Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday 30th September.

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

Last week we drove towards Bobs Lake and parked at the gravel pit not far from the entrance to the campsite.  Taking a circuitous route through the forest and along part of the gas pipeline right of way we eventually reached Angel Lake, our lunch spot for the day. It was a lovely fall day for a hike and there was no sign yet of hunting activity, but that is bound to change all too soon. 

JD.

Lovely Angel Lake on a perfect day in September. Twin Peaks is the high point in the distance.

Next Hike

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

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

Last week we drove south past Bobs Lake and Angel Lake and parked where the  Anderson Bay Road runs next to the natural gas pipeline for a short distance.  Parking there we then followed the pipeline right of way uphill to the point where the start of the Twin Peaks trail is marked by a couple of cairns. We did the usual thing and visited the side trail to the north viewpoint before taking the steeper trail to the south peak where we ate lunch.  The weather was near perfect with great views in all directions and the sun still strong enough we made use of the shade under the branches of the small trees.

For a few weeks in summer you can often see a fairly large swallow-like bird darting about high in the sky as they "hawk" after high flying insects.  If they happen to be lower down you may be able to see the white bars on the wings, but few people ever get a chance to see one on the ground although I have seen them resting in the middle of our quieter roads after dark.  We have Candi to thank for her excellent photo of a Common Nighthawk resting on the ground. 

JD.

 

The Common Nighthawk is a summer visitor to Texada that we see in flight quite often, but rarely when it's on the ground.

Next Hike

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

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

Last week we drove not far south on the road to Davies Bay and parked at the first red gate on the right.  From there the old logging road has some places where the TIFR logging company has replanted the forest with a variety of tree species that are not common on Texada.  Of special interest are a cluster of the giant Sequoia redwoods that are native to the mountains of eastern California, the Sierra Nevada.  To see some of the worlds largest and oldest giant specimens of this species try to visit the Sequoia National Park sometime.

I also noticed they had planted a few deciduous trees that I did not recognize at first, but could see that they looked very similar to the Silver Birch I know from the British Isles. When I checked out the  photos later at home I figured they were actually a native BC birch called Paper Birch, Betula papyrifera.  This species has male and female catkins that are open before the leaves come out and the female ones develop into these green cones you can see in my photo.  Eventually the cones ripen and break up to shed many small seeds with thin paper like wings attached and these get dispersed by the wind.

JD. 

Betula papyrifera - the paper or canoe birch tree leaves with immature green cones. The trunk of this young tree is already quite white.

Next Hike

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

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

Last week we decided to start our hike right at the Sunday Marketplace next to the Ballpark, with no driving and a longer time for walking.  Actually we spent so much time looking at things in the forest that the distance we covered was much the same as usual.  Very quickly we were in the area of old growth forest that runs parallel to and on the north side of the large swamp that extends west almost to the Community Hall. The largest trees here are real old timers with several firs and cedars that are many hundreds of years old.  One common understorey shrub in this patch of forest is Devils Club and we were slowed down when we found it had spread over the trail we were trying to follow.  This plant is so totally covered with spines that one has to take great care to avoid getting a sudden and painful experience should you accidentally come into close contact with any part of the plant.   It very seldom flowers, but I have noticed that sometimes when it gets a bit more sunlight exposure after living in deep shade, which it prefers to do, and only then the odd flower spike appears.  The scientific name, Oplopanax horridus, is a good one and you can see in my photo for this week just how nasty it really is.

Our lunch spot was a bluff high above Gillies Bay and it was a memorable day being able to watch for a few minutes some humpback whales actually in the bay not far from shore behaving in quite a frisky fashion for such large creatures.

JD.

Oplopanax horridus or Devil's Club with the seldom seen bright red berries.

Next Hike

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

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

Last week we had another very pleasant day and did the very popular Mt. Grant circular trail route.   There are several viewpoints on this hike and more than one spot where we can sit and enjoy  interesting views in different directions — to the west towards Mt. Davies and Vancouver Island, to the north and to the east looking towards Powell River and the distant Coast Mountains. Now that the prevailing winds have kept the forest fire smoke away from the coast for a while it's well worth climbing again to some of our higher viewpoints.

My photo this week is of a very fresh specimen of a butterfly that is fairly common in the summer on the higher parts of the island. The Pine White lays it's eggs on the needles of conifers and the adults are especially attracted to flowers with some yellow colour in them.  

JD.

Pine White butterfly, [Neophasia menapia] feeding from a roadside daisy near Mt. Davies.