Day 1 Sarah's Point to Bliss Portage

SCT Day 1 - Sarah Point to Bliss Portage

7/14/2023

The official start or end of the SCT, British Columbia

After an exciting ride from the Sunshine Coast shuttle service, we were dropped off at a rough gravel pad right at the Sarah Point hut. The ride was a rugged 4 wheel drive adventure in itself on abandoned logging roads full of overgrown berry bushes scraping the sides of the van in “Canadian pinstripes” as the undergrowth fights to find its pieces of sunshine and grow quickly in the summer weather. The shuttle driver showed off his primo berry picking spot and entertained us with tales of bear sightings and misadventures in the area.

Sarah Point is the official starting off point for the Sunshine Coast Trail and its view of the ocean on the point did not disappoint. We found incredible views of the Salish Sea, a cool ocean breeze to keep the bugs at bay, and numerous tent pads with sweeping views in all directions. A small stream provides a steady water source about 200 meters around. In the middle of it all, one of the famous SCT huts sits sentinel over the point. These SCT huts are not as simple as Isle Royale’s 3 sided screened shelter, and not as crowded and filthy as the Appalachian Trail huts, but are rather well thought out cabin like structures with an open are for tables in the bottom and an open loft for sleeping above. The Powell River PAWS trail volunteers clearly take pride in their new backcountry areas and we found the huts to be almost dollhouse like in their look.

While this location was outstanding and we spend a few hours hrs beach combing and taking in the new Pacific Northwest views, we were antsy to get down the trail and begin our adventure and break in our bodies to the weight of heavy packs.

Just down the coast from the huts, the trail begins, kilometer zero, and snakes along the full Sarah Point area with more camping platforms, which are common in Canadian provincial parks.

The trail is marked with orange blazes and we found it to be clearly labeled and marked with distance postings every kilometer. This portion of the trail was extremely rocky and undulating considerably for the full day of hiking. Eyes were focused downward watching every step. There was a mossy, lush fern forested floor markedly dry for this time of year. Huge fir and cedar trees reached in straight shots to the sky in arrow straight trunks. It’s easy to see how this area is known for its timber industry.

Around 2 miles down the trail, we came upon Feather Cove, a small rocky beach popular area landing spot for kayakers and outfitted with several tent platforms for campers. This area boasts epic views into the Desolation Sound Maritime Park and in our opinion, even better than the outstanding view at Sarah Point. At low tee you can explore the rocky crevices for starfish and oysters.

Another few miles of yo-yo hiking up and down rocky hillsides leads you to Bliss Portage Road and the new shelter complete with birdhouse and ornate pit toilet entryway. Clearly the volunteers had some fun making this spot quaint. The only draw back was the short hike to the coastline to view ocean sunsets and the rocky shoreline.

Temperatures were in the high 70s during the day making for very warm and sweaty climbing with our loaded down packs. Despite reducing the weight of our pack to 25 & 28 pounds, the water we needed to carry is unusual compared to our normal midwestern hikes. The light breezes helped cool us down and keep the bugs away until the evening.

I was surprised how much more difficult day 1 felt than i was expecting. It felt like we were creeping along at such a slow pace, sweating more than required, but hopefully as the days get going we’ll get our strong legs back underneath us.