Day #2 - Skinner Creek to Nahwitti River

Last night there were five of us camping at Skinner Creek Camp Site: Brian, the two women from Montana, Don and me.

Don, 47, had been hiking in the opposite direction from us.  He had started his hike with a 65-pound back-pack-- 35 pounds of it was food.  Last night he had baked salmon.  For Don, the joy of the hike is working up to the gourmet meal in the evening.  Before last night and this morning he gave us suggestions on how far to go each day, based on what he had seen thus far.

Day #1 having been so difficult that he suggested that we do a shorter hike for Day #2 (2.9 kilometers).

North Coast Trail   ©Brian Holden 2014

We woke up to a beautiful misty morning.  The waves had pounded against the fine sandy beach all night.  There were many birds along the shoreline feeding.

Beautiful Misty Beach    photo by ©Brian Holden 2014

Still hiking after all these years... Ed (Left)  Brian (Right)  Photo by ©Brian Holden 2014

We waved good-bye to Don who was on the way to Shushartie Bay to catch his water taxi back to Port Hardy.  He likes to hike really fast, which is stressing to the feet, but he said he didn't mind losing a couple of toenails.

I was deliberately cautious because of my age (64) and my ongoing recovery from a knee injury - torn meniscus-- and I know that another knee injury could be disastrous out here.  We were told that it almost impossible for a helicopter to get into the forested areas to do a rescue.  Much of the shoreline is inaccessible to boats because of cliffs and rocky beaches.

The "steps" I'd taken down to the beach the night before (in the dark)  Photo by ©Brian Holden 2014

We couldn't hike along the ocean because the tide was coming in so we headed back the way we had entered the beach last night.  We went back up the steps I had come down in the dark-- it was a thrill for me to see in the daylight what I'd hiked through in the dark.  I'd navigated over layers of fallen timbers, snarls of forest growth, and the omnipresent massed tree roots.

At the top of the steps we headed right on the Trail, following the cliffs.  We went inland a short way, returning to the ocean just before we got to Nahwitti River.

We experienced similar challenges as yesterday-- a certain distance was uphill with seemingly unending roots and mud to slog through.  We went back down to the beach on the Ocean and continued a short way until we got to the Nahwitti River campsite around mid-afternoon.

There were four double-sized tent pads and pit toilets and a bear cache where we keep our food overnight.  The two women and I went to get water up a trail that led to the River and followed it a way. Schools of sockeye are spawning just past the tidal influx, where we gathered the drinking water.  From that location we can see the cable for the car we will be taking tomorrow morning.

Brian had a fire going when we arrived at the Camp at Nahwitti River  

When we got back to the Camp Site Brian had a nice fire going.  We enjoyed the warm food, hot drinks and each other's company around the campfire.  Darci, one of the women, updated her One Spot emergency device to let her husband and friends back in Helena, Montana know everything was fine.  What I know: one button will alert Emergency Rescue; another button will connect with her husband to alert him that she is in trouble; and the third button issues the All-Okay message.  For an extra fee, through Google Maps, friends and family can track the device.

The One-Spot, an emergency device worth investing in Photo by ©Brian Holden 2014
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