VANCOUVER ISLAND - Vancouver and Victoria - page 272

to 800 years old. Be aware that this is an active logging area—logging trucks don't give
way, you do. Make sure you have enough gas, and drive with your headlights on so the
trucksseeyoufromagooddistance.You'llfindrusticcampgrounds(nohookups)at Fairy
Lake, 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from Port Renfrew, and Lizard Lake, 12 kilometers (7.5
miles) farther along the road. The latter is best suited for small tents.
MM WEST COAST TRAIL
one of the many giant trees in San Juan Valley
The magnificent West Coast Trail meanders 77 kilometers (48 miles) along Vancouver
Island's untamed western shoreline, through the West Coast Trail unit of Pacific Rim
National Park. It's one of the world's great hikes, exhilaratingly challenging, incredibly
beautiful, and very satisfying—many hikers come back to do it again. The quickest hikers
can complete the trail in four days, but by allowing six, seven, or eight days you'll have
time to fully enjoy the adventure. The trail extends from the mouth of the Gordon River
near Port Renfrew to Pachena Bay,near the remote fishing village ofBamfield onBarkley
Sound. Along the way you'll wander along beaches, steep cliff tops, and slippery banks;
ford rivers by rope, suspension bridge, or ferry; climb down sandstone cliffs by ladder;