Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 27th November.

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

Last Saturday we decided to not go far from Gillies Bay as the snowline was low on the bluffs above the bay. A short drive to the Texada Airport and then hiking down to Cox's Lagoon and along the beach to Sandbanks was really quite nice, cool certainly, but with no wind blowing not at all unpleasant. We searched in vain for the tiny black dorsal fins of the Harbour Porpoise that were here every time we visited through from early spring to late summer. Lunch at the base of the sand slide then up the steep path and back to the start on the old logging roads.

My photo is one I took on the recent hike north from Hydro East. A small creek appears from the dark forest and plunges down a series of small steps in the unusually pale bedrock. The short vegetation on both sides and mossy rocks here and there make a strikingly attractive natural rock garden scene that I just had to capture.

JD.

A natural rock garden scene beside a logging road north of Hydro East.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 20th November.

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

This year was remarkable for the extra rain we had towards the end of summer and the result has been a better year than usual for mushrooms. Another result has been the abundance, size and juicyness of the glossy black berries on our evergreen huckleberry. In recent years they have tended to be quite small and somewhat dry and lacking in flavour, perhaps because the rains started later in those years. I have often pointed out that this species of shrub, Vaccinium ovatum, and sometimes called black huckleberry is actually quite uncommon in most of coastal BC. It's rare around Powell River and on the Sunshine Coast, but extremely abundant over much of Texada. The fruit is eaten by many birds including grouse, and mammals such as racoons and humans who find it sweet and tasty when gathered along hiking trails in the fall. My photo shows some heavily laden branches near our lunch spot on a recent hike.

JD.

The juicy ripe berries of Evergreen Huckleberry, Vaccinium ovatum, in November

Next hike from Van Anda

The next hike will be on Saturday, 13th November.

We meet at the Legion in Van Anda at 10:00am.

Last week we hiked north from Hydro East and found quite a few edible mushrooms in this area of fairly open mossy forest. Just before lunchtime we decided to explore a well used ATV trail that branched off to the right and headed steeply downhill, curious as to where it might end. I was hoping for a nice viewpoint from an open bluff, but instead it ended on a rocky beach where people had camped not too long ago.

My photo is one I took back in early September on a hike to Black Mountain. On Texada there is a small plant that has the common name Blue-eyed Grass. It likes damp areas such as ditches and the margins of swamps, but it's not a grass and has thin flat leaves that make it look rather like a miniature iris. Much less common is a close relative, Golden-eyed Grass or Sisyrhinchium californicum, with lovely buttercup yellow flowers.

JD.

Golden-eyed Grass, Sisyrhinchium californicum in a roadside ditch.

The Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 6th November.

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

The mid-week hike this week visited Davie Bay and Stromberg Falls. The falls are still dry as there has not been enough rain to get them into action yet. However, the creek below the falls does have quite a lot of water as the two caves are pouring lots of underground water into it just now. And yes, there are two caves as there is a second one we don't usually visit quite close to the parking place. My photo was taken at Davie Bay shortly after our visit to the falls. A slight breeze was gently sweeping the morning mist away from the north end of the bay

JD.

Davie Bay as the morning mist was clearing.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 30th October.

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

Las week we hiked along Thompson Road for a while but instead of turning to go up onto Thompson Bluffs we continued to the next road juction on the left. This side road climbs up through some thick second growth forest and end on a ridge where my trail to Third Lake and the gasline starts. It needed some cleaning on the first part as the salal has grown in since the last time we worked on it. Lunch was on a wooded ridge with views to the west towards Vancouver Island. This area had a few good mushrooms including some fresh pines.

My photo this week was taken on a recent hike near the top of Twin Peaks. This caterpillar, one of the largest found in our area, becomes an adult after spending the winter in a chrysalis. The front end is the one with the four pairs of red bumps. The adult insect is a very large and beautiful brown moth with four distinct white marks on it's wings.

JD.

Hyalophora columbia catapillar near the top of Twin Peaks. The large adult moth looks as if it has strayed from the Amazon rainforests.

Next Hike

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

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

For the hike last Saturday we drove down the much improved road to Pocahontas Bay and parked near the start of the rough road up to the radio towers on Pocahontas. The day proved to be a good one for mushroom pickers and I even collected a few very large fresh Shaggy Manes. The hike took us off on the first side road to the south and then, climbing steadily up through an extensive and fairly recent clearcut, we eventually reached the lunchspot on a narrow ridge with fine views towards the mainland. In my photo Harwood Island is in the middle with Savary just visible beyond.

JD.

View looking north from above Pocahontas Bay with Grief Point on the mainland on the right. Harwood is the island in the middle.

Next Hike

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

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

Last week we had a damp cloudy and windy day and hiked to the small lake on the high ground to the west of Hydro East Road. It was quite foggy there and eating lunch under the trees was a curious experience. The view out over the lake was cut short by the mist and the distance was shrouded in a white sheet that blended sky and water together. My photo was taken on the day of the mid-week hike which started and ended at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay. When we gathered there at the start, and when we returned in the afternoon the same small small flock of migrating geese were browsing the short green grass. We don't see this species, the Greater White-fronted Goose, very often, but they do seem to be visiting in larger numbers and more frequently than at any time in the last forty years or so. In my picture the adult is the bird on the left with the distinct white band across the front of the head and a juvenile is walking ahead of it on the right. The ones that come down our flyway in the fall would be breeding in Alaska probably and on their way to winter in the Lower Mainland or perhaps as far south as Mexico.

JD

Two Greater White-fronted Geese at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay.