Pioneer Conservationists for the West Coast Trail and the Nitinat Triangle.

When we were younger, BC (Before Children) we heard North Vancouver Teacher Hugh Murray talking about his weekend trips - every weekend trips, to the West Coast Trail and Nitinat Lake.  Plenty of stories, with an equal amount of hardships, not just physical, but political interference too.

We almost went to Hugh's preferred trail but it wasn't the hiking that put us off, it was the part about needing a canoe to paddle Nitinat Lake....., which meant portaging, a far worse hardship that Bowron Lake circuit.

We settled for a hike into the most northern part of Vancouver Island, to Cape Scott, first in 1973, and a second time in 1976, but to San Josef Bay.  On the BC Ferries trip from Vancouver we heard from a fellow traveler that there was a circuitous day hike, with a fantastic view from a mountain top and then down to a pristine beach seen by the few.   Unexpectedly, but prepared, we ended up staying overnight, near that "pristine beach".   It was the incoming tide that cut off our retreat once we realized that EVERYONE who had preceded us had faced the same dilemma, an impass, at sea level, a rock wall that towered above us with no way around, which went a long way to explaining WHY the trail looked so well worn and the fact that there was no trail head FROM San Josef Bay, via the beach!

Cape Scott map Provincial Parks  Type in the search Box:  "San Joseph Bay"

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Sierra Club

The Nitinat Triangle is causing the B.C. forest industry concern.

 ......According to a Council of Forest Industries press release last Wednesday, "the forest land in the Nitinat Triangle is some of the most productive forest land in B .C. B.C. Forest Products holds tree farm licence No . 27, which was issued twelve years ago and 90 per cent of it lies within the proposed triangle. The licence was issued in 1958 by then minister of lands and forests Robert Sommers. Later that same year, Sommers was convicted in B.C. Supreme Court on four counts of accepting a bribe and one count of conspiracy.   - Bruce Curtis  Page 16 of 20  Ubyssey

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Tim Leadem

Hikers who enjoy these trails - and I certainly include myself within this group - owe considerable thanks to the conservationists who had the foresight and fortitude to fight to preserve the lands upon which we walk.  Humphrey Davy, Jim Hamilton, Hugh Murray, Karen McNaught, Ric Careless, John Willow and Gordy Price all engineered the West Coast Trail and the hikes around Nitinat Lake in order to promote the area and conserve it.  The Juan de Fuca Trail benefited from similar efforts from the Sierra Club members Bruce Hardy, Chris Nation, John Newcombe and Greg Darms.  The Preservation of the Camanah Valley is due largely to the hard work of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee.  A large chunk of the Walbran Valley has been saved from clear-cut logging through the combined efforts of several environmental groups, including the Carmanah Forestry Society led by Syd Haskell.  - Tim Leadem -Author - Hiking the West Coast Trail of Vancouver Island.

Humphrey Davy

Jim Hamilton

Hugh Murray   North Vancouver Teacher and introduced pinching Italian Honey bees at the Outdoor School near Squamish.

Page 17 of 20  et al in Ubyssey edition of  January 29 1971

Karen McNaught

Ric Careless


John Willow fought passionately for what he believed in, especially the environment. In 1969, he was a founding member and leader of a dedicated group of young British Columbians focused on protecting the magnificent forests and lakes of the Nitinat Triangle along the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. This renegade group called themselves the "Sierra Club of Western Canada" and they were successful in their campaign to gain park status for Nitinat.

Gordy Price


Juan de Fuca Trail

Bruce Hardy


Chris Nation

John Newcombe

Greg Darms

fought passionately for what he believed in, especially the environment. In 1969, he was a founding member and leader of a dedicated group of young British Columbians focused on protecting the magnificent forests and lakes of the Nitinat Triangle along the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. This renegade group called themselves the "Sierra Club of Western Canada" and they were successful in their campaign to gain park status for Nitinat. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timescolonist/obituary.aspx?n=john-willow&pid=157949822&fhid=14845#fbLoggedOut

fought passionately for what he believed in, especially the environment. In 1969, he was a founding member and leader of a dedicated group of young British Columbians focused on protecting the magnificent forests and lakes of the Nitinat Triangle along the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. This renegade group called themselves the "Sierra Club of Western Canada" and they were successful in their campaign to gain park status for Nitinat. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timescolonist/obituary.aspx?n=john-willow&pid=157949822&fhid=14845#fbLoggedOut