The Next Hike

Check here every week for details on the next Trekker hike!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 25th September.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am

Last Saturday the rain meant a walk in the forest was a reasonable choice, saving the days with better weather for the hikes with wonderful viewpoints. First the short drive to the gravel pit turnoff just north of Gillies Bay and then a short way along to park at the sharp corner. Walking past the new iron gate at the entrance to the gravel pit then on to the old horse riding area and along the pleasant old logging road for a while then keeping right at the next road junction onto the long old road that eventually reaches the High Road. But this time not that far as we took the less well used side road to the old Cap Sheaf mine. It was rather wet pushing our way along the last part of the road that has become rather overgrown now. We finally found our way to the welcome opening in the forest and the old mine shaft and waste dumps. After the hike a quick Google search came up with the facts that the shaft had been sunk before 1900 by the Cap Sheaf Gold Mining Co. and had reached a depth of 90ft.

The photo [thanks Tom] shows the top of the shaft with some of the original timbers still visible in the dry section above the water level about 20ft below the surface.

JD.


The top of the 90ft deep Cap Sheaf mine shaft now well over 100 years old. Water fills it to about 25 ft below the surface.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 18th September.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last week we had a cool but dry day and hiked from Russ Creek Bridge down to the beach at Northeast Bay. The route is mainly along an old logging road that had become seriously overgrown until a few years ago when the hard working Texada Trail Breakers did a great job of clearing the obstructions. The bay, the small island and part of the area of mainly more mature forest adjacent to the bay is a provincial UREP [crown land designated for the Use, Recreation and Enjoyment of the Public]. Russ Creek that runs past the spot where we park reaches the sea here and has a lovely pair of rock pools and a small waterfall just a few steps into the forest. My photo shows the falls and splash pool with mossy rocks all around. What a lovely hidden treasure!

JD.


The splash pool and falls at Northeast Point.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 11th September.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am

Last week we had wonderful weather again for the hike and headed up to the old Masck Farm turnoff where we parked. It was a nice change to have a recently graded road to drive on from the Hydro East junction, as this section of road has been badly rutted for quite a long time. For the hike we headed north on the road towards the White Pine test area and then, taking the first turn on the right eventually reached the top of Black Mountain. My photo was taken at the usual lunch spot overlooking Malaspina Strait with a clear view of the entrance to Jervis Inlet and the mountains beyond.

JD.



High above Malaspina Strait the view is to Jervis Inlet entrance with low Hardy Island centre, Nelson Island on the right.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 4th September.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last week I think the well attended long hike up the Mt. Shepherd trail must have been enough exercise for that week as the turnout for Saturday was very much smaller than usual! I kept the hike quite easy with a stroll along part of the High Road past the fields and then up onto the lower slopes of Mt. Pocahontas. This has an extensive area of fairly recently logged forest which has been replanted but with the trees still very small the dominant ground cover is rough grass. The warm sunny weather had brought out a host of butterflies of several different species, but it was quite a challenge getting good photos of them. My photo shows the panoramic view towards Vancouver Island as we made our way down to the road after lunch.

JD.

Heading back down to the High Road from the lower slopes of the Pocahontas ridge.