This post is part of the West Coast Trail series from my hike there in 2013.**
The West Coast Trail starts with a good hike to Thrasher Cove. You can either choose to stay at Thrasher Cove for the night or continue on to Walbran Creek. The start to Walbran Creek in one day is a long hike so most people choose to stay at Thrasher Cove.
To continue from Thrasher Cove you have a choice of going to Owen Point along the “beach” or taking the island trail. Here is when the tides come into play as they do in multiple places on the trail. If the tides are too high then Owen Point is out of the question and you have to take the inland route.
We were excited and fresh the day we started so we decided to take the route around Owen Point. There is one other important part to the decision to go around Owen Point. It was dry. If every one of those rocks in the picture above was slippery, it would be a nightmare.
The “beach”, aka huge pile of rocks and logs, that goes to Owen Point from Thrasher Cove is pretty, but not easy.
Trekking poles and patience were valuable that day.