Cape Scott Preparation

We’re almost there, almost ready to go!

The last few weeks have been crazy, particularly because everyone’s work is also very busy. This week, Yuki’s been staying at work as late as mid night. At the same time, over the last few weeks we’ve started really nail down our preparations and warp up our trip planning.

Planning for a trip like Cape Scott requires enough effort that we can comfortably get through with meals and hiking but that we also have the flexibility to go with the flow. I thought it would be cool to show you some of our google docs which we’re using to prepare for the trip. It’s an evolution from the Garibaldi Lake/Panorama Ridge trip.

When preparing for a camping trip, we set out 1) a gear list, so that we don’t forget any essential items, 2) a meals list, so we have enough to eat, and 3) a schedule, so that we meet milestones along the way. For this trip, there are beaches too so we’ve got maps and tide tables too.

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Schedule and Maps[/caption]

The level of detail of our trip planning depends largely on the length of the trip. For Cape Scott, it will be our longest hiking trip yet, 6 days. We’ve gone car camping in the rockies longer, but there were grocery stores, Tim Hortons, and hot showers along the way. Cape Scott is arguably one of the more remote hikes on Vancouver Island which means that we need to pack in everything and take all our garbage out too. We’ll also be hiking every day so we need to manage our energy levels and time so that we have enough time during each day to reach each milestone.

As a side note, I now know where we spend all of our money. Rather than buying daily starbucks or clothes or stuff, we end up buying camping gear. After Garibaldi Lake, where Kate bought a pack, sleeping bag, and accessories, I did a quick estimate on the camping gear we own. Together, with new expedition sized backpacks, we will be taking over $2,000 worth of gear into the field to Cape Scott. Suddenly, camping seems pretty expensive. Still, it’s some of our most enjoyable time so we’re really paying for what we want most.

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Gear List[/caption]

Cape Scott is supposedly incredibly wild, scenic, and beautiful. It’s a place I’ve wanted to go for a very long time and I’m even happier to have Yuki and Frances too. We were suppose to have another friend come along who was going to supply our transportation there and back but the truck broke down and he’s spending the week getting it fixed. Suddenly, we’re days away from the hike and we don’t have transportation. We had to scramble at work to sign Frances up for a Modo account and then reserve the one and only Modo truck that was still available for the 7 days that we needed. No, there aren’t enough Modo trucks around… We’ve got to pick up a truck at Vancouver City Hall which complicates things somewhat and also pay for the ferry, the daily rate, and the kilometres we drive… an estimated $500.

On top of that, I realized we were missing a meal yesterday so we need to get more food from MEC. As well, this friend was going to contribute a food cache bag and rope as, gas for the stove, a secondary stove, and a skillet. Now we’ve got to pick up that cook ware too.

We’ve got a busy weekend ahead of us. Friday night (tomorrow) we’re celebrating Yuki’s and Ez’s birthday. On Saturday, there’s an annual Civil BBQ with former class mates as well as a Taylor Swift concert.

We leave Sunday. We need to get over to the island and stock up on some last food items. We’ll spend the night in Campbell River where we need to do laundry and pack properly and sort out our gear. On Monday it’s a 4+ hour drive up to the trail head before we hike into our first campsite.

Here’s what most of our food and gear looks like laid out in the living room:

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Food Mapped out by day[/caption]

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Gear Laid out[/caption]

There’s so many exciting things happening but there doesn’t seem to be enough time for it all…and this is just planning for the first of a three week vacation!