SCT Day 3: An Unexpected Meal
It is still raining hard when I wake up. With that in mind, the first thing I do is change out of my warm and dry merino wool base layer into still-damp socks and underwear when it’s 5 degrees outside. Solid start to the morning. I can already tell it’s going to be a long and difficult day. I see that Alex’s shoes are in a newly formed puddle of mud.
Hot tea makes life immeasurably better.
After a warm cup of tea and a couple scoops of peanut butter and some m&m’s, I venture outside our hut, umbrella in hand (nothing is truly waterproof, expect umbrellas), and I’m greeted by a spectacular vista of fresh snow and fog skimming the tops of the trees in the distance.
We pack up our bags and start hiking. Since we weren’t able to make it to Anthony Island hut on the east end of Inland Lake, which is where the trail continues, we walk the perimeter of the lake to get to Anthony Island, effectively adding another 4 km to our day. We don’t have any definitely plans on which hut we are aiming for today - we are planning to see how we’re feeling when we get to Confederation Lake, which is about 13 km away, and see if there’s enough time remaining to make it to Fiddlehead Landing.
The views of the lake are simply stunning. There is a hint of sun, and I’m hopeful that the weather will improve because our shoes are already starting to get wet. I’m wearing a relatively new pair of Gore-Tex Salomon trail runners, and it predictably fails to keep the rain out. Gore-Tex doesn’t work! My advice? Buy light and breathable trail runners and just suck it up. It’ll dry faster.
We eventually get to Anthony Hut, but instead of turning left and continuing on with the trail, we misread the sign as indicating a different trail and continue going straight. It would be another half-hour before we realize our mistake and backtrack. Our supposedly short hike to Confederation Lake is getting longer and longer.
Shortly after we backtrack and get back on the correct trail, we run into heavy trail debris, making it much more difficult to spot the trail markers and slowing us down considerably. We need to (ungracefully) dodge, jump, duck, and weave our way through the dense forest. For some parts, we’re bushwhacking.
The hiking gods are not in a good mood today.
Then, to add to the difficulty, the trail becomes steep, with dozens of fallen trees in our path thrown in for good measure. The hiking gods are not in a good mood today.
The trail is wearing down Alex mentally. It’s surprising to me since we did some exceptionally difficult hikes last summer (like Hanes Valley, Crown Mountain, and BCMC in one day!), but then again, this hike is different in its isolation and condition. Unfortunately, the trail is about to get even more challenging.
It isn’t long before we see fresh snow from the previous night. I think we are near the 400-meter mark, and since Confederation is close to 700 meters, I suspect that before long we’ll be doing some “snow stomping”, as Eagle put it.
No, we did not magically teleport from our first sighting of snow to Confederation Lake. That could not be further from the truth. It couldn’t have been more than 4-5 km from the photo above to the photo below, but it took us a few hours to reach the hut. Why? Well, it isn’t long before the snow starts to pile. No problem: we have snowshoes. But the snow is patchy on the uneven forest floor, and it isn’t deep enough to support us all the time. Every step feels like a gamble, with the odds stacked against us.
It couldn’t have been more than 4-5 km from the photo above to the photo below, but it took us a few hours to reach the hut.
Alex tells me that he fell through the snow and stepped straight into a nIce cold puddle of water at one point. I don’t think we are going much faster than 1 km/hr during this section.
A veritable eternity later, we finally spot the hut. I’m elated.
The first thing we notice about the hut is how nice it looks. The second is that it is occupied with people! There are two of them. This is the last thing I expect after a full day of hiking an isolated and treacherous trail. We chat briefly; I can’t recall about what - I’m mildly in shock. They invite us in and we trade names. Fiona and Janna. I initially assume that they’re seasoned hikers (after all, who else would be crazy enough to be at this hut?!), but it turns out it was their friend, Helena, who persuaded them to join her on this journey.
They’re both Vancouverites, having reached Sunshine Coast via ferry. They tell us that it was only after speaking to the people at the Visitor Centre that they realize that there was still considerable amounts of snow - they ended up buying snowshoes at the local Canadian tire. Suffice it to say there are other places in the world they’d rather be. Literally anywhere else. We trade tales of our hike up to Confederation Lake.
Suffice it to say that there are other places in the world they'd rather be. Literally anywhere else.
The hut was built last year and is fully insulated. It is a full 12 degrees warmer inside and features a pellet stove for heating!
Anyway, back to the story of Fiona, Janna, and Helena. They arrived at the hut yesterday, after staying a night at Anthony hut (they started from Powell River instead of Sarah Point), and Fiona and Janna have had enough by the time they here. Totally understandable; we’re very sympathetic, having just completed the trek ourselves. But Helena is a crazy hiking character, and the entire reason she went on this trip was to get to Tin Hat Hut, located at the peak of Tin Hat Mountain, which at 1200 m is more than 500 m higher than where we’re at. So she went ahead, by herself, and promised to be back at this hut by the afternoon tomorrow.
Initial reaction: good on her for being so determined! Reflective reaction: what the $@>!$$.
Yesterday, I had called my dad to tell him we were fine, and he told me that 5 snowshoers were killed in a tragic fall at Mount Harvey, in my hometown of North Vancouver. Naturally, I was in a pretty pessimistic frame of mind. 1200 m is the elevation of Grouse Mountain, for heaven’s sake!
Fiona and Janna are worried about their friend, and they’ve even formulated a plan on how they’d hike down and call S&R if she didn’t show up by a certain time tomorrow (there was no cell reception at the hut).
They tell us that they packed tons of food and have more than enough to share! Although I love my trail mix and all, I can’t turn down a hot meal. This hut is so luxurious that it even comes with a gas-powered stove and some spare cans of gas, so we boil water and Fiona makes us soup for dinner with some rice and beans. After dinner, Alex and I eat some snacks that have been left by previous hikers. The thing about hiking all day is that you never ever really feel full - your body is so calorie-starved and burning so much energy that it really feels like you could eat all day.
Alex is coming back to life. Nothing is as rejuvenating as a warm meal and the excitement of making some new friends.
After dinner, we play a fun game of Scrabble. I take too long, but in my defense, Scrabble is PSPACE-Complete! I do manage to win the game though . There is another game at the hut that Fiona and Janna are really into - something about naming wine facts. I know exactly two things about wine: red & white. Probably not the best game for me.
Oh, and during this entire time, we’re trying to get the pellet stove fired up. There is a dwindling bag of pellets left, but the limited supply isn’t the problem, as it is irritatingly difficult to get it to start. Fiona and Janna were able to start it yesterday, but after a few hours of trying, we’re unsuccessful. On the bright side, it still is toasty inside.
It is snowing heavily outside. Confederation Lake hut isn’t just a shelter. It feels like home. I could live here, I think to myself.
Darkness falls quickly. I fall asleep even faster.