Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 24th December.  

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

The hike last week was to the Favada Point area.  I had to miss it, but I know the quite new trail is one of the best in the area and I'm sure John Wood enjoyed showing the hikers his route to the high viewpoint and the open bluffs high above Big Beach.   

The photo this week was taken on a recent hike by Tom Scott who definitely has a good eye for an unusual view of a common enough subject.  His title for the shot is "Mother Nature's Christmas Decorations".  I find it curious that the bright colour and odd shape of the unopened buds makes them look like those coloured man-made ornaments so popular for Christmas tree decoration.

JD.

"Mother Nature's Christmas Decorations" Tom Scott photo.

Next Hike from Van Anda

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

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

The plan for the hike is to drive over to James Mack's place where the sealions are again back in great numbers and they should offer some good photo opportunities. Usually there are a mix of both our species, the smaller and usually darker California's and the very much larger and often quite light tan coloured Steller's. 

Last week we drove up towards Thompson Road and parked at the top of the steepest hill.  From there the hike took us higher and we eventually found ourselves getting into a high elevation fog. We could have remained just below the fog and continued along Thompson Road, but I was keen to show some of our newer hikers the secluded Mystery Lake and that  meant going somewhat higher, and into the fog. When we reached the shores of the lake it was not unexpected to find it frozen and shrouded in mist. We chose for lunch the steep wooded bank between the lake shore and the old logging road.  About ten minutes later, and much to my surprise and delight the fog lifted just enough and suddenly we could see right across the lake to the far shore. 

JD.

Lunch beside a lightly frozen Mystery Lake after the fog had lifted.

Next Hike

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

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

Here is a very late notice of the Potluck Dinner on Sunday.

 The holiday season is fast approaching and so is the TICS-sponsored potluck dinner. The information is much the same as before:

·         December 11^th this year

·         Doors at 5:30ish, dinner to start about 6 (hopefully)

·         TICS will supply turkey, ham, gravy and stuffing. Everyone else is asked to bring a side dish or a dessert (we do this as a true potluck – I don't need to know what is being brought)

·         We will be applying for a licence so everyone can bring wine or beer, but it must be store-bought…no homemade spirits, please.

·         There is no cost involved, but we ask people to bring a donation to the food bank.

Please forward to me by Friday if you wish to attend the Holiday Volunteer Potluck Dec 11th and have not already been counted under another group.

- Timothy Atwood
Coordinator, Texada Stickleback Group
604-483-8008

coordinator@texadastickleback.org

Last week the weather was not all that great, but it remained more or less dry with low cloud and quite poor visibility.  We did a circular hike starting from the roadside gravel pit near Second Lake, then along the gasline going south and over the ridges to Thompson Road.  Turning north and then east we reached the lunch spot on a small bluff at the edge of the forest.  From there the trail twists and turns, rising and falling and eventually, after taking a quick look at Third Lake, taking us back to the gasline and our starting point.

JD.

Lunch on a small bluff above Thompson Road.

 

Next Hike

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

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

Last week we faced quite poor weather conditions for hiking. There had been a fair amount of rain for a few days and it seemed likely there would be a lot of water coming down over the Stromberg Falls, but this turned out to not be the case.  The falls were more gentle than I expected with none of the roar and spray we sometimes see.  Never mind, they were a nice treat for the hikers who had not visted the falls before.  After that we drove quite some way up the road to a suitable place to park and hiked on from there.  It was windy, cool and drizzly as we climbed higher and we had almost reached the Hydro Reactor Station by lunch time.  A few patches of snow here and there gave the rocky landscape a wintery look and we sheltered from the gusty wind in the lee of a small cliff.

My photo this week is a very close shot of a very rare plant that is related to ferns, but not a true fern.  Called Adder's Tongue Fern or Ophioglossum pusillum to the botanists, it's found here and there over quite a large area from Bell Farm south to Twin Peaks  with quite a few colonies around Bobs Lake and Angel Lake.  In this particular photo I was able to capture the brief time when the spores are released from the vertical reproductive part of this diminutive plant.  The horizontal brown bars are the ripe spores.  This is a red listed plant in BC meaning that it has a high high degree of legal protection. 

JD.

   

   A very close shot of an Adder's Tongue Fern showing the rows of ripe brown spores.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 26th November.

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

Last week the island was almost entirely snow covered, but there was still a narrow strip along the shoreline north and south of Gillies Bay that had little or none on the ground the morning of the hike.  To avoid getting into conditions of wet and slippery snow underfoot and heavy snow on tree branches we decided to do a low elevation hike this time.  Driving just the short distance to the Mouat Creek Bridge on Davie Bay Road we hiked south taking the old logging road that runs less far inland than the main road to Shingle Beach.  The destination for lunch was a secluded "pocket beach", one of several tiny beaches on this otherwise rocky stretch of coastline.  In the open the recent snow gave the driftwood logs a wintery cap of white as we sat in quite comfortable, bright and windless weather beside a calm sea.

JD.

  

Lunch on a pocket beach near the mouth of Eagle Creek. 

  

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 19th November.

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

Last week the weather was not too bad but raingear was certainly needed.  We drove south past Davie Bay and parked just before reaching the power line to Vancouver Island.  The hike was to Shingle Beach campground where we sat to eat lunch in the dry under the rustic roof of a small bandstand which was built as one of the facilities for the annual Diversity Music Festival.  

My photo this week was taken on the gas pipeline near Twin Peaks close to a small forest lake.  It's shows a cluster of yellow flowering plants that are classed as noxious and invasive weeds.  This one is called Tansy Ragwort or Jacobaea vulgaris, and is native to Northern Europe including the British Isles. There is a problem with when it gets established in pasture land as it's poisonous to some domestic animals included horses.  Most farm animals don't eat the growing plants because they have a bitter taste, but if dry after cutting as part of a hay crop they are eaten and cause liver damage over a period of time.  The plant has become quite widespread over the southern part of Texada and seems to be increasing along roadsides, old logging roads and along the gas pipeline right of way. 

JD.

 

Tansy Ragwort, Jacobaea vulgaris [or Senecio jacobaea] a noxious weed on the gasline near Twin Peaks.

Next hike.

The next hike will be on Saturday, 12the November.

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

My photo this week is one I took on a recent hike. I am often able to put names to the fungi I see on Texada, and I am certainly able to identify some of the more popular edible ones.  However, there are many fungi that are hard to identify even though very striking in appearance and the cluster of bright orange-red ones in my photo are not ones I know by name.  They really glow with colour even on a dull day and in a shady location and it's a mystery to me why they should be this way.  I have no idea if they are poisonous or edible, but they certainly make an eye catching picture!

JD.

 A brilliant orange-red coloured mushroom, species unknown.