Ahousaht youth work to repair Walk the Wild Side Trail

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The Walk the Wild Side Trail, one of Ahousaht's tourism ventures, received a much-needed face-lift this summer thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Ahousaht administration and four Ahousaht youth workers.

Dwayne Little, Ivey Campbell, Terri Robinson and Floyd Campbell Jr., along with their supervisor, Richard Mirau, have been busy widening the trail, building bridges, stair cases and repairing cedar board walks along several kilometres of the majestic trail.

The four youth were hired under the Environment Youth Team Program which subsidizes a portion of their wage while sponsors provide training. They first completed two weeks of training and the remaining eight weeks were dedicated to restoring and improving the trail.

The trail begins at the cranberry bog behind Maaqtusiis School and meanders via a cedar plank boardwalk into the old-growth forest. The boardwalk is in place to protect the vulnerable root systems of all that grows in the forest.

The boardwalk emerges onto beautiful Ball Beach, then down the shore reenters the forest to continue to the next beach. The trail extends to Cow Bay on the western side of Flores Island.