Next Hike from Van Anda

The next hike will be on Saturday, 17th September.

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

Last week we drove down the long winding hill to our parking place at Hydro East. Hiking north this time we enjoyed the gentle gradients of the shady old logging road through the forest that eventually took us to a turnoff to a secluded beach. This was a new discovery last year when the weather had been cool and damp — so much nicer this time on a lovely warm and sunny late summer day. My photo shows the view as we hiked north with the steep southern slope of Black Mountain high above us in the distance.

JD.

Hiking north from Hydro East on a warm late summer day.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 10th September.

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

Last week we parked at the start of the Cook Bay Road at the foot of Mt. Davies and hiked to Bobs Lake campsite to see how busy it was on a perfect late summer day. It was no surprise to find it as quiet as usual with no campers there to disturb the tranquility of the lake. From there it was on along the road around the east side of the lake and then up the steep winding trail through the woods to the top of Mt. Flicker for lunch. The spectacular panoramic view extends to the Vancouver Island Mountains with a glimpse of Twin Peaks and Mt. Shepherd through trees on our left. The route back swung around the north side of the lake, through the forest for a while and along the gas line right of way, then west on old logging roads and back to the vehicles. On this last part of the hike I spotted and managed to photograph a checkered brown butterfly that I felt must be one of the fritillaries. It took a fair amount of study to put a name to it when I got back home as there are so many different species and subspecies in this group of butterflies. I'm pretty sure it's a Hydaspe Fritillary a species found quite widely in the Pacific Northwest.

JD.

A Hydaspe Fritillary butterfly feeding on a thistle near Bobs Lake. Speyeria hydaspe.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 3rd September.

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

Last week we hiked uphill from the Davie Bay road, along Thompson Road and then up again through the forest to our lunch spot on the bluff above Balanced Rock Lake. It was a lovely day and on the way back downhill along the logging roads there were quite a few butterflies to be seen darting from flower to flower in search of nectar. My photo taken that afternoon is of a clean looking male Pine White feeding on the tiny rosette flowers of a roadside daisy. The females are quite similar to the males, but they lack the neat network of fine black lines on the underside of the rear wings. This species is most abundant in August and is widespread in the Pacific Northwest. The eggs are laid on the needles of pines and firs and are unusual in not hatching until the following spring. The caterpillars feed on the soft young needles and the third stage of the lifecycle is a short one with the adults emerging while there are still plenty of flowers around.

JD.

A male Pine White butterfly feeding on a roadside daisy flower.

Next Hike.

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

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

Last week we drove south past Bobs Lake and Angel Lake and parked on the sharp bend where the road passes the southern tip of Angel Lake. From here we walked a short distance along an old logging road that used to provide access down to the Cook Bay road. However, about a decade or so ago some diligent beavers raised the height of their dam and flooded a fairly long section of the road. Normally this would not have been too much of a problem in this area as the forest is fairly open, but this stretch of road had a very steep hillside on one side of it and much too steep for a bypass trail. Some years ago I started but did not finish a bypass so I decided to ask my hiking companions if they would like to help me finish the trail, which they did. We sat down for lunch beside the offending beaver dam and then headed back to our vehicle feeling very satisfied with our achievement.

This beaver pond seems to be especially suitable for treefrog reproduction as we found quite a number of them during our hike, some of the usual bright green variety, but others with darker colouring. My photo is of one of the darker individuals that allowed me to get close enough for a nice shot. Note the distinctive pads on it's fingertips.

JD.

A darker variety of the common Treefrog not far from Angel Lake.

Next Hike

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

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

At the south end of Texada there are two Provincial Parks, a very large one called South Texada Provincial Park and a much smaller one the Anderson Bay Park. The latter is relatively easy to reach by road although there is a long steep section with rough gravel that requires a 4-wheel drive vehicle. The lower elevation of the larger park can also be reached on old logging roads, but the really impressive and rugged upper section that includes the summit of Mt. Shepherd is trail access only. Recently I took a work party up there to clean up the access route which had become blocked by windfall trees and vigorous branch growth. My photo this week was one I took that day as we prepared to tackle the last and steepest section of trail to the summit. The wetlands in the park are filled with water this summer because of the abundance of rain that was falling so frequently until the end of July. Consequently the vegetation everywhere is more lush and green than usual in late summer as you can see in my picture. The large leaves in the foreground belong to the native yellow flowered Water Lily.

JD.

A shallow lake at the foot of Mt. Shepherd, South Texada Provincial Park.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 13th August.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last week we hiked from our parking place on the gasline right of way not far south of the Vancouver Island Hydro line up to the top of Mt. Davies. It was a lovely day and the parts of the hike through the open forest on the slopes of the mountain were very pleasant indeed. My photo shows the slightly hazy view across to Vancouver Island in the far distance.
JD.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 4th August.

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

Last week we hiked past the Hydro Reactor Station [non-nuclear, just electrical] and found a new spot for lunch that has quite a panoramic view to the west. On an earlier hike near First Lake we saw a couple of the common Banana Slug that had unusual markings and one provided my photo of the week. For a long time I wondered why they have the common name they have and have just found out that in some parts of their range the usual colour is quite a bright yellow. In our area they tend to be greyish green with variable darker markings. This one was different in having quite a contrast between the light and dark areas of the body.

JD.

A Banana Slug with unusual markings.