West Coast Trail 2025 - Klanawa to Michigan

I woke at 6:45, had breakfast, and was on the trail by 8:30. Before setting out, I made a point of drinking plenty of water and electrolytes—I’d gone to bed with what felt like a dehydration headache, and it was still lingering in the morning.

The day began with a 3 km stretch of beach walking. Much of it could be done on the sandstone “shelf,” which made the going a bit easier but required careful footing—those rocks can be deceptively slick. Somewhere along this stretch, I saw a man running the trail. Running. On the West Coast Trail. Craziness!

Fog hung over the water again, spoiling my hopes of spotting whales during the day. I did catch a brief glimpse of one that evening—a distant arc of its back and the spray of a waterspout far out to sea—but it was gone almost as soon as I saw it. Disappointing, but still a reminder that they were out there.

Leaving the beach meant climbing more ladders back into the forest. Along the way, I passed the rusted remains of an old donkey engine, the skeleton of a horse-drawn road grader, and a pair of the big red Parks Canada chairs. I didn’t stop for the chairs, as a large group had already claimed them for a break. This stretch of coast is notorious for shipwrecks, and it’s not hard to imagine the history hidden beneath the waves.

Chainsaw art

Probably last winter's storm damage. The scent of freshly cut wood was still in the air.

The mascot of the West Coast Trail. Thought I'd see more slugs on the trail than I did. 

Pearly Everlasting (identification thanks to iNaturalist)

A long series of ladders led back down to the beach at Tsocowis Creek, where the Trail Guardians have a small cabin. The Guardians, who are members of the local First Nations communities, work hard to maintain the trail through the hiking season and are often the first in position to assist in rescue situations.

Humorously scruffy looking!

I think this poor little guy had an injured wing. He hopped along in front of me for a while and just moved to the side to let me pass, as opposed to flying away.

The rest of the day was all beach walking. I had planned to stop at Darling campsite, but I arrived far too early to call it a day. Instead, I pushed on a couple more kilometres to Michigan Creek to even out the final day’s distance.

I’d brought water shoes for creek and river crossings, but the summer’s dryness meant I could rock-hop or log-balance across both Darling and Michigan creeks without getting wet.

I reached Michigan campsite at 1:30 p.m., making it 5 hours for 11 km—with lots of quick photo stops along the way. I found another nice forest site for my tent and made sure not to spread out too much, knowing more hikers would be arriving later. Michigan is a busy spot—it’s the last campsite before the trail ends at Pachena Bay (or the first, if you’re starting there).

Buoys mark campsite and important transitions between beach and trail. 

View from the outhouse platform. Bear bin in the bottom centre of the photo.

Somewhere along the day’s walk, I picked up a blister on my big toe. Luckily, I caught it early and patched it up before it could turn into a bigger problem.

I was in my tent by 8:00, reading and jotting down diary notes before falling asleep. Keeping a daily journal was one of the best decisions I made—without it, this trip report would have been much harder to piece together!