Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 30th July.

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

Last week we hiked to the top of Black Mountain. Now that the weather has become quite a bit warmer if was very pleasant to be walking in the shade of the forest for much of the time. There are plans to log some of the forest at the foot of the mountain, but hopefully the forest on the steep slopes where our trail zig-zags towards the summit will remain untouched.

My photo for this week was taken the mid week hike on an old logging road not far from First Lake. I think the extra rains in spring and early summer contributed to the outstanding natural floral displays this year.

JD.

Foxgloves and daisies on an old logging road near First Lake. Neither of these two species is native to Texada.

The next hike.

The next hike will be on Saturday, 23rd July.

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

Last week we hiked in steady rain from Spragge Road down to Raven Bay where we ate lunch, in the rain, and hiked back by a different route, also in steady rain. What a curious summer we are having — so much rainy weather and not much sunshine.

My photo this time is one I took on a recent midweek hike when it was actually dry and quite sunny. Our native Garter Snake is quite often seen in pools, creeks and swamps where they hunt for small fish, tadpoles and small frogs. This one was in a small roadside pool not far from the airport.

JD.

A garter snake swimming in a small pool of water where it was probably searching for tadpoles.

Next Hike — meet at Community Hall

The next hike will be on 16th July, 2011.

We meet this week at the Community Hall in Gillies Bay at 10:00am to avoid the Sandcastle crowds.

Last week we hiked from Hydro East Road up through the forest and under the wires to the small lake near the top of the right of way.

My photo today is of a neat little plant that grows on the forest floor and flowers at this time of year. A couple of common names for it are Little Prince's Pride and Menzies Pipsissiwa and the scientific name Chimaphila menziesii. The distribution in BC is more or less restricted to Vancouver Island and the adjacent mainland, but there are a few records of it being found north towards Prince Rupert.

JD.

Little Prince's Pine flowering in July on the forest floor near Surprise Mountain.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday 9th July.

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

Last week we ran into some problems on the old trails we were hiking and a lot of time and effort was spent clearing along the way. Quite unexpected was a stretch of old logging road that was flooded over such a long distance we had to cut long bypass trails to avoid the mud and water. Eventually we reached the lunch spot on the west side of Third Lake about an hour later than my plan, but everyone agreed the effort was well worth it in the end.

JD.

PS. This Saturday is the day of the beach-side pot luck at Sandy's.

Lunch beside quiet and secluded Third Lake.

Next Hike & invitations.

The next hike will be on Saturday, 1st July.

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

There are two invitations, one for this Saturday, one for next Saturday.

Brian & Rosemary are inviting hikers back to their house in Gillies Bay on this Saturday for drinks and little bites right after the hike.

Then for next week the invitation is to a fabulous.........

MOUAT BAY BEACH PARTY & POT LUCK - Sat., July 9, 4 pm

Please join us for our second Mouat Bay beach party and pot luck!

Try our crazy 20-hoop obstacle croquet or horseshoe pitch and join the fun.

Bring your favorite squeeze, something for the pot luck table and BYOB.
Hope to see you there!

Sandy & Lee
(604) 223-0171

My photo this week was taken a few days ago on the north side of Surprise Mountain. These vivid spikes of flowers are the only part of this plant that rises above the ground, the rest being stems with roots that make use of the mycelium of a mushroom species that itself takes food from organic material in the soil. There are several different common names for this plant, Candystick, Sugarstick, Candystripe and Barber's Pole are some, but all reflect the brilliant colour pattern of this perennial plant. In BC this species seems to be pretty well limited to Vancouver Island and in just a few places on the mainland near the coast.

JD.

The vivid spikes of the Candystick plant, Allotropa virgata.