Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 12th of January.

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

Last week we decided to pick a low elevation hike to avoid running into problems with the snow on the high ground.  The tide was good for beach walking so we headed south towards Shingle Beach parking at the start of a new logging road at the top of the last hill down to the campground.  The road had been extended since our last hike in the area and it was fun to explore right to the end.  The unfinished last section proved to be very muddy and ended abruptly at a small creek.  We had noticed the original hiking route down to the beach cottages near the start of  the muddy section and used it to arrive at our intended lunch spot in good time.  One of the cottages provided a welcome windbreak and even had a useful folding camp chair for me to sit in comfort.  The return along the beach was uneventful as the tide was low enough to allow us to get past the odd fallen tree that would have been difficult to climb over had the waves been higher up the beach.

My photo is of the cut base of an old growth fir that had been growing close to the route of the new logging road.  It's a shame a tree of this age was not left standing for future generations to enjoy.  I took closeup photos and was able to count 300 growth rings.  This veteran of the forest was a sapling in 1710 when England was ruled by Queen Anne.  It was not till 50 years later in the seventeen sixties that the very first British colony was founded in Botany Bay in Australia. The tree was close to 100 years old when Capt Vancouver arrived to survey the coastline and islands of the Straits of Georgia.  We saw several old growth trees nearby and I certainly hope these will be conserved and not cut down for no valid reason. 

JD.

 

      

Counting the growth rings on an old growth Douglas Fir tree beside a new logging road at Shingle Beach.  

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday 5th January, 2013

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

Last week was quite cool, but not windy and it did not rain on our hike for a change. The sky was overcast and there was some mist on the high ground, but everyone needed extra exercise, it being a post Christmas feast day hike, so we headed for Mt. Pocahontas and the George Lechner trail.  This route starts on the High Road with quite level walking along the road to start with, but leaving the road the climbing starts, gently at first then steeper.  There was surprisingly  little snow about and we only reached the snow line at the lunchspot. We were lucky the mist had cleared as we hiked and we had good views of Gillies Bay and of Zant Road below us.  

We may no be quite so lucky with the weather this coming Saturday as the forecast predicts more mild damp days ahead.

JD.    

Lunch at the snow line on Pocahontas Mountain overlooking Gillies Bay.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 29th December. 

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

Last week the hike day was another rainy one and the temperature was low enough that we were seeing sleet rather than rain for a while.  On much of the higher ground where we have hiking routes I'm sure walking would not be very pleasant with lots of wet snow on the ground just now.  We decided the best thing to do was just start from the ballpark and hike up through the forest to Cap Sheaf Lake.  Some sections of the trail were covered with quite a layer of small green branches a reminder that we have had some extremely strong gales in the last couple of weeks. At lunch time we were under some trees looking out over a marsh and frozen lake. It was cold and wet, but a least not windy as a breeze would have made things really uncomfortable. 

  

On a recent hike I could not resist taking some photos of an old Kenilworth dump truck belong to an island logging company.  This type of vehicle is used to transfer road building gravel from roadside pits out to the logging roads being repaired or extended into fresh logging areas.  I'm not sure how old this one actually is, but it does appear to have had many years of rough use. It looks like a good candidate for preservation in a museum!

JD.

A vintage Texada logging company dump truck for road building.

Next hike (2nd email)

This is a repeat of yesterday's email for those who were missed off the address list for that one.  I still was on Vancouver Island yesterday and was using an out of date version of the Trekkers group email list.

The next hike will be on Saturday, 22nd December.

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

Last week the weather was again quite windy, but the rain held off for much of the time. To avoid big trees and the strong winds we decided to just drive part way along the road to the airport, and then hike down to Cox's Lagoon.  I know from experience that the SE gales tend to bypass the shoreline there and that was indeed the case on Saturday.  Sitting on the logs for lunch was quite comfortable and we were entertained by a large group of seals and a couple of sea lions.

JD.

visit texadatrekkers at:   www.gilliesbay.ca 

Diana waving to the small group of Harbour Seal that were as curious about us as we were about them.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 22nd December.

