Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 7th May.

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

Last week we had really excellent hiking weather at last and ended up doing an extra long hike although we did not really plan it that way at the beginning.  It was an opportunity for some of us to visit an area and some coastline we had never visited before because of the absence of any flagged trail to it.  Earlier this year several hikers worked on a new route that took us down to the beach in my photo.  This beach, the coastline and the area of forest and grassy bluffs is part of a designated UREP, crown land set aside for the Use, Recreation and Enjoyment of the Public.  The location is not far north of Cook Bay. I can tell you our little group of hikers did greatly enjoy this excursion into a seldom visited part of Texada Island. 

On our way back to the vehicles we took a different route from the one in the morning and found ourselves walking through a forest of old growth giants, cedar and fir, that appeared to have been quite untouched by logging.  This was the iceing on the cake for a most amazing day! 

JD.

 

Looking south from a small beach on the rocky coast not far north of Cook Bay. This is the Sabine Channel with part of Lasqueti on the right

 and Mt. Dick in the distance at the south end of Texada.

The Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 30th April.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am

Last week there were showers in the weather forecast, but they never came our way and we had a very pleasant day for the hike. We droveup Bell Rd to the Hydro East Junction and turned on to the road that passes Masck Farm parking on one of the gravel pits on the right. The route is mostly downhill and partly through some large recent clearcut areas that we noticed had been well covered by many very fast growing Douglas Fir. Taking a less well used side road into some second growth forest we soon arrived at the south end of Dragonfly Lake after passing a beaver pond that always seems to look very attractive, perhaps because it's quite shallow and has areas of lily pads and other aquatic plants. Our lunch spot was the low bluff at the north end of the lake where we disturbed a male and two female bufflehead ducks.

My photo is of a really tiny fern with fresh green new growth growing at the base of a small rock outcrop. This is a fairly uncommon species on Texada but quite easy to identify as it has fronds of two types, one fertile and one sterile with the fertile ones always growing a little taller than the others. This is called Parsley Fern, or Cryptogramma acrostichoides.
JD.

The Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 23rd April.

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

Last week we had yet another dampish day for our hike, and while the rain was never very heavy it seemed to be rainy continuously all the the time.  We drove the short distance to the Airport and then started the circular route by heading down to Coxs Lagoon, the sandy beach close to the north end of the runway.  The tide was out a little way as we walked south along the beach hoping we might see some marine mamals of one kind or another, but none were seen although the small Harbour Porpoise are almost always not far offshore.  We stopped for lunch not far from the Sandbanks and then headed up the steep path to join the old logging roadd that would take us through the forest to the Airport Road and the vehicles.

I took the photo of the native flower earlier in the week on a long botanical hike on the western slopes of Surprise Mountain.  This one has several common names such as mission bells, chocolate lily, rice root and checker lily, but just one scientific name, Fritillaria affinis.

JD.

The Chocolate Lily, Fritillaria affinis, in flower on a steep slope where the deer can't quite get to it to snack.

Next Hike

The next hike will be from Gillies Bay.

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

Last week was the annual beach barbecue which was on a much warmer day than it was last year.  I'm sure everyone had a good time.

My photo for this week was taken on a recent hike in March when we tried out a new trail route going along the coastline north from Shingle Beach campground.  The location is very close to a derelict hut that has no road access.  

JD.

This is a very small fungus growing in short grass on a seaside bluff.  The genus is probably Geoglossum or Earth Tongue

Next Hike from Van Anda & beach potluck at Raven Bay.

The next hike which will be on Saturday, 9th April includes the annual Trekkers Beach BBQ potluck at Raven Bay.
Hikers meet at the Royal Canadian Legion parking in Van Anda at 10:00am and walk to Raven Bay (about 2 1/2 hours).

If you are unable to hike right now, used to hike or are spouses/partners/visitors of Trekkers, you are welcome to come to Raven Bay!
Raven Bay Road is only suitable for 4 wheel drive vehicles. but if you come by car you can park at the junction to the Raven Bay turnoff which is at Slow Farm on the High Road. The walk down to the beach takes ten to fifteen minutes.
There will be a fire and the opportunity to roast oysters, clams and hot dogs and please bring whatever food you wish to eat or share with others. There are logs to sit on, but no picnic tables so bring chairs if you want to sit close to the fire. Also BYOB if you wish.
The tide should be low enough to gather shell fish, but don't forget to have your current Saltwater Licenses.
After the BBQ those those who drove down to the bay will transport the other drivers and those who need a ride back to their vehicles parked on the High Road or in Van Anda.
For more details please get in touch with David Taylor or Russ Sparks. I'm still chasing wild geese on Vancouver Island and will not be back in time for this hike.

JD.

Photo:
Raven Bay, Trekkers Barbecue, April 2015.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 2nd April.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last week we had perfect hiking weather for a change and headed down towards Shingle Beach. The plan was to walk north along the coastline following the route of a new hiking trail and parked some distance before the entrance to the campground. Some sections of the trail are very steep and work is in progress creating easier routes to bypass the difficult parts. The grassy bluffs along this new route are among the finest on Texada having this trail opened up is going to make it possible for hikers to visit them, someting that was simply not possible before.

Part way along is Yewtree Bay, formerly the location of a squatters cabin, but this structure is no longer standing and the remains are a mess. It's still worth a visit because there are wonderful specimens of the common Arbutus as well as the very much less common Western Yew. My photo this week was taken a while ago and shows the lower trunk of one of the larger yew trees growing next to one of the very large old Arbutus trees not far north of Yewtree Bay..
JD.

Next Hike

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

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

Last week we drove about halfway down the long hill on the Hydro East road and parked just before a fork in the road.  The side road on the left  heads down through some recent clearcut areas and eventually joins up with a low level road running north from Hydro East.  These logging roads, some new and some much older, all offer good walking surfaces although with some steep gradients in places.  After walking towards the north for a fair distance a narrow track branches off and runs very steeply down to the beach where some brush pickers from the mainland have a secluded camping spot close to a nice little stream. The tide was lower than usual and it was pleasant to walk along the beach to a couple of rocky headlands that offered pleasant lunch spots.

Just a brief reminder about the second Saturday in April when the Texada Trekkers have their annual potluck on the beach at Raven Bay.  This is open to any hikers, past or present, who would like to participate and offers for active hikers a one way trek in the morning starting from the Canadian Legion in Van Anda at 10:00am.  Please contact David Taylor or Russ Sparks for more info on the days activities, food, drinks and transport arrangements etc. Offers of help of any kind are welcome.   I will be off island that weekend enjoing my annual wild goose chase on the lovely and sometimes cold wet and windy beaches of Vancouver Island. 

JD.

The rocky beach north of Hydro East, our lunch spot last week.