Nels Bight to Cape Scott Lighthouse to Nels Bight
Distance: 15km
Time: Less than 5 hours
Weather: Cool and misty in the morning, sunny and warm in the afternoon
Trail: A little bit of scrambling but mostly easy walking on wide worn in trails, sandy beaches and dunes
Photos: My Northcoast Trail Flickr Set
We spent the day hiking out to the lighthouse at Cape Scott, located at the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island, and back. It was a fairly easy trail with three pleasant beach walks and a sand dune section covered with long beach grasses and patches of wild strawberry plants.
The lighthouse keeper at Cape Scott sells pop, chocolate and potato chips and we took advantage of the opportunity to pig out on junk food. Other than this one instance, I don't think I've eaten pop and chips and chocolate in one sitting since high school.
Back on the beach at Nels Bight we spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening kicking around on the beach hunting for sand dollars, playing Frisbee and soaking up the sun.
Nels Bight to Cape Scott Trail Head
Distance: 17km
Time: 6.5 hours
Weather: Sunny with cloudy and rainy periods
Trail: Long but easy with lots of boardwalks and stairways with handrails through inland forest and lagoon areas
This was the longest and easiest stretch of our journey. After leaving Nels Bight in the morning the trail consisted entirely of forest or lagoon walks. When we neared the parking lot we decided to hike out a day early rather than spend the night at San Josef Bay as we had planned. The weather was promising a rainy evening and we decided a final night of camping might prove anti-climactic.
On the drive out down the bumpy logging road back to Port Hardy we encountered two bears - the only two we spotted during the week, though we did see lots of scat on the trail - and the infamous 'Shoe Tree' where it seems hundreds of hikers have left their worn out boots and shoes in tribute to the grueling and unforgettable Cape Scott/North Coast trail.
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