Nick and Jim
DAY 7
This morning Norm and I awoke
to the sound of Gord's voice graciously beckoning us to arise, just as
he had each of the last six. I wouldn't have remembered Norm's difficulty
last night had it not been for his breath saturating the air in the tent.
At 6:30 a.m. I emerged from the tent, stretched and looked around for signs of Norm's mess. But there was nothing. Amazed, I asked where he had done his business. Norm had, like a feline, covered his tracks in the sand. Wow, I thought. This guy has been around.
To make it to the bus on time, we hauled butt. We left at 7:30 a.m. and kept an aggressive pace all morning. Over the course of the week, our group paired up conveniently. Generally Norm and I were just fast enough to find ourselves a few minutes ahead of the Derks most of the time. This worked well as few hikers hike at exactly the same pace and each of us had someone to be with.
Compared to the bog and roots and ladders and danger that the first few days of the WCT had offered, this last stretch was boring. With the exception of another lighthouse and a diversion to the shoreline to watch sea lions reclining on the rocks, the day was flat and exclusively rainforest. There would have been no excitement whatsoever except for one point when Norm and I waited for Gord and Nick for what seemed like an eternity, father and son emerged around a corner beaming. We rested and devoured the last of our snacks and then pressed on. It wasn't until later in the day that I learned that Nick had stopped to offer the forest another piece of petrified wood. Yay Nick. He was a joy to have on the hike. He's more mature than any other 18-year-old I've ever met, but still young enough to experience life with absolute passion whether it's elation or exhaustion.
We finished the remaining portion at a furious pace and pulled into the Pachena Bay office at 11:30 a.m. When we checked in, we found out over 50 hikers had evacuated the trail during the week we were on it. We took some photos, grinned a lot, relaxed and I had a celebratory smoke. We had completed one of the most difficult, gruelling hikes on the continent in some of the most difficult conditions imaginable. I felt like after completing his eight feats. Yes!
Regrettably, the day was far from over. I had spent all of my cash at Monique's and had none to pay for the bus ride home. As well, neither Norm nor I had reserved seats on the bus to get back to Port Renfrew and our cars. Preparedness is not a strength of Norm's or myself and we had assumed that getting back would not be an issue. We spent the next hour and a half following around anyone who might be able to offer us a ride or a ticket for the bus. The feeling was unanimous. We were NOT going to spend another night in a tent.
With some luck and persistence, we procured seats on a van and sat like refugees for four hours while the van tossed us about, speeding over passageways that bore little resemblance to an actual road.
As the van hurled south through the lush BC mountains, we slumped in our seats in exhaustion. Tired, weak, and rank, we closed our eyes hoping to nap. But the van vibrated and shook like an old washing machine the entire trip. Instead, we sat silently and let our numb bodies bounce around. I was tired of being with the same people for seven days straight, yet I couldn't help but recollect a conversation I'd had with Norm along the way. We'd talked at length about how well our group had handled the difficult times. At some point, each of us had annoyed one another. But not one harsh word was ever uttered. Whenever something needed to be done or someone needed to take control or make a decision, one of us rose to the occasion. Norm directed the emergency creek management scrum on our first night. Nick emerged from the bush with dry wood every time a fire was crucial. And Gord stood as the grand master navigator, directing our group on and off the beach to steer clear of high tide. The list goes on. Without knowing each other especially well, our group jelled into a co-operative and enthusiastic team almost instantly, and so to the end. I'm proud to have been a part of that week and would do it again with those men in a heartbeat.
© Jim Knutsen 2001
Norm and Gord
Sealions barking on the rocks
The famous bear bridge
Gord,Nick,Claudia,Jim,Heidi and Norm after our hike
Norm and Jim weathered and leathered
At the Port Renfrew Inn eating real food