80 – 90 – 80 KM

We wake and make our way to the small porch for breakfast, trying not to wake the canoers sharing our hut. We have a quick coffee or tea, and granola with powdered coconut milk. Today is a long climb up to Tin Hat Hut.

View Part Way up Tin Hat

The rain from the day before is still on the leaves and ferns. The overgrown trail gives us the opportunity to dry the forest with our pants. A valiant effort, but a miserable failure. The good news, however, is that the abundant berries are all freshly washed and ready for consumption.

The trail takes us through clear-cut logging patches. This logging is clearly a big part of the economy and history of the Sunshine Coast, but a bit of an eyesore when walking through it. We push on fairly steadily, taking very few breaks. Our goal is to reach the summit by 1:00.

The mountain is a bit of a mystery. It is named after the tin hats worn by loggers, but the mystery for us is that you can’t see the mountain until you are right on top of it. We pass the time shouting out each kilometer marker we pass. Our goal is marker 90, which we finally reach by 12:45pm.

Tin Hat Hut from Summit

We celebrate with sausage, cheese, and Nutella on crackers, but not necessarily all at the same time. We try to orient ourselves, but are frankly overwhelmed by the number of lakes, snow capped mountains on Vancouver island, and the Strait of Georgia. Somehow, even the outhouse by the shelter looks amazing from the summit.

Knowing how far we have to go back to Fiddlehead, we release our grip on the summit, and descend. We begin counting down the KM markers. We meet quite a few people heading up to the hut – one of the canoeing couples (without their canoe), a group of 4 hikers, a man with his dog, a couple of women, then another couple of men.  Clearly, it is going to be crowded on Tin Hat tonight.

As we arrive back at Fiddlehead, we begin again to consider how Perry is going to find us. Various logging roads go in various directions, but none of them to the Fiddlehead Hut.  We have agreed to sit tight, assuming the car can move, but the hut seems less likely.

I rehydrate broccoli and make soup. We have a nice conversation with locals, and fall asleep wondering when Perry and Steve will get here.