A couple of weeks ago I posted that there are new Mistic Beach photos in the Juan de Fuca guide. I’ve just added new Bear Beach photos as well. The new photos are twice the size of the old ones so you can see more detail.

They’ve all been edited to look as good as possible. You’ll be able to see clearly what you’re getting into as you plan your hike.

See all the other things the Epic Juan de Fuca Hiking Guide has here.

Here’s a quick sample:

Creative beach accesses

Meandering forest trails

Small bridges keeping you out of the mud

Ferns galore

Even more ferns

The post New Bear Beach Photos in the Epic Juan de Fuca Hiking Guide first appeared on Pack & Trail.

One of the best parts of the Epic Guides is how many photos they have. Printed guidebooks often only have a few photos in them, often just small or black and white. They’re expensive to print.

Online guidebooks can have hundreds of photos, and the Pack and Trail Epic Guides do. We make them as big as we can. The internet is no place for small, crappy photos.

Here’s a quick sample:

Juan de Fuca Trail – Mistic Beach Sample 1

Juan de Fuca Trail – Mistic Beach Sample 2

Juan de Fuca Trail – Mistic Beach Sample 3

Juan de Fuca Trail – Mistic Beach Sample 4

Juan de Fuca Trail – Mistic Beach Sample 5

Juan de Fuca Trail – Mistic Beach Sample 6

Juan de Fuca Trail – Mistic Beach Sample 7

If you want to see more photos of the Juan de Fuca trail, and other information about the trail like where the campsites are and how to get there, head over to the Epic Juan de Fuca Guidebook.

The post New Mistic Beach Photos in the Epic Juan de Fuca Trail Guidebook first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Disclaimer: We try to keep these directions up to date but they can change without notice because trail reroutes and logging.

Mount Benson from Witchcraft lake

Witchcraft trail up Mount Benson

One of the more popular ways to get up Mount Benson is from Witchcraft Lake. Getting to Witchcraft is straightforward. Driving along Jingle Pot from the south end(near the pub) take a left onto Kilpatrick Road. Nearly at the end of Kilpatrick turn right onto Benson View (Google Maps shows Kilpatrick going all the way to Witchcraft lake right now but that is incorrect). At the end of Benson View Road is Witchcraft Lake. The trail starts at the very end of the road near the yellow sign.The trail from Witchcraft is easy to follow with new signs provided by NALT. It’s about 3 km to the top from Witchcraft Lake and takes most people 2-3 hours.

Download the GPS track for Mount Benson from Witchcraft Lake

Mount Benson from Westwood Lake

Westwood Benson Trail

You can also hike up Mount Benson from Westwood lake. This trail is a little harder to follow than the one from Witchcraft. It is less steep but longer than the Witchcraft trail.To hike up Mount Benson from Westwood:

1. Start by going around the east end of the lake (to the right if you are facing the water from the main parking lot). Go all the way around the end and turn up onto the powerlines around the back.
2. Continue across the power lines and go straight up into the woods on the other side.
3. Continue straight up this trail all way up until you cross a stream and enter a clear cut. Follow the trail through clear cut and cross the road on the other side.
4. The trail goes from here up onto another logging road.
5. Cross this logging road, the trail continues just on the other side of it.
6. Turn right on this logging road and hike to where it intersects another road to form a “T”.
7. At the “T” intersection a trail will continue straight into the woods. Follow this trail until you hit another logging road then turn right and head up along this road.
8. Follow this road until you hit another intersection and a sign post.
9. From here you can go right and connect with the Witchcraft lake trails or you can go left and follow the Te’tuxtwon

From here there are good signposts up the rest of the way to the top. Basically follow the trails all the way up!

Mount Benson from Nanaimo Lakes Road

Benson Access Road

There is an access road that runs to the top of Benson but it’s gated to prevent vehicle access. While this prevents vehicle access you can still hike, bike and road the road that leads to the top. Head out Nanaimo Lakes Road from Wakesiah Ave. Where it changes from Nanaimo Lakes Road to South Forks Road there is a dirt road that leads off to the right. Take this and drive to the yellow gate. Crews still go in and out of the gate on a regular basis so don’t park in front of the gate. Start hiking at the gate and take right fork of the logging road. Follow the main road for about 5k and then take a right hand turn onto a smaller logging road. Follow this smaller road right to the top of Mount Benson! This way is quite a bit longer than the other two coming in at about 8 km each way. Check the photo below for what the smaller access road turn off looks like. I recommend grabbing the GPS track to know exactly where you are going.

Download the GPS track for Mount Benson from Nanaimo Lakes Road

Now go hike Mount Benson!

Getting up Mount Benson is easier than you think. If you haven’t been up there yet, you should pick a nice sunny day, pack up some food and water and get out on those trails.

As always, if you have any questions fill out the Contact Form or leave a comment below!

The post Hiking Mount Benson first appeared on Pack & Trail.

We decide on the access road that begins on Nanaimo Lakes road and heads up the back of Mount Benson.

For some reason the track from last year didn’t work, so I loaded up some waypoints for the trail in my Colorado 300. After finally gathering in the Malaspina, err VIU parking lot, Ryan, Brett, and I in my truck and Mike, Jer, Andrew, Steph, and Greg in Mike’s truck head up Nanaimo Lakes road to find the access road. Ryan and I had made a day trip out of it last winter and had found the road no problem. There was a lot more snow now though and it was dark.We found the road a little slippery but no real problems for the 4×4’s and arrived in at the gate in no time. Everyone geared up and we were on our way. It was cold. I had a couple merino layers, a softshell, and a puffy down jacket on and I was just warm enough. A few minutes trudging through the snow on MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes warmed me up pretty quick though.

I knew snowshoeing was a fair amount of work but apparently I had not hiked through 3 feet of powder for any distance before. There is a huge difference between the front and the back of the line, especially if there are a bunch of people in the line. Ryan led for a lot of it, he’s got long legs and has a ridiculous amount of energy, and Steph was close behind him or leading for the rest of it.

The rest of us were jockeying for last position.  When there is 7 people to pack down the snow in front of you, it’s nice and easy walking at the back 🙂

After about 1.5 hours shoein’ we arrived at a flat open area that Greg claimed to be the location of an old house. There was no trace so either Greg was a little off with his location calculations or someone had burned it down and it was buried under the snow. We’ll have to investigate in the spring.

All in all, a beautiful showshoe and a great start to the season.

Happy Hiking,

– Ross

The post Benson Access Road in the snow first appeared on Pack & Trail.