A Wombats Adventures: Sombrio to Chin Beach

Sombrio to Chin Beach... The Hike..

The Trail...follow the gray line

We have taken up hiking and we really enjoy it. So being the go-getters we are, we went and got all the goodies one needs to spend countless days in the woods. All this wonderful equipment sat in the house for a couple of weeks. The week prior to our 3 day hike we decided that it was time to check out the equipment. So with our new found knowledge of all our new gear we load up and head off into the woods.

Sombrio Trail Head....

Saturday morning we get dropped off at Sombrio beach and away we go. The tide was out so we had no troubles accessing the trail. At first the trail was not to bad, along the beach till we found the trail head..then it was straight up for a few million meters and then the weaving up and down and in and out of the coast line we go.

The trail was nasty - washouts, missing sections and mud. Sticky, soupy mud and it was everywhere. Several sections were washed out and we had to scurry across many a cliff face to continue along the trails.

Sombrio Beach

Aside from all the trauma my ego was dealt, apparently casual walks in the woods and never hiking with a pack on leads to failure, physical exhaustion and total dehydration just to name a few, we made it to Chin beach.

Chin Beach

Chin beach was beautiful.. big rocky coastline, with several rocky islands on the edge of the beach. We found our home for the night. A secluded little hovel in the cliffface with a nice hedge of some kind of bush, protecting us from the ocean wind. We set up the tent, hung out very sweaty and muddy clothes up to dry and I made a fire. I felt like Tom Hanks from Castaway when that fire roared to life...oh how I wish I had brought Wilson, he would have been so pleased. All along as I stood on the beach thumping my chest yelling "I made fire..Look everyone FIRE!" my wife just shook her head and told me to sit down you foo !! HAHAHA

Just a side note.. 2 very good looking men ran down to the water in the buff and went for a dip.. to very wet and cold eunuchs ran screaming from the water.. those poor guys would need a serious vacuum pump to suck their bits out to where they should be....brrrrrrrr...

After dinner of roasted weenies and pringles, Teddi and I crawled into our snug but oh so warm tent. The sleeping bags we bought really work to keep you warm, but the downside is,.,. they are snug and you feel like a sausage in a tight casing. Trying to roll over was a feat of futility and only made the sleeping bag tighter. Apparently I snore even worse when exhausted and dehydrated.. my poor bear...

During the night it decided to pour rain.. Ya us for leaving our wet clothes hanging out to dry..cause now they were wetter clothes...and friggin heavy!

Every muscle from my nipples to my toes ached. Teddi looks like someone beat her legs with lead pipes.. more bruises then you could count.On the upside they will look like purple stockings in a few day.. ~rawr~

Sleep really did not happen and I was feeling horrid. I had had enough.. I wanted out of this adventure. How do you get out of an adventure that was an 15 km hike from the start and 10 more km to the next trail head?!?!?! You ask people if they know an exit.

Well what do you know, this very nice fellow spends a lot of time in the area and knew of an exit. 2km from the beach to the road.. SOLD !! we loaded up and if I could have run thru the woods squealing like a happy pig I would have.. but I was still feeling like hell and we went at a good pace.
The path out was exceedingly rugged and the surprise logs to cross ravines were not very welcomed. One little slip and bye bye.. We encountered much mud and a lot of hills but we made it to the road. This very nice couple picked us up and dropped us in Sooke.. Ya Paula and Dave!! you 2 are awesome.

We made it home around 2, showered, de-mudded and are ready for bed..

I had fun for the most part and my lovely wife was amazing !