Charlie Power’s backpacking expedition along the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail was hardly perfect.

For one thing, the Stampeders fullback and special-teamer overstuffed his backpack to the point that he was lugging around 30 kg for the four-day adventure through the rainforest located on the south end of Vancouver Island.

“First-timer’s mistake,” Power laments. “That was a lot of weight to be carrying for that many days.”

And while Power definitely plans to lighten his load the next time out, the one item he will be adding to his checklist is hiking poles. He didn’t have a set for his rainforest trek and admits to having borrowed one of his girlfriend’s poles when he got leg-weary negotiating the trail’s seemingly endless creek valleys.

Then there was the food.

The travelling party — in addition to his girlfriend, two former school chums were in the group — subsisted on store-bought dehydrated meals.

“They were terrible,” reports Power, who vows to make his own meals for his next trip.

The first time he had a chance to eat upon returning to civilization, as it were, the famished Power was on a culinary mission.

“Pizza,” he declares. “I had 10 pieces and I felt disgusting afterwards.”

Then there was the mud all along the trail.

And yet . . .

“We’ll definitely do another backpacking and hiking trip,” says the Okotoks product.

The Power party travelled eight km on Day 1, which concluded with camp being set up on a scenic beach, before a 12-km stretch on Day 2 that included a dozen valleys.

Down one bank, across the water, up a bank, repeated over and over.

It was in the latter stages of all the up-and-down stomping that Power second-guessed himself for the sojourn into the wilderness. But he survived, and things got much more tolerable the rest of the way as the group marched another 12 km on Day 13 before wrapping up with 14 km on the fourth and final day.

The location of the trip was picked randomly after some online research and the beauty of the terrain and surrounding land and sea made for some breathtaking photos.

The hardships along the way were overshadowed by the scenery and the sense of adventure and accomplishment

“As challenging as it was,” says Power, “it was definitely worth it.”