The Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 30th April.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am

Last week there were showers in the weather forecast, but they never came our way and we had a very pleasant day for the hike. We droveup Bell Rd to the Hydro East Junction and turned on to the road that passes Masck Farm parking on one of the gravel pits on the right. The route is mostly downhill and partly through some large recent clearcut areas that we noticed had been well covered by many very fast growing Douglas Fir. Taking a less well used side road into some second growth forest we soon arrived at the south end of Dragonfly Lake after passing a beaver pond that always seems to look very attractive, perhaps because it's quite shallow and has areas of lily pads and other aquatic plants. Our lunch spot was the low bluff at the north end of the lake where we disturbed a male and two female bufflehead ducks.

My photo is of a really tiny fern with fresh green new growth growing at the base of a small rock outcrop. This is a fairly uncommon species on Texada but quite easy to identify as it has fronds of two types, one fertile and one sterile with the fertile ones always growing a little taller than the others. This is called Parsley Fern, or Cryptogramma acrostichoides.
JD.

The Next Hike

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

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

Last week we had yet another dampish day for our hike, and while the rain was never very heavy it seemed to be rainy continuously all the the time.  We drove the short distance to the Airport and then started the circular route by heading down to Coxs Lagoon, the sandy beach close to the north end of the runway.  The tide was out a little way as we walked south along the beach hoping we might see some marine mamals of one kind or another, but none were seen although the small Harbour Porpoise are almost always not far offshore.  We stopped for lunch not far from the Sandbanks and then headed up the steep path to join the old logging roadd that would take us through the forest to the Airport Road and the vehicles.

I took the photo of the native flower earlier in the week on a long botanical hike on the western slopes of Surprise Mountain.  This one has several common names such as mission bells, chocolate lily, rice root and checker lily, but just one scientific name, Fritillaria affinis.

JD.

The Chocolate Lily, Fritillaria affinis, in flower on a steep slope where the deer can't quite get to it to snack.

Next Hike

The next hike will be from Gillies Bay.

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

Last week was the annual beach barbecue which was on a much warmer day than it was last year.  I'm sure everyone had a good time.

My photo for this week was taken on a recent hike in March when we tried out a new trail route going along the coastline north from Shingle Beach campground.  The location is very close to a derelict hut that has no road access.  

JD.

This is a very small fungus growing in short grass on a seaside bluff.  The genus is probably Geoglossum or Earth Tongue

Next Hike from Van Anda & beach potluck at Raven Bay.

The next hike which will be on Saturday, 9th April includes the annual Trekkers Beach BBQ potluck at Raven Bay.
Hikers meet at the Royal Canadian Legion parking in Van Anda at 10:00am and walk to Raven Bay (about 2 1/2 hours).

If you are unable to hike right now, used to hike or are spouses/partners/visitors of Trekkers, you are welcome to come to Raven Bay!
Raven Bay Road is only suitable for 4 wheel drive vehicles. but if you come by car you can park at the junction to the Raven Bay turnoff which is at Slow Farm on the High Road. The walk down to the beach takes ten to fifteen minutes.
There will be a fire and the opportunity to roast oysters, clams and hot dogs and please bring whatever food you wish to eat or share with others. There are logs to sit on, but no picnic tables so bring chairs if you want to sit close to the fire. Also BYOB if you wish.
The tide should be low enough to gather shell fish, but don't forget to have your current Saltwater Licenses.
After the BBQ those those who drove down to the bay will transport the other drivers and those who need a ride back to their vehicles parked on the High Road or in Van Anda.
For more details please get in touch with David Taylor or Russ Sparks. I'm still chasing wild geese on Vancouver Island and will not be back in time for this hike.

JD.

Photo:
Raven Bay, Trekkers Barbecue, April 2015.