Having fun at Mystic Beach
The slug was tiny but soooo interesting. It was our second morning on the Juan de Fuca Trail. It had rained non-stop during the night while we were tucked in our sleeping bags in our cozy tent.
The tiny slug showed up in our campsite at Bear Beach while we were busy taking down our wet tent. At this point we were also rethinking our plan of hiking the whole trail with our two kids, Neil, age five, and Kai, a toddler who was not yet two. Our progress was a bit slower than we thought, mostly due to long sections of mud. As fun as the mud was at first for our five year old, it got hard after a while. At times it looked like we were going to drown in mud. But on that morning all those struggles were meaningless, there was a slug to explore!
Exploring a slug at Bear Beach
So, we carried on. We did end up changing our route, skipping what was considered the most challenging part. We still ended up hiking for five full days on the Juan de Fuca trail, in sun, fog and rain. On the long stretches of mud, we pretended that the mud was lava, and we were absolutely not allowed to fall into it. We skipped from one log to another, sometimes Neil led the way, and sometimes it was one of us.
We started the trip hiking to the mystic Mystical Beach, where there was a rope swing hanging not far from our tent. This was an easy three-kilometer hike in and the best beach along the way, in our opinion. There was also a cove with many cairns and a neat waterfall one could only get close to during low tide. The weather looked promising and the kids had a blast playing in the sand and water.
Exploring the tide pools along the way
The rest of the hike was a lot more challenging than the first three kilometers but also so rewarding. It made us appreciate nature and the wet West Coast of BC in a whole different way. Seeing the trail from our kids’ perspective was an eye opener. Everything was a game and it was the only way we managed to keep going. A hiker in front of us made smiley faces in the leaves and spread them along the trail. That was another game - find the next smiley leaf, or slug! We also had a candy booster stop every kilometer. Someone thought it would be a good idea to have a post with the number of kilometers, every single kilometer... and there are 47 of them! On some stretches it seemed like a kilometer was almost ten.
These smiley leaves were spread along the trail
On the fourth day Neil said his rubber boots were really rubbing his shins. We took off his boots and his skin was red and shiny underneath. We still had one day left to complete the trail at the magnificent Botanical Beach (or so we heard). We took a long break and changed Neil's boots to his Native Shoes - light water shoes. Not ideal for the amount of mud on the trail, but at that point it seemed like a better alternative to the rubbing boots. We were thinking of calling it quits and finding our way out to the highway, but with only one day to go, even Neil was motivated to keep going, despite his discomfort.
Mud, mud, mud
Kai, our toddler, was a happy trooper in the backpack carrier. His dad, Gili, was a little bit less so. His backpack was very heavy - with Kai inside, all the food, stove and fuel and the tent hanging outside, putting the backpack on was a bit of a struggle. To keep moving was also challenging. On some sections Kai hiked a little bit by himself which was a huge relief for his dad. My backpack was heavy too. I carried all the clothes, rain gear, sleeping bags, sleeping pads and mats. The trail went up and down constantly, there weren't many flat sections. There were also many slippery logs, bridges, and tiny narrow stairs going up and down. We all took a tumble at one point or another, laughing at ourselves for being so clumsy. The ocean was peeking every now and then from a viewpoint or a high bridge and it was beautiful and enormous. The trees were also huge, we figured they must be hundreds or thousands of years old.
The forest was green, lush and mysterious, but our favorite sections were along the beach. There were so many tide pools and we had fun looking for living creatures. Neil was most excited when we found a purple starfish. We had to skip from rock to rock, and found lots of kelp.
One of the many bridges we crossed
Our last day on the trail was so wet! While we mostly managed to avoid the rain during the day on the previous days (it rained a lot during the night though), we were not so lucky on our last and final day on the trail. We got the true meaning of what rainforest is all about. On some sections the forest was so thick and lush and the air was so humid I almost thought I was in the jungles of South America.
When we had lunch that day, we even set up the tarp to get some cover from the rain. A few people passed us and they looked like they were shivering. They wore shorts and cotton shirts, not a good outfit for such a wet climate. It's much better to wear synthetic clothing, to layer up and to have proper rain gear and boots. We were grateful we didn't leave our rain gear at home, despite having to carry it in my backpack most of the time.
We kept walking and walking and the trail seemed endless, but then we finally found ourselves at Botanical Beach! It did look like such a spectacular place but it was still so wet we just explored the tide pools a little bit. We were also on a schedule because Gili still had to walk to Port Renfrew and catch the shuttle bus in order to retrieve the car and drive back to pick us up. There wasn't a good place to set up the tarp so the kids and I just took shelter beneath a trail sign. I was so cold, but the kids seemed perfectly happy and they loved throwing sticks and rocks into the puddles while we waited.
Arriving wet but happy to Botanical Beach (our final destination)
After we were all reunited and changed into dry clothes and shoes it was time for a celebratory dinner. We found a burger shack in Port Renfrew, thought we had over ordered but managed to finish all the food easily. It was such a challenging hike, but everyone had a great time. We learned to overcome obstacles, to jump over muddy sections, also known as lava, and had plenty of time to explore slugs, kelp and tide pools. The kids loved being immersed in nature, not once did they ask to watch something on the screen or say that they missed their beds or toys. For a five year old the trail length and conditions were challenging (for adults too), but Neil didn't complain even when his boots were rubbing and he felt accomplished and proud when we finished the hike. He even carried his own little backpack with his sleeping bag inside it and a few small toys the whole time. He had many reasons to be proud of himself!
About the author
Maya and Gili and their two boys Neil and Kai live in Vancouver and enjoy the great outdoors as much as they can. Hiking, skiing and cycling are among their favourite activities. They spent a lot of time during the summer hiking and camping in different provincial parks. They also love cycle touring, especially overseas (when possible!). Both kids already got to explore a few foreign countries from the bike saddle or trailer including Greece, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand, and France. Maya is also the founder of Kids on Wheels, a non-profit program introducing young children to the joy of cycling through balance bikes. They write about their outdoor adventures on their blog Life in MAGIc Land. 