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

Last week the weather was again quite windy, but the rain held off for much of the time. To avoid big trees and the strong winds we decided to just drive part way along the road to the airport, and then hike down to Cox's Lagoon.  I know from experience that the SE gales tend to bypass the shoreline there and that was indeed the case on Saturday.  Sitting on the logs for lunch was quite comfortable and we were entertained by a large group of seals and a couple of sea lions.

I'm not on Texada today and don't have any recent hike photos with me, so here is one from a couple of years ago. It was winter time and at a point on the trail where we had stopped for a 'nature moment' and your "Intrepid Leader" was explaining the curious material surrounding a steel drill pipe which had become an artisian well. The water had been overflowing from the open top and a substance called 'tufa' had built up totally covering the pipe.  You can Google the word to get a simple explanation of this with a few photos of larger and more natural examples.

Happy Christmas everybody!  

JD.

visit texadatrekkers     on   www.gilliesbay.ca 

  

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 15th December.

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

Last week we had quite a nice day for hiking although there was a fair amount of mist around, especially on the higher ground.  We drove south towards Shingle Beach, but turned left after the Stromberg Creek bridge and headed up past the parking place for the water falls until we got to the side road on the left that was to be the start of our hike to Thompson Bluffs.  The old logging road that climbs steadily up through the forest was fine and we made good progress until we had to branch off onto the now overgrown trail that we first opened up many years ago.  It climbs quite steeply at first and the trail is so overgrown with salal and evergreen huck that we made very slow progress, even getting off the trail at one point where a small stream runs down the track of an old skidder road.  By the time we reached Thompson Road it was getting close to lunch time so the idea of going on up onto the bluffs was dropped and we looked for a viewpoint not so far away.  This worked out well and we sat on a mossy high spot with a view out over the north-west end of Lasqueti Island while eating our picnic lunches.  

JD.

          

  A misty view from our lunch spot close to Thompson Road.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 8th December.

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

Last week our hike day was a rainy one, but more than the usual number of intrepid hikers showed up at the meeting place. I decided to break the hike up into three parts to keep the time spent in the rain to a minimum.  First we drove south past Davie Bay and then up the side road to do a quick visit to Stromberg Falls.  As usual in recent years there is still not as much water coming over the falls as there used to be, but quite enough to impress those who were seeing them for the first time.  From there we drove back down the hill to the bridge and then parked again a short distance along the Shingle Beach Rd. Instead of going the full distance we branched off onto the short road down to Yew Tree Bay.  The cabin there is a mess now and would not be a pleasant place to eat lunch, but the next little cove to the north was sheltered from the wind and we sat under the big Arbutus trees there instead. Returning to the vehicles we finally made the neat little beach our third destination, some call it Secret Beach, where Stromberg Creek reaches the sea.  

While being close to the sea for parts of the hike we were not lucky enough this time to see any of our less common marine mammals although I remember one day sitting eating lunch at the little cove near Yew Tree Bay and being entertained by a small gang of Sealions only a stone's throw out from the beach.  However, one morning just three weeks ago, I saw a small pod of our resident Pacific White-sided Dolphin rushing across the middle of Gillies Bay. They were too far away for me to get a good photo, but one of our hikers was much closer to them and got this amazing action shot. Thanks Justin!   

Texada Holiday Potluck Gala

Texada Island Community Society will be preparing turkey, stuffing, gravy and ham. We ask attendees to make their favourite side dish or dessert, and join us Sunday, Dec. 9 at the Community Hall. Doors will open at 5:30 pm, and we will aim to start eating about 6 pm. The event will be licensed, but no Ubrew or homemade spirits are allowed (store bought only). We will be checking.  Also, no minors.

There will be a collection area for the Texada food bank and Christmas hampers. Please bring a non-perishable food item if you can.  

If you plan to go, and have not already done so, please let Linda Bruhn know by Friday.   604-483-1471    email: texadasf@gmail.com

JD.

Pacific White-sided Dolphin close to the shore in Gillies Bay.              Justin Debbink photo.