John Young's Out There: Sunshine Coast Trail - August 19-21, 2016 -an Island Mountain Ramblers' Outing

The view from Fairview Bay

The Sunshine Coast sure lived up to its name. Sun! Sun! Sun! And what a trail! Well-signed, scenic, and with wonderful facilities - huts, outhouses, and tables. And surprisingly not crowded.

These blackberries are yummy!

The five of us started out on Friday in the early afternoon from the trailhead near Saltery Bay. We immediately encountered "The Escalator," a steep hill, the first of many between there and Fairview Bay. In fact, we had a cumulative elevation gain of about 450 meters in seven kilometres. But, we also had some beautiful views, as well as some beautiful forest to admire.

Susann enjoying the moss-shrouded forest.

One of the many scenic viewpoints en route to Fairview Bay

I can do it, I know I can!

This old chain looks pretty neat!

The fish farm

Fire weed along the power line road, the only unpleasant section of walking (only a few minutes though). But it was good for blackberries.

Wow! Look at this maple tree!

And look at the way these roots grew right around the old stump!

Then, after about three hours of hiking we reached the Fairview Bay Hut, and were glad to find a pool of water in the nearby creek. There was one other hiker there, Mike, from the U.S. Saturday two others from Olympia, Washington, arrived. The log book, though, showed a steady stream of visitors, from many parts of the world. Few, though, from the Sunshine Coast!

What a beautiful hut! Bug proof too!

And Friday night we were treated to a wonderful sunset.

Ah, this is the life!

The Saltery Bay Ferry rumbles by

On Saturday, we hiked the two hours up to Rainy Day Lake, where there was another of the 13 huts on this wonderful trail. It was a steady uphill, gaining about 500 meters. We saw one other hiker up there, a young guy who was just finishing the whole trail (180 k) in eight days!