Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday 30th March.

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

Last week our hike was a little shorter than usual as we needed to finish in time to attend a meeting about a shellfish project at North-east Bay.  We started off on School Road at the Ballpark and headed uphill along the old logging road that passes Cape Sheaf Lake, turning off before that to reach a nice grassy bluff with a view towards Gillies Bay. The return route to the starting point used some of the new mountain bike trails that criss-cross the forest on the slopes below the bluffs.

My photo this time was taken earlier in the month when I noticed some caterpillar tents on a conifer, in this case a hemlock tree.  For many years we have had regular tent caterpillar invasions that mainly affect deciduous trees and most often our common Red Alder which are sometimes totally stripped of foliage.  This time the food was the tough needles of a conifer and the tent had a much darker appearance as can be seen in my photo.  Also these are a different species of moth with long brown hairs and are not smooth, but I don't have a name for them yet.  I also noticed they were not being killed by late overnight frosts.

JD.

A different kind of tent caterpillar that had established a fairly large tent on the branch of a hemlock tree.

Next Hike

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

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

Last week we did a modified version of a hike the Trekkers used to do sometimes many years ago that started from Van Anda and reached by lunchtime a bluff on the east end of Spectacle Lake.  Even though there are now several houses on that shoreline the lunch spot still seems quite remote from any local human activity. The route we used in the morning was through a very large clearcut area to the south of the main Blubber Bay Road and then in the afternoon we returned on a very new trail through the forest below the Van Anda TV Tower.

JD.

On a bluff overlooking Spectacle Lake I'm sharing some information about climate change with the other hikers. 

The Next Hike.

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

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

Last week we were again back in the Shingle Beach area, mainly because there were still many areas on the island with lots of snow on the ground where the sun had not yet reached it enough to melt it.  We knew from the previous week that there was plenty of terrain in and around Shingle Beach that was largely snow free and ideal once again for safe hiking.  We picked the coastal trail and enjoyed the bluffs and beaches and the very attractive Secret Beach where the white water, waterfalls and rapids, of Stromberg Creek reaches the sea. 

JD.

Yours truly relaxing in the warm spring sunshine on the trail that follows the coastline north from Shingle Beach.

Next Hike

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

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

Last week when we gathered across from the store in Gillies Bay there was still quite a lot of snow in shady areas and we wondered if it might be a problem for us both while driving and hiking.  As we headed south past Davie Bay we were surprised to find less and less and when we started hiking through the campground and along the beach there was none to be seen anywhere.  For lunch we sat in the warm sunshine on the beach logs near Joe Brown's cabin. Afterwards we split up into two groups and took different routes back to the vehicles.  Everyone agreed it was just the most enjoyable outing in every possible way.

JD. 

Hiking along Shingle Beach on a lovely mild sunny day in early March and the only snow to be seen is on the far away mountains.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 2nd March.

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

Last week the hikers met in Van Anda and the hike followed a circular route from the Blubber Bay Road eastwards through the forest that extends over to the shoreline north of Sturt Bay.  It included a visit to the small inlet called Eagle Cove.  The photo with the hike notice email this week was taken on the hike and shows just how persistent the snow has been this year especially where it's out of reach of the welcome sunshine that has been really getting quite warm now we are close to the beginning of March. Thanks Terry. 

JD.

Hiking in a snowy forest on the Eagle Cove Trails north of Van Anda in February 2019.