Early in the morning, we'll pick you up in Nanaimo and drive to Gold River. We'll stop for lunch in Campbell River and check your backpacks. Any extra luggage can stay on the bus; you can buy anything you're missing there. In Gold River, we'll board a floatplane and fly along a beautiful route following Nootka Sound to near Escalante Point. From there, the trail leads across a beach to a small creek, where we'll set up our first camp after about 1.7 kilometers. The beach at Escalante Point is one of the most beautiful on the entire trail, and it's well worth exploring the caves, coves, and headlands.

We plan the stage so that, at low tide, we can cross a tricky wave-cut channel north of Split Cape, 6 kilometers from camp. There, a group of spectacular rock pinnacles awaits us, which we'll explore when the tide is right. We'll cross the channel either by carefully climbing or by traversing a vegetated ledge. It's the only truly difficult section of the trail. Afterward, we continue for another 1.5 kilometers over rugged sandstone, or, at high tide, along sandy paths. At Split Cape, we'll admire conglomerate rocks sculpted by the sea before hiking 4.5 kilometers across beach and sandstone to the beautiful beach with sand dunes at Barcester Bay, where we'll spend the night.

Today we begin our hike on a flat strip of sand at the edge of the rocky plateau. 4.5 kilometers south of Barcester Bay lies a black sand beach with fascinating rock formations, sandstone domes, and larger rock pinnacles. Here, bald eagles are often spotted scanning for prey from above. Around the point, we might hear or see sea lions. At a good campsite with excellent water, we refill our bottles, as water is scarce until the next camp. Soon, the lighthouse at Estevan Point comes into view. About a kilometer beyond the lighthouse, we set up camp in the woods and rest up for the pebbly beaches the following day.

Around Estevan Point, hiking on the beach can be quite exposed in bad weather. From the lighthouse, we initially follow the remains of an old telegraph road through the woods, which once connected the lighthouse to the village of Hesquiat. Afterwards, we cross "Billion Boulder Beach." If the tides are right, we can walk around the boulders on the sandstone plateau, but this involves wading through the water in our hiking boots. With permission, we camp in the Hesquiat village reserve and hope to chat with Dianne Ignace, who lives there with her family.

We leave the village, cross Purdon Creek, and hike along a mix of rocky and sandy beaches to the highlight of the day: the open beach at Anton's Spit. Here we might stop for lunch or simply enjoy the scenery. At the northern end of the beach, we climb a small rocky step and pass the rocky headlands of Le Claire Point. We then reach a lovely pebble beach at kilometer 40, where we spend the night.

On the last day, we hike the remaining 5 kilometers to Boat Basin, crossing numerous small bays and rocky outcrops, and, where necessary, skirting the headlands through short stretches of forest. We respectfully traverse another First Nations reserve. At Boat Basin, if possible, we visit Cougar Annie's Garden with a guided tour by Peter Buckland, who has renovated and developed the garden over nearly 60 years. Cougar Annie, whose given name was Ada Annie Rae-Arthur, arrived in Hesquiat as a settler in 1915 and reclaimed approximately two hectares of land from the dense forests. Afterward, we hike a short trail to the dock on Hesquiat Lake, where the floatplane picks us up and takes us back to Gold River. After lunch in Gold River, we drive back to Nanaimo.