Best trails in Pukaskwa National Park

We had an amazing time on the coastal trail. Decided on this after completing the La Cloche Silhouette last year and wanting to do something similar. Pukaskwa delivered. The trail is likely slightly easier in perfect conditions, but perfect conditions aren't what we had. We took the boat with Doug to the end of the trail on a Sunday and hiking north, finished on Friday morning. Doug runs a classy operation and knows his craft well. Well worth the fare to start South. I didn't consider the idea that the weather might stop us from being able to head out, but Superior can be angry and unpredictable. This in mind, starting South is less of a risky proposition than ending up waiting for the boat for days at the South end of the trail because of bad weather and an inability for the boat to come. The trail itself is quite punishing. There are very few sections of easy and straightforward flat stretches. The majority of the trail is broken into sections of up and down root and rock, rock and boulder scrambles on the coast and sometimes inland, and bald rock faces on the heights. The trail was slow going and we averaged something like 2km/hr. This sounds quite slow until you realize that with rain, trying to move over Boulder scrambles on the Superior coast is extraordinarily challenging and treacherous to say the least. Almost all of the campsites we stayed at were spectacular. Most sites and double sites that are connected with a bear box and a classy and covered outhouse. Most of them have some sort of rocky or sandy beach offering spectacular views of the choice cove or harbour you're staying in. The only negative thing I can say about the majority of the sites is that getting water can be challenging unless you're willing to get wet. Our first night was on a rocky beach at Hideaway Cove. Very quick and easy run from the start of the hike to hideaway and nothing particularly challenging along the way. On day 2 we saw rain coming in the evening so we decided to push as far as we could (17km) out to Fisherman's cove. The trail from hideaway to White gravell was pretty straightforward and the section around North Spruce was very quick and easy. From White Gravel to Fisherman's Cove was a challenging climb up and over a ridge, but without weather it was very doable that day albeit a long day. Fisherman's cove was a stunning spot and well worthwhile camping at. The cove has a beautiful beach and great views of Superior. That night, we had a tremendous amount of rain and decided to take it easy the next day and move to Oiseau Bay. It has been raining all night and we set out mid day to hit Oiseau. The section between Fisherman's and Nichols Bay ended up being the most challenging we had. A good portion of the stretch is out on the coast, and the rain made it very very very slow. Oiseau is a lovely spot but the campsites are set way back from the beach, so it's a trek to get to the water. The next day we set out for Morrison Harbor. Because of the rain the day before, the trail was muddy and slippery. Good rain pants were a must because the trail is quite narrow at parts and we'd get soaked from brushing past all of the vegetation. That day we stopped at Fish Harbor for lunch, also a stunning spot with beautiful beach. Will worthwhile spending a night there as is possible. Morrison is a great spot, and the water is relatively shallow with sandbars to be able to walk out quite far without having to submerge. From Morrison we made the run up to Hook Falls. The coast walk was challenging, and when we turned north to head inland to hook falls, the climb was quite pronounced. In rain I assume that this section would be really treacherous, but by this time the rock was dry and we had an easy go of it. That day we had lunch at Willow River where the beach was beautiful and the sites looked great. Worthwhile to note that we saw almost noone on the trail until we hit somewhere close to Hook Falls where people can day hike or overnight from Hattie Cove. We stayed on Hook Falls 2/3 that night. This was the only campsite we saw that was a little lacking. Access to water was non existent and the site while large and well maintained wasnt very interesting (just a forest view). From that site, you can't really see Hook Falls though you can hear it. From Hook falls all the way back to Hattie Cove the trail was straightforward. The suspension bridge and falls below it are pretty spectacular and were for sure a trip highlight. If you happen to be in Hattie Cove they are well worth a day hike. All in all, excellent trail with beautiful sites. Recommend it as an advanced to expert trail that needs good prep to pull off properly, though in good conditions the hike is pretty straightforward and not super challenging. While there, the park staff had to perform an extraction of a solo hiker who had issues in the weather.