Training!

Training has got back on track and we've been doing a few charity races to keep in trim.   I am aiming to carry a 23kg pack at most so packing weight is now becoming as issue.  Kit list will follow soon.







As well as trekking and biking I also took part in the Race for Life 5k run at Kingston Maurward college with my daughter. It has helped to focus my training having events to take part in and make it more intrinsically satisfying to raise funds for worthwhile causes.

Planning, planning, planning!

Seven weeks to go before I head off to Canada and the planning machine is in full swing.  To be honest planning an expedition is a full time job in itself; so juggling around a full time job and family is tricky!

This week I have been concentrating on maps and route cards, safety, risk assessments and food supplies. I have found the BC National parks website to be a great source of information and it has a dedicated section to the Juan de Fuca trail.  Visit the website.

One of the most useful sections of the website is on safety and this link will take you to the page for plenty of excellent information.



Reference Books



I have been using the Juan de Fuca Marine trail guidebook by Donald C Mills as a source of information for the route cards.  This has a detailed map and ninety-three pages of indepth knowledge.  ISBN 0-9684583-0-0 

As a group we have been discussing bear safety and I have also been reading up on it through Stephen Herrero's book Bear attacks their causes and avoidance.  It is worth knowing what to do just in case there is an encounter enroute. ISBN 978-1-58574-557-9 (Thank you for the recommendation Alison!)

The national park authority has clear guidelines for dealing with wildlife and we will follow these carefully:

Never feed or approach bears or other wildlife.

Reduce or eliminate odours that attract bears. At the campground, store food in air-tight containers in your RV or car trunk.

Bear caches must be used if they are available at the park.

Pack out all your garbage. Store garbage with your food, out of reach of bears. Do not bury garbage or throw it into pit toilets. Only paper and wood may be burned: plastics, tinfoil, and food items do not burn completely and the remains will attract bears (besides creating an unsightly mess). Storing garbage in bear-proof containers is recommended.

Cook and eat well away from your tent.

Clean up immediately and thoroughly. Never leave cooking utensils, coolers, grease or dish water lying around. Dispose of dish water by straining it and then throwing it into a gray water pit or pit toilet. Solids should be packed out with the garbage.

The odours of cosmetics, toothpaste and insect repellent can attract bears. These should be stored out of reach with your food and garbage, never in your tent. Leave strongly perfumed items at home.

Obey all closures and warnings.

We will be using pocket rocket cookers and dried Mountain house Pro-paks for food.  We carry a bear barrel each for food and to store all our waste, any insect repellants or items with scent (toiletries will be at a minimum). Bear barrels will be stored away from our tent at night.



Maps



We are ordering our maps online using Stanfords and using in conjunction with Backroad mapbooks, guidebooks and National park information.  I have found it difficult to find maps of a usable scale for the Juan de Fuca trail in the UK but it seems Stanfords does a 1:50000 set of maps for the trail so these are now on order!



Tide Times



This website provides  the Canadian Fisheries and Ocean tide times for Port Renfrew and can be queried by date for a 7 day window, so we can print off our tide times before we go.
It is essential to consult the tide times as we will be crossing some areas with tidal cut offs and also consulting these for suitable beach camping spots.

Communications on expedition - GPS, Mobiles.

I have been researching communications for the trip with the help of my Canadian friend Jen. The trek is particularly an issue for us as mobile phone coverage is non existent and so we will need to carry some sort of GPS locator to stay in contact with our home agent, family and friends.



I like the SPOT unit as it not only allows you to make an emergency call, it also allows people to follow your progress online and send non emergency messages and OK messages. 
They cost about £130 to buy plus an annual subscription of £100.  I've seen there is a Canadian company that hires for $35 per week so this may be worth doing, I'll also look at hiring locally in the UK (I'm told Windsurfing and Sailing shops offer this service).

Here are the functions of the SPOT:

SOS: Use this function In the event of a life threatening or other critical emergency to notify emergency services of your GPS location and that you need assistance. The GEOS International Emergency Response Center alerts the appropriate agencies worldwide – for example contacting 9-1-1 responders in North America and 1-1-2 responders in Europe.

HOW IT WORKS:
Once activated, SPOT will acquire its exact coordinates from the GPS network, and send that location along with a distress message to the GEOS International Emergency Response Center every five minutes until cancelled or until the batteries are depleted. The Emergency Response Center notifies the appropriate emergency responders based on your GPS location and personal information – which may include local police, highway patrol, the Coast Guard, our country's embassy or consulate, or other emergency search and rescue teams – as well as notifying your emergency contacts about the receipt of a distress signal.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Even if SPOT cannot acquire its location from the GPS network it will still attempt to send a distress signal – without exact location – to GEOS, which will still notify your contacts of the signal and continue to monitor the network for further messages.

