Cape Scott/North Coast Trail - Day 2
These are my trail journals, written for myself while on trail. They’re not meant to guide you along the hike, although maybe they’ll give an idea of what the trail is like. Mostly, it’s my initial thoughts and feelings as I hike through each day. Enjoy!
Day 2: Nel’s Bight to Nissen Bight
6.25 hours of hiking.
I open my eyes around 6am, keenly aware that I don’t have an alarm set, am going to close my eyes, and run the risk of sleeping too long. Mornings in my tent are my favourite but I finally, reluctantly force myself out of bed at 730am. Releasing the air from my sleeping mat while I’m still laying on it always feels like the cruelest thing I can do to myself.
The tent is soaking wet not from any rain but from the dense fog around us. I’m careful to pack up my fly without getting my tent soaked too.
For breakfast, I try oat milk powder for the first time, mixed in with some regular granola. It’s crude and heavy, but so much better than mushy oatmeal. I make a coffee, read a couple pages of a book, and marvel at how good life is.
I pack up and leave Nel’s just after 9am, hiking the beach, the forest, more beach, and then up the forest path over to Guise Bay. Guise Bay is expansive and looks beautiful, but is also covered in fog.
Since I’m making good time so far and the tide is in my favour, I follow the park operator’s suggestion and start walking the coastline towards the lighthouse instead of the usual inland trail. I’m a little nervous, not following a set path and unsure of how long it will take me. A couple of sections feel a bit cruxy, either requiring scrambling or trying to get through knee deep water sections. I see buoys marking a trail leading back inland and figure I’m only about halfway to the lighthouse, but my confidence has faltered and I take the marked trail back to the main trail. It turned out to be a trail to the sea stacks, and in twenty minutes, I come across the side trail for the end of the coastline. Part of me wishes I hadn’t given up on the coastline but I don’t have much time to live with regret.
I head towards the lighthouse, meeting lighthouse keeper Todd and giving him my peanut butter cookie from the coffee shop in Port Hardy. The lighthouse is cute, with a curious and slightly appealing kind of remote life. There’s no view thanks to the fog, but the filtered rain water on tap is a big step up from the brown water of Nel’s Bight.
I make my way back towards Nel’s and Nissen, and as I reach Guise Bay again, the fog completely clears and the sun comes out. I rush to the end of the beach, lay my tent out to dry, change into my swim suit and run into the ocean for a dip. The air is hot and the ocean is freezing and I feel a little clean and completely happy. I make lunch and take my time, trying to air out all my things in the sun. I feel like I must have used a cheat code because life feels so darn good.
On my way back to Nel’s, I’m walking the foggy beach and suddenly a black bear appears a few hundred feet in front of me. I don’t know if the bear saw me but if he did, he didn’t care at all. He lumbers down the beach and I can follow safely from a distance. With the fog and the noise of the ocean waves, it feels like a fever dream.
I pass back through Nel’s Bight, back through marsh, speak to the same park operator again, and then am willing the kilometers to pass. I’m realizing that I’m not snacking enough through the day and it’s probably affecting my energy levels.
By the time I reach Nissen’s Bight, I’m ready to set up and snack. Though the camp is in the shade, the ocean is sunny and bright and calls me for another dip first. After jumping into the water, I set up camp and snack. I’m surprised that no one else is at camp yet, and then notice tents set up on the other end of the beach, closer to the water source.
Eventually, I make the decision to make the kilometer trek for water. It’s sunny along the beach and I start to see so many tents that I figure there must be a bear cache down here now. I talk to the first couple I pass by and they confirm that there is a bear cache and a toilet. I make the decision to move camp so I can enjoy the last bit of sunshine on this end of the beach.
By the time I’ve trekked back to my original camp, torn down, and trekked to the sunny side, it’s not sunny anymore. Fog has rolled in but I’m happy to be among more people for the night. I make dinner, wishing that I’d had more time to relax but sometimes funny things just happen.
