The Next Hike.

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

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

Last week we met in Van Anda and car-pooled to Maple Bay at the invitation of James Mack.  It was a lovely sunny dry day almost ideal for a winter hike and the recent heavy rains meant the little creek at the head of the bay was not very little at all.  The trail through the woods goes past the waterfall and rapids and then meanders up and down in a area where very few of the older trees were logged and there are some superb examples of quite ancient cedar and fir plus elegant arbutus and some mature juniper.  

There were not quite as many marine mammals in the water and on the rocks as we might usually see in January, but members of both species of sealions were resting on the rocks and in tight clusters in the water and we could see a number of basking harbour seals that had hauled out of the water. 

 JD.

Some of the noisy sealions at Maple Bay.  M. Macauley photo. 

The Next Hike will be from Van Anda

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

We meet in the parking area of the Royal Canadian Legion in Van Anda.

We will be walking in the Favada Point and Maple Bay area on the north-west coastline of Texada and on the property of James Mack.  He reports having a large number of sealions there just now plus an extra large gathering of Bald Eagle.  It should be possible to get quite close to the wildlife so be sure to have camera and perhaps binoculars too. In the past I've been able to get some nice videos of the action, but that can be a matter of luck of course.

Last week we had another cloudy day again and once more selected a forest hiking route as there was no point in heading for the high elevation viewpoints.  Driving south part way to Davie Bay we parked at the top of the first hill and hiked north-east towards the middle reaches of Mouat Creek. This is a pleasant enough area with a good road for walking, but rain pouring down made it all a bit dull and damp.  However, it did clear up after a while, and after visiting a neat and well built hunter's cabin on a dead-ended side road we reached the lunchspot on the banks of the roaring creek.  By then the sun had come out and the rest of the hike was dry and much more pleasant.

JD.

Glaucous-winged Gulls, our largest species of gull, on the dock railing in Van Anda.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 16th January.

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

Last week was dry and not windy in the morning, but there was some high cloud about and there probably still some snow on the roads on the high ground, so it was not a good idea to drive up high to check.  Instead we drove south to Shingle Beach to see if the tide was at a suitable level for us to walk along the beach.  There was quite a lot of beach exposed and we found it very pleasant walking except for one or two big trees that had recently fallen across the beach and out over the water.  These required a bit of climbing or bending low to get past them, not a problem and after a while we reached the site of the old buildings, only one of which is still more or less intact.  A short exploration up an old logging road proved fruitless as it had been blocked by timber cutting, so we returned to the beach and sat on logs for lunch.

JD.

 

 Walking back along Shingle Beach in the winter sunshine.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 9th January.

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

Last week we knew there was lots of snow on the higher parts of the island so decided to stick to driving on roads close to the sea.  We headed south past Davie Bay and took the left fork after the bridge over Stromberg Creek.  We parked at the gravel pit not very far past the waterfall parking place and started hiking from there.  There was no snow to be seen anywhere for a while but eventually when we had gained quite a lot of elevation and got onto a side trail the bushes and open areas were dusted with crisp snow.  After fighting through an overgrown section of trail we reached a logging road that is a spur off Thompson Road and were now high enough to be walking on snow covered gravel.  At  the lunch spot the sun had melted most of the snow, but on our return to the vehicles by a different route we were walking on the white stuff, slippery in places, for quite a distance.  We were lucky with the weather as there was no wind and the sun managed to shine at times through gaps in the clouds. 

JD.

At the cool lunch spot below Thompson Bluffs and close to Thompson Road.