9-1-1 EMERGENCY SERVICES POWERED BY GEOS Search and Rescue

Help: In the event of a non-life threatening emergency, you can use this function to notify your personal contacts that you need assistance. Additional SPOT Assist services can be purchased and programmed to your Help button as well. When activated with SPOT Assist, the Help button will notify professional services either on the land or water. SPOT has partnered with national service providers to offer non-life threatening assistance.

HOW IT WORKS:
Once activated, SPOT acquires your location from the GPS network and routes it along with the HELP message through the SPOT satellite network every five minutes for one hour or until cancelled. Your contacts will receive an SMS text message including coordinates, or an email with a link to Google Maps™ showing your location.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Even if SPOT cannot acquire its location from the GPS network it will still attempt to send a HELP message – without exact location – to your personal contacts. 

 

Check-in/OK: This feature allows you to let your friends and family know that all is OK with a pre-programmed message along with your GPS location. With a push of a button a message is sent via email or SMS to up to 10 pre-determined contacts and your waypoint is stored in your SPOT account for later reference. Your stored waypoints can be easily integrated into a SPOT Shared Page or SPOT Adventure account. 

HOW IT WORKS:
Once you have activated your SPOT Messenger and set up your account, you can change your contacts and customize your message at any time. When you push the Check-in/OK button, you send one pre-programmed message to your contacts. Your contacts will receive an SMS text message including coordinates, or an email with a link to Google Maps™ showing your location.

Custom Message: This feature allows you to let your friends and family know receive a custom message along with your GPS location with a push of a button. Use this feature as a secondary OK message or transfer your personal help alert to this message function if you are using a SPOT Assist service on your Help button.

The Custom Message functions exactly like your Check-in/OK message You can also have access to your waypoints in your SPOT account so you can review your route at a later date. Or link your SPOT account to SPOT Adventures and save a map of your adventures using your SPOT waypoints, and enhance the story with photos and a blog.

HOW IT WORKS:
Once you have activated your SPOT Messenger and set up your account, you can change your contacts and customize your message at any time. When you push the Check-in/OK button, you send one pre-programmed message to your contacts. Your contacts will receive an SMS text message including coordinates, or an email with a link to Google Maps™ showing your location.

Track Progress: Start/stop tracking at any time using your SPOT device (Additional service required). You can also mark a Reference Point or send Check-in/OK messages from specific locations while in Track Progress mode.

 

 

Mobile Phones

Mobile phone coverage for Canada has three good carriers (so I am told by my Canadian buddy Jen)

Rogers:
http://www.rogers.com/

Telus:
http://www.telusmobility.com/

Bell:
http://support.bell.ca/

I am told that with a UK phone you can buy a Telus SimCard, which you can purchase pretty much anywhere (grocery store, 7-11, probably even at the airport) then you  activate it and it works on a pay as you go basis.

With Rogers you can get a sim online and activate it so you would be all set before you travel.

You can use your iphone with wifi when you are in a urban areas - burger takeaways and coffee shops have wifi to use!

The combination of GPS unit and mobile phone with an international sim card will allow us to stay well connected with our home contacts throughout the trip and offer a cheaper solution than hiring a satellite phone and charger for the month.

Chargers

Powering the units will also need consideration.  I'd be interested in feedback on either the festival style or solar charger units and how effective people have found them.
The universal phone chargers use standard batteries and will charge an iphone approx. 1.5-2 times and cost £15. Solar chargers are about £28 and charge a phone in 4-7 hours.

More training and a few set-backs

My training schedule has continued well in March with some warm-up walks in the Purbeck Hills, I completed 7-8 hour treks through farmland, woodland and then camped out. Successful all round and my pack performed well so feeling pleased!

Just before Easter I headed up to Coed y Brenin in Wales for a biking and walking weekend. 

I cycled on the saturday and then walked one their strenuous routes - the Gain Waterfall trail on the Sunday morning before driving the 6 hours home!  The walk was supposed to take 2 hours; I was well under that and feeling strong, so clearly all the training has been helping. It's a great walk, although the harvesting taking place was a bit messy in places...lots to see and very peaceful.

Gain Waterfall Trail route - website link

A few set-backs

I have been poorly with 'flu so haven't been out walking or training for four weeks now and have not felt up to doing much planning either.  Hope to be back out there soon. 

Training

Training for the expedition began at the end of 2011.

So far I have completed three training weekends, two on the Dorset coast path and one on the Devon/Cornwall border.  All have tried to mimic the conditions we will be encountering; the Dorset coast path has been great in terms of the undulating landscape.  Days two and three of our trek in Vancouver island will be very similar.

It has also been a good opportunity for Jenny Boyce my trekking buddy and I to make plans for the trek. It is hard when you are working during the day to find time for expedition planning, but our hike from Ringstead to Durdle door this weekend, gave us time together where we could make some progress.

