Outdoor Video Magazine

So, moving on to Day 3 of the Juan de Fuca (the first part of this post can be found here).

Day 3 - 12km

A nice, easy day of just 12km from Chin Beach to Little Kuitsche Creek campsite. This was a really nice section of the hike, before you reach Sombrio Beach there is a stunning waterfall in a gorgeous little cove, and the trail hugs the shoreline for an extended period. Sombrio Beach itself is a lovely expansive sandy bay that does tend to be VERY busy because of the easy road access. There are some amazing campsites here, but we decided to bypass them because of the crowds. You can do a lot of shore-walking on this section of the hike.

Little Kuitshe Creek campsite is actually tucked away in the forest with some very small, dark, camping pads with no view and no sea access. So why camp there? So we didn’t! With a little bit of beta from some other hikers, we pushed on a few minutes further to Kuitshe Creek itself, where we left the trail and followed the rocky stream bed to a waterfall. An EASY scramble down the side of the waterfall, and you find yourself in Kuitshe Cove. A rock-wall enclosed gravel bay that feels gorgeously secluded. We pitched out tent right on the rocks and enjoyed an amazing evening of solitude in this little bay that looked totally cut off from anything but sea access.

Day 4 - 13km

The final day, Kuitshe Creek to Botanical Beach. The trail finishes with another easy leg, and again there is some nice shore walking to be had on rocky out-crops. An abundance of mussels, seals, and driftwood were to be found. We actually by-passed Botanical Beach because it was high tide. But I hear it is a spectacular place when the tide is down and the rockpools are exposed. We stood in the car park and started to hitchhike. Two of us with huge packs…and it took a little under 25mins for us to get picked up. Not bad huh?

We arrived back at our car to find that a mouse had somehow got trapped in it and had been nibbling food and gear for 4 days. Wonder if it was still alive? We never found it, but left the doors open for a long time so maybe it escaped…..