Mid-Week Hike

The mid-week hike will be on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. 
We will meet in Gillies Bay at the Ballpark @ 10:00 am.
The hike will be slow-paced.  Bring a lunch. 
We alternate the hike between Tuesdays and Wednesdays to allow more hikers to attend.

 

Next Hike from Van Anda.

The next hike will be from Van Anda on Saturday, 9th January.

We meet at the Legion parking at 10:00am.

Last week we hiked on a rainy and foggy Saturday from a point part way down the hill to Hydro East. We hiked down towards the sea for a while and then north along roads through recent clear cuts until we reached a small waterfall that is hard to see properly because of the trees and brush.

My photo this week is a change from the usual as this one shows not what we saw on the previous hike, but instead, what I hope we will see on the next one. On the west side of Texada just north of Favada Point a few sea lions have been hanging around for a few days and James has invited us to hike there and perhaps get a good view of the visitors out on the rocks. So the photo this time is of some of the California Sea Lions that were there this week.

California Sea Lions near Maple Bay. Photo by James Mack.

Next Hike

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

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

Last week it was foggy over the sea and most of the lower parts of Texada, so we set out to get above the dismal fog in Gillies Bay and up to the sunshine I felt sure we would find if we went high enough. It turned out to be only about 800 feet thick and when we drove onto Hydro East Road at Bell Farm we had perfect weather for hiking. This time we used the longer southern route to reach the forest trail up Black Mountain. I decided on this hike because I figured we would have little if any snow to contend with on the ground on the steep slope, and sure enough the trail was clear even though the old logging roads did have some snow and ice and were slippery in places.

It was cold and shaded at our usual lunch spot so we back-tracked the short distance to the small bluff with Manzanita bushes. This faces due south and was just a perfect spot to enjoy the view .

JD.

Boxing Day high above the fog on the top of Black Mountain. This view looks south to Mt. Grant and Mt. Davies.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Boxing Day, 26th December.
We meet at Gillies Bay Ballpark at 10:00.

Last week we hiked into Big Dragonfly Lake through a large area of recently logged and replanted forest. Around the lake the forest is still standing and we had just a small mossy bank to sit on at the water's edge. The trail to the far end of the lake still needs a little cleaning so that we can sit next time on the low bluff where the water is deep enough for swimming. That should make a nice destination for a warm summer day.

For my photo this week I picked an older one that really suits this holiday season — a view of Gillies Bay on a winters day when the snow was still fresh on the tree branches.



Looking down into Gillies Bay on a winter day in December, 2008.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas.
JD.