocean. I told Kathy I wanted to get the camera, "Go ahead, I'll catch up". Grabbed the camera, grabbed the ring and then noticed just how bulky the box looked in my pocket. Eek, would she see it? Covering it as best as I could I headed over to the log and climbed up.

The log in sun at left

Timing would be everything, the sun was setting and bathing us in amber light, a cool breeze blowing in off the ocean and washing away some of the day's aches. Just as I was getting up my nerve, two hikers came out of the upcoming trailhead and stopped near us.

Shoo! Shoo!

They were asking about places to camp and looked absolutely beat and haggard. I advised there were good sites further down the beach, not right here. Two more hikers came off the trail and joined them...then two more. It was a pack of six suddenly and they were all congregating around the log we had chosen to sit on, pointing at possible spots to setup camp beside our tent. Disaster! The moment was lost and we walked back to the tent, somehow I managed to get the ring back into my pack without Kathy seeing. We turned in just past 8 again, it'd be another early morning with another 13 or so kilometers to our next site.

Tomorrow better be because I didn't want to make these attempts each night!

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