A Girlie Girl on the Westcoast Trail

I do not intend this post to be a guide on the trail, after all, there are many detailed accounts from experts. This post is about my perspective as a non-athlete, 5' 1 city girl (well, mom, actually). 

I'd be the first to acknowledge that I am not athletic nor tough. It took me over a year to convince myself to actually decide that, yes, I will do it -- this infamous trail that have claimed some lives. Despite all the facts stating that, no, it's not for you, Liza, I did as I do when I'm afraid, just closed my eyes and jumped anyways (not literally, obviously). I did read up a lot on it, so that I knew what to expect (it would be irresponsible if I didn't.) It was more than just a physical achievement, the West coast Trail was a "mind thing. Determination played a huge part in finishing it.

It wasn't important to us to do it in record time (on our third day, five guys with only camel packs with the goal of doing it in ONE DAY passed us! Apparently, they swam across the river too.) We took 7 days to do 77 km (included a 2 km hike to Thrasher Cove campsite, which was known to be one of the more difficult section, it's not on the path, many trekkers we have met chose to bypass this beautiful place).

Oyster Dome, Deception Pass, Anacortes

View at dusk from Lighthouse Point trail in Deception Pass [Photo by: Where is Liza©]

We all know by now how beautiful the Pacific Northwest is. Knowing this, I am still in awe every time I am staring at its splendour.

The San Juan Island area in Washington is the equivalent of our Vancouver Island (without having to take the ferry and shelling out your life savings). It consist of various islands, breathtaking cliff side views, arbutus trees sprinkled everywhere, hiking trails aplenty, and that small town feel that makes you feel like you are on vacation.

Our first stop of on this road trip is Oyster Dome off Chuckanut Drive, south of Bellingham. The original plan was to do either the 3.8 mile or 6.5 mile hike. This didn't happen because we did not get our Discovery Pass that is necessary to park in any of the Washington area parks. We are however able to drive all the way up to the lookout point which is of course spectacular. It would have been very cool to see hang gliders because it is known for it, but oh well. 

Aside from knowing that we will be camping, we actually haven't made any concrete plans on where we will be staying. So we keep on driving south and figure that we will make a decision  when we see something interesting.

[Photo by: Where is Liza©]

[Photo by: Where is Liza©]

"Interesting" has brought us to Deception Pass campground. It's perfect -- no Discovery Pass required to camp for the night. With the sound of the ocean in the background, we set camp at around 7  pm. 15 minutes before 8 pm, we are putting on our headlamps for a hike to Lighthouse point. At this time, there is still some light, but it is getting dark. We follow a trail that goes to the beach and then up to the forest, and then to more of that breathtaking stuff I've been talking about (see first photo above). It is rugged, wild and crazy beautiful. (After a few minutes, it did get quite dark; I'm sure glad that I brought those headlamps). The hike only took about an hour, with plenty of stops for photos and ooohings and aaahhhings.  

[Photo by: Where is Liza©]

The next day, we drive to Anacortes, which is in Fidalgo Island. It's a very quaint town  with buildings that feel like it's been there for a very long time. I can just imagine that this place must be quite populated in the summer/tourist months. 

Washington Park - Anacortes [Photo by: Where is Liza©]

For the future, we drive to see the other state park in the area -- Washington Park. And yup, it's beautiful. We prefer the Deception Point campsite better, but the scenery is something else.  

We hope to come back to do some hiking in this area.

Washington Park - Anacortes [Photo by: Where is Liza©]

Anacortes [Photo by: Where is Liza©]

Anacortes   [Photo by: Where is Liza©]