On our first day we reached White River. We started out around 5:00 p.m., — which in retrospect was a late start — and luckily had the long northern days on our side. After some arduous time on the trail, we pulled into the White River area at 9:30 p.m. The other alternative for the first day's hike is to go to Plater Harbour, which is an easy few hours in and a beautiful introduction to the trail. Note, however, that there is only one campsite available there and it is often booked due to its easy accessibility going into and coming out of the trail. If you start earlier than we did, White River is a reasonable goal, however, by the time we arrived we were snapping at one another and ready to set up camp anywhere.  
Two sets of sites are available at this location: one down river, which requires retracing your steps to the main trail the following day; the other sites are up the roaring White river on the Coastal trail and branch off to overlook the river. The sign indicating the two options claims the campsites are a little over two kilometers up and down the trail. Perhaps we were just tired but it seemed they were counting two kilometers as the crows flies as opposed to the steep ascents and descents we made to arrive at the camping area (we chose an upriver site). However, we stopped grumbling and complaining when we saw where we would stay.
  Due to the low usage of the Coastal Trail, the sites aren’t overly crowded (and according to the rangers, we were in peak season) and the most beautiful site was still available. It is perched on an outcrop of rock that overlooks a set of rapids. Our voices muffled by the continuous roar, we set up camp on the pre-prepared tent pad, made a quick dinner, stashed our foodstuffs in the nearby bear locker and crawled into bed.
Seconds passed and we were asleep. Morning came with its delight of swirling eddies and the monstrous pile mid-stream boulders were too much to resist. We swam and lounged for the duration of the morning, then packed up and headed towards Willow River.
Willow River is breathtaking. Its expanse of sandy beach curls around the crescent cove and winds amongst the granite as far as the eye can see. The slow-moving Willow River inlet is dark with sediment and, apparently, rich with fish (if you intend to fish, read the strict guidelines in the park's brochure). The one curiosity at Willow River was the rumours of a rogue bear. This bear had apparently visited a group of young teenagers from Michigan early that morning. Apparently he had strolled into camp — amongst a flurry of screaming teens — picked up a pack containing typical bear snacks — toaster strudels, pop tarts, chips, cookies, and a bit of fruit — and headed back into the woods.  
A few moments later, the bear returned for another sack of goodies and again headed into the bush. I suspect the bear spent the day giddy on a sugar high and crashed for the late afternoon. The rangers cautioned us about this bear before we headed onto the trail and most people we’d met were being diligent about using the bear lockers that are available at each site.