67 – 80 KM

It rains quite hard, not stopping until about midnight. Even cramped, we are happy to be in our island shelter. I heat water for coffee, and we mix powdered milk and granola.

Confederation Lake

Jim announces he is tapping out. He plans to walk back to the campground and repeat the ladies miraculous cab summons. He offers to take out any extra food and trash. We take a selfie of the group, say goodbye, and begin our now three-party ascent to Confederation Lake.

Confederation Lake Hut

The temperature is cool and the trail is relatively well graded, but steep. We make it to the Confederation Lake hut before noon. We have salami and cheese, and admire the lake, the shelter, and our speedy arrival. It is chilly and we quickly begin to cool. The ladies are eager to push on, so we load up and head for Fiddlehead.

There is a surprising amount of up on this steep trail down to Fiddlehead. We chat to pass the time, arriving a little after 4:00pm. The hut seems setup for water taxi access, and the road on the map is much clearer than the road on the ground. We are not sure how Coral’s husband Perry will be able to meet us, but that is a problem for future us.

Fiddlehead Hut

We have rice with potato curry, and plan tomorrow’s up and back day-hike to Tin Hat Mountain. It is the postcard hut for the entire Sunshine Coast Trail. If we can’t bag the entire trail, we are at least going to bag that postcard.

We share the hut with a couple of best friends, and a foursome of canoers. It’s a tad crowded, but everyone is very friendly and able to share…even their snores.