Destined to be another scorcher, so we made a reasonably prompt start to try and beat some of the heat. First stop was the Manzanita Bluff cabin, which in non-Covid times is the go-to first night stop. It does have great, level camping areas, but the folks who stayed there said it was brutally hot in the afternoon sun and had no water source. Wednesday Lake was clearly the right choice for a hot day even if the tent pitches were rocky and less than level!
However, the view from the bluffs was spectacular, looking out over Savary Island to Vancouver Island beyond. To try to adhere to Camino best practices, we cracked out the stove and made Italian instant coffee. Not as good as the real thing, but not too shabby in the circumstances.
After the steep downhill from the bluff, the trail was quite pleasant for long stretches: mossy glades, soft underfoot, and lots of shade – which was appreciated on another hot day. We have decided to turn the first three day stint into four days, so we stopped for the day early in a nice shady campsite at Plummer Creek, with the nearby creek big enough to strip off and sluice off the sweat and grime. Yay! There was lots of level, soft tent pitches, but due to the forest, our view of the night sky from our fly-less tent was almost totally obscured.
2saunter 