Weather

Weather for Port Renfrew

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/cabc0230

Two weeks to go.

Misc Gear

For me, at least - the feeling that "we're actually going to do this" is just now setting in. With that in mind, I actually looked at all the links, etc that were discussed below. I also found a few others that I thought were interesting:

http://www.sentai.com/mudhounds/intro.htm (a great trip recap - I didn't realize the trail could be so crowded)

http://legrandbleu.swissworld.com/frameset_wcte.html (another recap - not as lengthy)

http://www.i-needtoknow.com/pop/gear.html (a very thorough gear list)

After reading these thoroughly, I've determined I'm going to purchase gaiters and a backpack cover (to double as a waterproof sack) - but skip the poles (which I've never liked hiking with). Any other "must haves" that people are considering?

Food and water

Food

We are each responsible for our own breakfast, lunch, and trail snacks.  

{My staples will include a french press mug for fresh coffee; cinnamon/nuts/oatmeal sealed, cooked, and served in individual seal-a-meal bags; instant soup/cheese/crackers for lunch; dried fruit and energy bars for the trail.}

I see us using 2-3 stoves to boil enough water for all our needs.  We'll need only a few pots and pans.

For our dinners together, Graham has point ( with my lapdog assistance)  to outline proposed dinner menus.  Graham will have more to say about this.  The intention is to package up meals that could be easily prepared  with minimum of cleanup. These are mostly dried or dehydrated ingredients, augmented with some fresh and some spices.  Prep should mostly involve heating food packages in boiling water or stirring boiled water into bags of ingredients.  

  

Please respond to this post sharing any dinner desires as well as diet limitations.

Water

Parks Service recommends that we treat all drinking water.  

1) Bob has volunteered his new water treatment gizmo that looks like a ball point pen.  It can treat a liter at a time in about a minute.  Good for about 500 liters before re-charging. 

2) Supplement that with standard iodine tablets.

3) If necessary, we could boil additional water at dinnertime.

Food prep and cleanup duty will rotate among teams. Each evening, 2 men will be responsible for setting up cook area, preparing and serving dinner.  2 different men will be responsible for cleanup and hanging food/etc. on bear line, as well as retrieving it from the bear line the following morning.   

How's your training?

Last Saturday I hiked Mt. Si, an hour outside Seattle and the beginning of the Cascade Range.  It is a good training hike, basically 4 miles of switchbacks up through Douglas firs and return 4 miles back down.  Took me about 2 1/2 hours up and 2 hours down, with just a 15 pound pack.  Time was less important to me than avoiding any re-injuries and paying attention to my stride and foot placements.    No injuries, but sore quads and calves.  

What I appreciate about our parks departments is how  they must have brought in a lot of earth-moving equipment, etc.,  to make this hike steeper and more difficult than the last time I hiked it. 

My weight has plateaued at about 190 ( down from 210) and I intend to lose at least another 5 pounds in the spirit of ultralight camping.     Duke        

Sun, Moon & Tides

Here's  some data to anticipate and plan our hike:

The sun rises a little before 6AM and sets a little after 9PM throughout our hike.

The moon will be in 3rd Q for our trip.  Beginning July 24th, the moon rises at 11:30 PM and sets 15 hours later, about 2:30 PM.  The moon rises about 75 minutes later each subsequent night.  On July 31, the moon rises at 4:43 AM and sets 15 hours later, at 8:54 PM.   

Following is the excellent chart Rob prepared; it shows the approx. high and low tides for checkpoints along the entire hike, and highlights the high tides which prevent hiking on the beach. 

West Coast Trail Tides

Travel Costs

This post summarizes expected travel costs to and from Seattle. I have fronted the cost of the Juan de Fuca Express, which is the boat that takes us from our parked cars at the Pt. Renfrew end (south) of the WCT up to our starting point at the Bamfield end (north).

The following assumptions apply:

• per-person ferry fares calculated based on vehicle + four passengers
• same route there and back (minus boat ride to trailhead on return trip)
• $10 per person for gas, should the drivers accept it (insert "how expensive gas is" cliche here)

Travel Costs
From Seattle	per person
Fauntleroy Ferry	$7
Coho Ferry	$21
Gas	$10
Boat to trailhead	$99
To Seattle
Coho Ferry	$21
Fauntleroy Fery	$2.75
Gas	$10
Total	$171

feet

In addition to the shipwrecks, wildlife, and geologic formations we can expect to see on the trail: maybe a human foot will make its way to our side of the island.....

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008012092_foot23m.html

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