That time a washed-out bridge turned a 3-day hike into a 5-day epic

Back in 2017, I was on the West Coast Trail in BC and a big storm the week before had taken out a key bridge. The reroute added 12 miles of muddy, overgrown coastal bushwhacking that took our group two extra days. We ran low on food and had to stretch our last freeze-dried meals, which was pretty grim. Anyone else had a route change completely flip the script on a planned trip?

3 comments

3 Comments

skylercooper6d ago

That bridge story from West Coast Trail sounds rough, and I gotta say, running low on food is one of those things that turns a trip from fun to survival mode real quick. Had a buddy who did the Long Trail in Vermont back in '18, a beaver dam had flooded the original path and they had to detour around a marsh that added a solid four miles of ankle-deep muck. They ended up eating instant oatmeal for two days straight, and he still jokes about how he'll never look at a packet of maple brown sugar the same way. It's wild how a little water or a missing bridge can make you feel like you're in a totally different world out there. The trail really does have the final say, no matter how much you plan.

morgan3163mo ago

Read a story once about a group in the Sierra Nevada where a rock slide closed their pass. They had to drop way down in elevation and lost a full day just getting back to where they needed to be. That kind of stuff really makes you respect how little control we actually have out there, doesn't it? Your bridge story sounds like a proper test of spirit, especially running low on food. Makes a normal tough hike look easy.

oliver_mitchell3mo ago

Totally get that feeling of having your plans wrecked by the trail itself. Losing a whole day to elevation like that is a special kind of gut punch, just watching your food and energy drain away. It really does hammer home that you're just a guest out there.