Guest Post: Sunshine Coast Trail 2025

Hello, it’s another installment of Hiking with Dad.

This year Rose and I covered part of the Sunshine Coast Trail that goes up Tin Hat Mountain, down to a place called Fiddlehead Landing, up another big hill to Confederation Lake, and then a final long descent to Inland Lake where we parked our car.

I did this hike a few years ago with Pearl. You can read about it here.

In short, our previous trip was very difficult. Despite being summer, the weather changed and got quite cold and rainy. This was the trip that convinced us to buy a new tent, so we wouldn’t have to wake up in puddles of rainwater.

I’m happy to report that this year we had perfect weather.

This is going to sound silly, but part of me struggled to be away from home these few days because I am building a fence right now and the project has a lot of complications and never seems to end. I’m struggling to find the time to get everything done. For me it is difficult to enjoy myself when I know I have a large task that is incomplete. This is true of work as well as my homelife. I think we all look forward to a time when we can relax (the weekend, holiday time, retirement). But, I have to remind myself that life doesn’t begin when the tasks are over. I have to make a conscious effort to enjoy these amazing moments even during times of chaos and stress.  

I don’t read much (sorry audience). Thankfully, Karissa often tells me about what she is leafing through. She mentioned a part of a book about a character who can time travel. And instead of heading off to wild periods in time to see the dinosaurs or attempt to pull Excalibur from the stone he lives each day twice. The first time he lives as any of us would: making decisions on the fly, fretting about what is next, and the second time he relives the day and just appreciates it.

I haven’t figured out how to time travel, but I really did try to make an effort to fully appreciate the moments on this trip.

As usual, we drove and took ferries and waited in lineups. Eventually we were picked up by the offroad shuttle. Rose was really intrigued by this and really wanted to know what it would be like (it was hard to describe a GMC Yukon to a seven-year old).

Our first day we ascended Tin Hat Mountain. There were moments where Rose felt like throwing in the towel. But she was spurred on by the abundance of wild berries available for grazing as we moved onward and upward. When we were near the top she was so excited, she began to run. I couldn’t keep up with my full pack. Fortunately, she would wait for me once we had lost sight of one another.

I was so excited to make it to the top of this mountain. When I last travelled here with Pearl we had a few fleeting glimpses of lakes and peaks beyond as a rainstorm moved in. This year we had a full view of everything that Tin Hat had to offer.

It was windy! When we got up top, the tent pads had been claimed by a group of 7 ladies from Washington. But by bedtime they decided to pack into the hut for fear of their tents being damaged by the wind. This gave Rose and I a chance to tie down every lashing point on our tent and set up camp for the night. It was a dramatic sleep, being woken every now and again by gusts that made the tent sound like an explosion of flapping nylon.

In the morning we began the long descent to Fiddlehead landing. It was hot, we ate a lot of berries, and discovered that Rose prefers hiking downhill as opposed to uphill. This is where we stopped for about an hour, had lunch, and enjoyed a well earned swim.

I will admit, there were moments on the next hike up to Confederation Lake that strained the fellowship of the hike. We sat down at one point for about 15 minutes to stop and reset. We had just descended about 1100 meters of elevation over 9 kilometres before lunch and were beginning another 7 kilometre trudge up to an altitude of 700 meters. This is tricky stuff for anyone.

But, with the help of energy bars and jelly beans we made it! We had arrived at Confederation Lake and had another victory swim.

Our final day we descended 11 kilometres to Inland Lake. We did a side excursion to a place called Anthony Island where we had camped before on previous trips. It was a bit out of our way, but I ran into an old teaching colleague who helped me navigate teaching during the pandemic. It was really lovely to catch up. And he gave us our first taste of fresh food – an apple!

Rose skipped and ran her final section of the trail. Unfortunately, in all the excitement she took a spill and needed to be carried the final couple of kilometres. From the parking lot we scooted off to the ferry, stopped quickly for ice cream, and began the long trek home.

Thank God we had this time together and that of all the beautiful corners of this world we get to have such close access to this most wonderful spot. I am very grateful for my daughter, who is still willing to spend this much time with me. And she is willing to have sore feet and endure hours of uphill grinds to have an adventure with me. I really appreciate that she shares my love of wanting to see what is up around the next corner, and is genuinely awed by the ruggedness of this place.