Forest walks



In February I headed down to the Devon-Cornwall boarder to trek in Forestry Commission woodland and alongside the River Tamar.  While there was some broadleaf woodland, most was conifer and so similar to what we will trek through on the Juan de Fuca trail.

Equipment



The other purpose of training has been to try out some new kit.  I am not buying lots of new equipment but there are a few items that I did not own that are essential.  Probably the most important is my rucksack.  I asked for a lot of advice on which was best and borrowed other people's packs to get an idea of what was comfortable and fitted.

The company I settled for was Aiguille who are based in Sheffield.  They sent me packs through the post to try out as I am a bit on the small side at 5'3! I fitted the ladies pack and they made it for me.  The best things about the pack is that it is no frills, so nothing to go wrong.  It is very lightweight, which helps for the trek and it has an expandable lid, which is extrememly useful for cramming stuff in! It is 60 + 25 litres capacity. See it online http://www.aiguillealpine.co.uk/cgi-bin/trolleyed_public.cgi?action=showprod_R110

My other investment has been trousers, which again are a problem if you are on the small side as many of the big outdoor clothing names only cater to size 10 in ladies clothing.  I asked around again for advice and was recommended by an ecologist friend of mine to get some Rohans, which go down to size 8. They are perfect and I got both warmer winter pairs and lightweight pairs. They dry very quickly and take up very little rucksack space.

Cooking and wild camping

In December 2011 I spent a blustery night under canvas, having trekked along part of the Dorset coastal path. This was a great opportunity to test out the cooking skills using a jet boil and pocket rocket and wayfarer and mountain house, which is a freeze dried food. My choices on the trek will be to have mountain house (as they don't sell Wayfarer in Canada) or to take pasta/cous cous etc. Cooking will have to be carefully done as the trek is also home to bears and cougars, who will come and investigate any spilt food. For this reason it is important to use bear barrels or caches and store and cook food well away from the tent.

Bowron lakes map and info

Bowron Lake Park is a large wilderness area situated on the western slopes of the Cariboo Mountain Range. The world-renowned Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit encompasses a 116 km chain of lakes, waterways and connecting portages. This wilderness canoe trip takes from 6 to 10 days to complete, depending on your time frame and skill level. For those looking for a shorter trip, the west side of the circuit can be paddled in 2 to 4 days. It is recommended that those who attempt the circuit have some wilderness canoeing experience.
The park has tremendous diversity in topography and vegetation. The rounded hilltops of the Quesnel Highlands on the west side of the circuit have a unique character quite different from the imposing Cariboo Mountains on the eastern and southern sections of the circuit. The park is a place of many moods, from bright sunshine and placid blue lakes to angry gray waters and torrential rains.

Map and info on the Juan de Fuca trail

The Juan de Fuca Marine Trail is on the south west coast of Vancouver island. The following map shows where we will be walking.

It is a stretch of 47km and should take us 4-5 days to complete.  The terrain especially in the mid section is tough going.

There are four trailheads to the Juan de Fuca Trail at Juan de Fuca East (China Beach), Sombrio Beach, Parkinson Creek and Botanical Beach. Although most of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail is designed for strenuous day or multi-day hiking/camping in this rugged and isolated area, some easy to moderate day hiking opportunities to the beach or along the trail are available starting from the trailheads.

At the east end of the park you’ll find the vehicle accessible China Beach Campground and the China Beach day-use area. The campground is located in a forested area with open understory, about 1 km east of the China Beach day-use area and the Juan de Fuca East (China Beach) Trailhead. Trails connect the campground to China Beach and the adjacent smaller Second Beach, located east of the larger China Beach day-use.

At the west end of Juan de Fuca Park is Botanical Beach, one of the richest tidal areas along the west coast. Botanical Beach also has a unique shoreline framed by ridges of shale and quartz, which jut up through the black basalt to form huge tableaus. Botanical Beach is the western terminus for the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail and a popular day trip destination for visitors wishing to observe this sensitive and unique ecosystem. Wildlife viewing is best done at low tide, when visitors can walk out across the flat sandstone and granite outcroppings to view tide pools filled with brightly coloured marine life.

The BC Park authority recommends the following information:

The Juan de Fuca Marine Trail is designed as a wilderness hiking trail. Hiking conditions are always changing and hikers should get up-to-date information before hiking. Additional advisories may be posted at the trailhead information shelters. Your fitness, knowledge, skills and equipment must meet the challenges of the area. All hikers in your group must be prepared for at least the following:

• rugged, uneven ground and slippery conditions on muddy trails, wooden surfaces, boulders and rocky shorelines.
• wading creeks, negotiate steep slopes, climb embankments, and follow an irregular trail.
• damaged structures, wear and tear, storms and other factors may quickly change their condition.
• be prepared for rain & damp mists - Incidents of hypothermia and physical injury increase significantly during prolonged wet period.
• accidents and injuries. It may take hours before help arrives if an accident occurs.