Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 17th January.

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

Last week we had a day when it was not raining in the morning,  but the clouds were covering the top of Mt. Pocahontas and a hike in the forest seemed a good choice. We drove up to the lower section of Bell Road and headed into the forest at the far end of Staaf Rd. The walking started with an easy section of old logging road, but once we had reached the edge of the very steep-sided Mouat Creek valley things got a bit tricky.  The trail is well flagged and in the summer is fine enough although the stinging nettles have to be beaten aside in places.  That was not a problem in early January, what did make the going tricky was the wet clayish surface of the ground that made it difficult to avoid sliding down the steep slope.  Once down on the bank of the creek it was very much more comfortable to walk the winding route heading down stream.  

My photo shows some of the hikers on the bank of Texada's largest creek enjoying a very beautiful section of the valley not often visited although a very attractive place to be in both winter and summer.  A different route was used on the return, climbing almost straight up the steep valley side under some more mature conifers to avoid the slippery trail down.  

JD.   

Mouat Creek rushes past towards the sea beside our pleasant lunch spot.