Next Hike.

The next hike will be on Saturday, 21st October.

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

Last week we decided on doing a hike we had not done for a year or more and headed for the start of the Mt. Manzanita Trail.  I had trouble finding it and thought we needed to walk north from where we had parked, but it turned out to be a true stone's throw from where we had parked.  Nonetheless we had all got nicely warmed up with the brisk walking on the road and started along the well marked trail through the forest. Once we had reached the edge of the recent regrowth area of forest things got more difficult and there was lots of bushy branches to cut off as the young saplings still had vigorous branches right down to the ground. Once we got onto the open logging road we made good progress up the long but steady climb to the start of the final very steep 'goat trail' to the open bluff at the very top. It was disappointing at first  to find we had climbed into thick fog with nothing to be seen in any direction but the tops of nearby trees. It was windy and very damp in the fog and we searched for a spot with protection from the strong southeast wind.  Then to everyones great surprise big gaps opened up in the fog and suddenly we started to pick out some houses far below us, then Dick Island and Gillies Bay and as we started to eat lunch the whole ocean cleared and we were looking at the full extent of the Vancouver Island Mountains.   What a delight!

JD. 

Lunching on a cool, windy and for a very short while, very foggy day on Mt. Manzanita.