Next Hike

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

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

Last week the rains continued in record volumes on several days and it seemed only natural to pay another visit to Stromberg Falls near Davie Bay.  It was a dull day, but dry and without wind so really quite pleasant for hiking. We parked at the usual spot and crossed the old logging road bridge which now consists of slowly rotting logs in a parlous state and were surprised the water level was not a bit higher.  However, the falls were roaring down with two of the three sections in full flow and lots of water coming out of the cave.  Returning to the main trail we then hiked up to see how things looked at Grow-0p Creek and it was no surprise to find the normally dry overflow channel to be in full flood.  Evidently the cave system was only able to take in a small percentage of the flow coming down from the high ground.  By the way both Balanced Rock Lake and Mystery Lake are in the catchment area of this important creek. 

On this visit to the area I was able to find a higher location in the forest where I could get a fairly decent photograph of the higher part of the falls and I have that as my photo for the week.  It shows the top of the cliff where the water is flowing out of a large pool on a ledge and just a glimpse of the thirty foot waterfall that drops from the top of another cliff above that. On the right of the picture you can just make out the wider of the three sections which is often the only section with water coming down when the creek is not in flood.  Before lunch we climbed to a mossy bluff much higher up on the hill side and sat to eat close to the route the creek takes down a series of rapids and falls in a relatively open part of the forest.  

JD.

 

A view of Stromberg Falls from a higher location in the forest.

Next Hike

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

Last week we drove up Shelter Point Rd and then left onto the High Rd towards Van Anda, parking at the last house on the right. Walking north from there we eventually turned off the main road onto a side road just before the Pocahontas Bay turnoff. This is a fairly recent logging access road that winds it's way through an elongated and replanted cutblock. Near the end of the road we took a quad trail that heads west and provides a route running through mostly forest all the way down to Gillies Bay. This took us to Cap Sheaf Lake where we left the quad trail and walked north along the east side of the wetland to a delightful lunch spot on the top of a mossy cliff. The weather remained dry but cloudy and the tops of the taller forrest trees were shrouded in mist.

After lunch I suggested instead of retracing our steps the way we had come we might try finding a way through the forest to meet up with the old road to Cap Sheaf mining claim, and this we did. The forest is fairly open below the canopy in the area and we made good progress, reached the old road and followed it north for a while and then got onto another quad trail that winds south-east to the High Road.
JD.

Next Hike

The next hike will be om Saturday, 6th December.

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

Last week we were very fortunate again with the weather.  It was just a lovely dry and calm winter day with hardly a cloud anywhere in the sky.  The snow fall from the day before was crisp and unmelted in the shady areas, but where the sun had reached it there was not much left even at the higher levels.  We decided to stay away from the roads which could have been slippery in places and started our hike right from the Ballpark in Gillies Bay. We just followed School Road, climbing steadily up through the forest and past Opko's Farm to reach the High Road for lunch.  It was a good long uphill walk that kept us warm all morning, and it was pleasant too following the same route on the return.  

JD.

A warm sunny spot beside the High Road at the School Road Junction.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 29th November.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

After many rainy days we were very lucky to have the sun back for our hike last week. It was quite mild too as we drove south towards Davie Bay and turned off and up towards Thompson Road. The destination was Thompson Bluffs and the view to the west proved to be quite dramatic as the low sun reflected from the ocean and more rain clouds began to gather above the Vancouver Island mountains. It did rain that night and we have had rain, sometimes very heavy rain, everyday since.
JD.

Next Hike

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

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

Last week we chose a circular route we had hiked a few months ago, but this time did it in the reverse direction.  In the morning the route we took started from the Ballpark in Gillies Bay and headed north up through the lovely forest that covers the fairly steep slopes just to the north of the community. It follows one of the recently built bike trails in the area and reaches a high spot overlooking the old logging road trail to Cap Sheaf Lake. There we sat in the warm sun and ate lunch before returning to our starting point along one of my old trails, older logging roads and part of School Road.

My photo shows some hikers on a very neat part of the bike trail not far from it's highest point.   

JD.

On a rustic bike trail through the forest not far north of Gillies Bay. 

Next Hike

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

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

Last Saturday we drove south on Bell, turned off onto Hydro East road and headed part-way down to park at the roadside rock quarry just after the hairpin bend.  The weather was good and the walk going downhill to the beach at the end of a steep ATV trail was very pleasant and very easy.  We sat on the logs to eat lunch. We saw vehicles parked here and there along the way and wondered if they were hunters or mushroom pickers.  A couple of hunters in camouflage came riding past us on a single ATV and we speculated about them being more likely to shoot each other than a deer.  I  believe deer to be colour blind like most mammals so the hunters might just as well wear high visibility jackets and hats and be safer.  Most of the hikers started back up the trail as soon as they finished lunch but a few explored a short side trail running south and found it ended at a neat little campsite with a picnic table, a curious little rustic kitchen and a toilet with a view out to sea! 

The climb up the trail and along the winding logging road back to the vehicles was a gain in elevation of 290 metres [ just short of 1,000ft ], so not quite as easy as the one down in the morning.

JD.   

       

A neat little kitchen at a brush collector's camp on Long Beach.  The sink tap even has running water piped from a nearby creek. 

Next Hike

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

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

Last week we drove along the road to Masck Farm and parked at the second gravel pit on the right after the farm turnoff . We started by hiking along an old abandoned logging road that we used regularly until a severe winter storm dropped masses of trees across it and we used a longer route to get around the blockages.  First stop of interest on our way to the lunch spot was the large lake, created by a substantial beaver dam built several decades ago I believe, that we used to call Trailer Lake.  Then somehow it got blown up in what I assume to be a propane gas explosion and the trailer now only exists as a debris field of thousands of pieces large and small. 

Close by the trail is the short but quite high beaver dam.  It's in good shape and the water level was at the highest possible level.  Not far away the beaver are clearly in residence as since our visit last year they have added greatly to the pile of sticks that forms their lodge.

JD.

     

An extra large beaver lodge at the edge of Blown Up Trailer Lake.