We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.
Last Saturday we had great weather for hiking and I felt it was a wonderful opportunity to visit the small stand of old growth forest on Texada Island Forest Reserve, TIFR land, that lies just to the north of the head of Gillies Bay. It's separated from the Ballpark by an area of swamp and so partly flooded in winter so the best access is from the old logging road called School Road. This area has some of the largest specimens of both common and less common tree species that grow on Texada, including a couple of very large old Douglas Fir one of which is featured in my photo this week. My guess is that this tree is at least 500 years old judging by the diameter and perhaps a sapling when King Henry VIII was on the throne of England. Other species of extra old large trees in the stand are Western Red Cedar and Sitka Spruce. After taking our time exploring this potential parkland forest we speeded up and headed north along new cycle trails towards the bluffs where we would find a sunny spot with a view and to sit and have lunch.
JD.
The base of an ancient Douglas Fir tree in the stand of old growth forest close to the Ballpark in Gillies Bay. The black patches
are the result of a forest fire that burned just the outer part of the thick bark several decades ago.
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