Next hike from Van Anda

The next hike will be on New Year's Day, Saturday, 1st January 2011.

We meet at the Royal Canadian Legion in Van Anda at 10:00am.

Last week our hike day was Christmas Day which turned out to be a cloudy and dull day, but fortunately quite dry after several days of severe gales with lots of rain. We visited Davie Bay and Stromberg Falls where we were rewarded with a great flow of water down the cliff face. Lunch was beside the sea at the secluded camping spot at the mouth of Stromberg Creek.

My photo this week was taken on a recent midweek hike when we scrambled down the steep valley of upper Mouat Creek not far from Bell Road. We sat for lunch beside a boulder strewn section of the creek that is swollen by the recent rains.

JD

Lunch beside the swollen upper Mouat Creek not far from Bell Road.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Christmas Day, Saturday 25th December.

We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last week we hiked from the Hydro East turnoff near Bell Farm along the road that runs north to Pocahontas Bay. It was a cool, windy day with some snow on the ground so we were thankful of the protection of the forest while we were walking and at lunchtime. My photo this week was taken on a recent midweek hike when we headed south past Favada Point on the northwest coast of Texada and had lunch near a large beaver swamp on the old logging road down to tiny Davis Bay. The sea lions have begun to gather again as they did last winter on the rocks and islands between Favada Point and Maple Bay. It was nice to be able to get extra close to them this time and I was able to get some closeup shots of a small group of males that seemed very relaxed about having us visiting with them.

JD.

Male sealions near Favada Point. The darker ones are the more common California and the light one a larger Steller's Sea Lion.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 18th December.

We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last Saturday was quite a dull day, overcast, but with no rain during the hike. We drove down past Davie Bay and turned up the hill past Stromberg Falls and parked under the power lines at the small gravel pit. It's a steady climb up the gravel road which only eases after a while at the turn of on the left onto a very pleasant grassy logging road. We found Stromberg Creek was flooding across the road not far along, but not badly enough to prevent us crossing and we resumed the steady uphill climb. We knew the side trail we were to take was overgrown to such an extent that two past attempts to find the original route had failed, but with saw and pruners we managed to make it through this time and reached the branch logging road that runs down from Thompson Road. This ended at a small creek on the edge of a hillside clearcut and we soon found a knoll with patches of white reindeer moss that was a nice place to have lunch.

JD.

Lunch spot at the edge of a hillside clearcut not far from Thompson Road.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday 11th December.

We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am

Last week we had a shorter hike than usual, but a very lovely day and a great improvement from the dull and rainy days that came earlier. We drove part way to Davie Bay and then hiked from the highway down through a plantation of young pine and fir, a patch of alder wood with stinging nettles and into an area near the shoreline with evergreen huckleberry under some larger trees. It was too early for lunch when we reached the clifftop so we backtracked and then made our way slowly down an overgrown trail to the beach. My photo shows the spot where we had lunch and spent a pleasant time looking for the interesting water smoothed rocks that seem more colourful than usual just here.

JD.

Searching for interesting rocks on a beach not far south of the mouth of Eagle Creek.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 4th December.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am

Last Saturday we were deterred from hiking on the higher ground over towards Russ Creek by snow still on the ground and very icy roads.
Dropping back down to the High Road we found the snow was gone at that elevation and even up on the south slope of Pocahontas. So we hiked the George Lechner Memorial Trail that winds up through the forest to a usually lovely grassy bluff with great views to to the west and the mountains of Vancouver Island. Not this time, however, as we faced a very dark cloud rapidly advancing from that direction and were soon enveloped in swirling mist. It was cool, and we missed the view, but the hike was pleasant enough and much safer than walking on slick ice and snow higher up.

My photo from a recent hike shows a roadside sapling pine that had been quite neatly cut into small pieces by a passing beaver. I've noticed in the past that some beavers travel from time to time between their lakes or swamps and snack along the way. They seem to be mainly after the bark on the younger branches, leaving the limb devoid of bark and almost white in this very distinct way.

JD.