For my birthday this year, I hiked the West Coast Trail (WCT) in Canada with Callisto, Andy, Conrad, Chloe, and Chris.
Carved into the wild edge of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, WCT is one of the most dramatic and challenging coastal treks on the planet, with 50 miles of dense temperate rainforests, towering ladders, bridges, and rugged Pacific shoreline. WCT was established in 1907 to rescue shipwreck survivors and now co-managed by Canada and 3 First Nations, adding a layer of history to its wild beauty. The trek demands serious commitment — from navigating cable cars and ladder systems to timing beach hikes with the tides and wading through rivers. For those who are prepared to answer its call, WCT offers an experience of a lifetime.
Since I finished the hike, I have been thinking about what to write since the experience was overwhelmingly incredible. (Similar to how I felt after I came down from Kilimanjaro.) If I have to distill my experience down to one theme, WCT is a remarkable learning and growth journey for me. I have been hiking, camping, and backpacking for years, and I consider myself to be a relatively competent hiker in California. However, the Pacific Northwest is an entirely different beast: wet forests, mud bogs, washed-out trails and boardwalks, towering ladders, manual cable cars, beaches only passable during low tide, rivers, tide pools, dense fog, and thunderstorms. On Day 1, I often didn’t even know where to place my feet and just blindly followed the boots in front of me. WCT forced me to learn fast and on Day 7, I felt like I was reading the trail like a language I had just learned to speak. The week also taught me many backpacking skills, especially wet-weather secrets. By watching my friends, I learned many useful tips that will help me become more efficient, organized, safe, and stay dry (well, as best as we can) in my future backpacking trips.
I also learned a lot about myself. Before we began the hike, I wasn’t fully confident that I could finish — I have never done a backpacking trip this long before, and I wasn’t sure if my outdoor skills and physical fitness was quite enough. I thought I had to rely on my will power to carry me through. When I finally pulled my boots off at the end of the trail, I was totally wrung out but incredibly proud and exhilarated. At that moment, I realized that my mental strength, which I have always trusted, now has a physical counterpart I spent years building without recognizing. I realized that I can be resilient not only in school or at the workplace, but also in outdoor terrains I am unfamiliar with. I realized growth like this brings me more joy and fulfillment more than any material ever well, and that the right company makes all the difference. I am truly grateful for my friends who went on this unforgettable trip with me and taught me so much — I hope to carry these learnings and realizations for the rest of my life.
Getting into my mid-30s, I often feel self-conscious about getting old, especially when I am with younger colleagues or friends. However, I do feel smarter and stronger with every birthday (especially after my birthday adventures, where I often challenged myself). Perhaps the next step is not to fight the years, but to embrace the wisdom and resilience they have delivered—and to see each birthday not as a countdown, but as an invitation to the next great challenge.
Birthday destinations since 2015:
- 2015 (24) — Mammoth Lakes
- 2016 (25) — Sequoia National Park
- 2017 (26) — Lake Sonoma (boat camping for the first time)
- 2018 (27) — Tahoe (parasailing for the first time)
- 2019 (28) — Half Dome (second time; crushing it for the first time)
- 2020 (29) — Redwood National Park
- 2021 (30) — Alaska
- 2022 (31) — Desolation Wilderness
- 2023 (32) — Burney Falls
- 2024 (33) — Kilimanjaro
- 2025 (34) — San Diego
- 2026 (35) — West Coast Trail (WCT)
今年生日，我和 Callisto, Andy, Conrad, Chloe, Chris 一起重裝徒步穿越了加拿大的西海岸步道（WCT）。
WCT 位於加拿大卑詩省溫哥華島太平洋沿岸的荒野，是地球上最俱挑戰性的沿海徒步步道之一，擁有近 80 公里茂密的溫帶雨林、高聳的木梯、和崎嶇的太平洋海岸線。 WCT 始建於 1907 年，最初用於營救船難倖存者，現在由加拿大政府和三個原住民部落共同管理，為這裡的荒野之美增添了一抹歷史色彩。這條徒步路線的對體力和毅力的要求極高——不僅要操作纜車和攀爬近40架梯子，還需精準把握潮汐時間穿越海灘，更要涉水渡河。對於那些有備而來人來說，WCT 將是一生難忘的極致體驗。
自從完成這趟徒步之後，我一直在思索該如何寫這篇部落格，因為這段經歷實在是太過豐富、令人難以置信（就像我當年剛從吉力馬札羅下山時的感受一樣）。如果將我的體驗濃縮為一個主題，那麼WCT對我而言，是一段非凡的學習與成長旅程。我徒步、露營和重裝已有多年，自認在加州算是有經驗的登山客。然而，WCT所在的太平洋西北地區完全是另一個層級的挑戰：潮濕的雨林、泥濘的沼澤、被沖毀的橋樑與木板步道、高聳的木梯、手拉的纜車、僅在退潮時才能通過的海灘、河流、潮汐池、濃霧，還有雷暴。徒步的第一天，我經常連腳該踩哪裡都不知道，只能盲目地跟著前面的人走。WCT逼著我快速學習，到了第七天，我感覺自己已經能像閱讀一門剛學會的語言一樣，生澀地讀懂這條步道、尋找自己的落腳點了。這一週也教會了我許多重裝徒步的技巧，尤其是應付潮濕氣候的祕訣。透過觀察我的朋友們，我學到了許多實用的小撇步，讓我能在未來的重裝徒步旅程中變得更有效率、更有條理、更安全，也能盡量保持乾燥（至少在我的能力所及範圍內）。
除此之外，我對自己也有了更深的認識。出發之前，我並無十足的把握能走完全程——我從未進行過這麼長天數的重裝徒步，也不確定自己的戶外技能和體能是否足夠應付。（我原本以為自己得完全靠意志力硬撐過去。）當我終於抵達步道終點、脫下登山靴時，身體雖然精疲力竭，內心卻充滿了自豪與喜悅。那一刻，我發現，我一直以來信賴的意志力，如今終於有了可以支撐它的體力——那是多年來默默累積、我卻從未察覺的成果。我發現，我的毅力和韌性不僅限於學校或職場，在陌生的戶外地形中同樣也能支持我前行。我發現，這樣的成長所帶來的喜悅與滿足，遠超過任何物質享受，而旅伴是否合拍，更是其中關鍵。我由衷感謝與我同行的朋友們，讓這趟旅程永生難忘，也教會了我許多——我希望能將這些學習與發現，帶入往後的漫漫人生。
邁入三十多歲中期之際，我常常對「變老」這件事分外在意，尤其是和年輕同事或朋友在一起的時候。不過，每過一個生日，我都感到自己變得更聰明、更強壯（特別是在那些挑戰自我的生日冒險之後）。或許，我的下一步不是與歲月抗爭，而是擁抱歲月所帶來的智慧與韌性，並把每個生日視為下一場偉大冒險的邀請，而非生命的倒數計時。
2015年來的生日旅程：