When I heard Thelma was planning to hike the West Coast Trail with her brother, I didn’t realize how much preparation and personal risk is involved until I visited their website. Although the trail has enormous trees and endless jaw dropping views, it is tough, very tough and requires a great deal of perseverance. You are required to cross deep gullies on fallen trees, negotiate very steep slopes and follow an irregular, slippery trail. At various parts of the trails you will be wading through rivers, negotiating steep slopes, climbing ladders and using cable cars. It is common for structures on the trail to be unexpectedly damaged by storms and other natural phenomenon. Likewise, the climate of this temperate rainforest can change quickly and dramatically This is a wilderness area and it may be many hours before help can be obtained should an accident occur.
Did she and her brother carefully evaluate their individual skills before agreeing to do the 75 km hike? Eighty to one hundred hikers are seriously injured and evacuated from the West Coast Trail every season. Approximately 200 hikers per year sustain minor injuries and manage to limp off the trail.
Did Thelma have a change of heart about going but she didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to lose face with her friends and family? Although the maximum group size is 10, only Thelma and her brother decided to go.
Thelma disappeared just weeks before she was to leave for BC and meet her older brother, who is probably close to sixty years of age. Reservations, which are optional but highly recommended, can be made 90 days ahead of the day you plan to start your hike and must include two alternative dates. The fee is non-refundable and gives each hiker a guaranteed start date, a weather proof map of the trail, and a hike preparation guide. Before you leave for the trail, you are told to write a trip plan and leave it with a responsible person which details where you are going, with whom, when you plan to return, and what to do if you do not return as planned. All hikers must study the Hiker Preparation Guide, the WCT Map and Tide Tables, attend an orientation session, purchase a park permit, study and know the rules, and much more.
Thelma and her brother would have to discuss many aspects of this expedition in great detail and because she was so busy, I wonder if they had accomplished everything they had to do?
jmo
http://www.westcoasttrailbc.com/trail_guidebook_map.htm
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/pacificrim/activ/activ6a/ii.aspx