Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 26th February.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last Saturday we had a lovely day for hiking and kept to the low ground of Texada as snow had been falling on the higher parts of the island a few days earlier. We drove towards Davie Bay and parked just past Eagle Creek. Following the usual route we headed over towards the part of Mouat Bluffs where the cactus grow. For lunch we sat on the warm black rocks that slope quite steeply down to the sea. When we arrived a small group of seals, surprised by our unexpected arrival, reluctantly slid quietly from their secluded sunning place and down into the cool water.

JD.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 19th February.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last week we were unlucky with the weather which was not really the best for hiking. With low cloud, steady rain and quite a strong blustery wind in more open areas we decided a walk in the forest might offer the least discomfort. The hike was quite long and followed a well maintained logging road that climbs from the high point of Davie Bay Road east through the forest to the start of Thompson Road.

On our hikes its not unusual for someone to spot some oddity of nature, and ask questions about it. Recently a hiker noticed an Arbutus leaf with curious markings and wondered what might have happened to the leaf to produce the odd pattern. I knew the answer and was pleased to see the culprit clearly visible and still alive. There are many hundreds of different leaf miner species, and a member of one these was the flattened caterpillar that was feeding inside the leaf. This one has a black head and yellow body and will probably mature into a tiny moth.

JD.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 12th February.

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

Last Saturday we drove to Bob's Lake along roads quite clear of snow and parked at the gas pipeline crossing. We hiked south on the right of way and eventually arrived at the usual lunch spot on the lake shore. The lake was certainly still frozen, but the ice was thin and had melted completely around the edges.

I've been asked by Paula and Maurice Brunelle to mention that they are inviting the hikers to drop by their house in Gillies Bay after the hike for a chat and refreshments. You can find them at the far end of Pine Street on the right.

JD.

A cool lunch spot — a frozen Angel Lake in mid February.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 5th February.

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

Last Saturday there was very low cloud cover and a threat of rain when we met at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay. We thought we would just do a hike along the road that ends at Shingle Beach to avoid wet vegetation and the foggy high ground. On the way to the campground where we planned to have lunch a side visit to Yew Tree Bay seemed a nice thing to do and the empty cabin there had odd and interesting things to check out. I mentioned the big Arbutus and a large new Yew tree we had found a few weeks earlier and we wandered down to the tiny beach to the north of the cabin. By then it was time for lunch and when a group of passing sealions noticed us they decided to hang around and watch us eat lunch. They were quite a boisterous bunch of the light tan coloured Stellers with a very different head profile to the darker California species, and put on quite a noisy display — an unexpected treat on a dull winter day.

JD.

A small group of tan coloured Steller Sealions watched us all the time we were eating lunch.

Next Hike

The next hike will be Saturday, 29th January.

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

Last week it was quite foggy at Gillies Bay so we headed for the high ground in search of some sunshine. We thought Pocahontas would be low enough to have little or no snow on the ground, but high enough to give us some clear views. The first guess proved correct, but there was still some fog about when we reached the lunch spot at the high poin of the hike.

My photo today is another shot from a recent midweek hike to Marshall Point. The headland has many rocks and a rocky island that are popular with the local harbour seals. This one did not see us at first as we were still on the trail behind some trees.

JD.

Harbour seal on rocks at Marshall Point.

Next Hike

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

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

For the hike last Saturday the weather was mostly dry, but cloudy and cool and there was still quite a lot of snow and ice about on the higher ground. We ended up hiking down Hydro East road which had been very well ploughed and totally free of ice and snow so very pleasant and safe for walking. The downside of the snow on the side roads was that we had no choice but to hike downhill before lunch, then uphill after and the uphill was quite a climb — over 1,000 ft in fact.

My photo this week was taken on the last midweek hike and captured some cormorants on the rocks at Marshall Point. One is drying it's feathers by spreading it's wings. Cormorants don't have so much of the natural oil that most waterbirds have so their feathers don't shed water so well. The trail we have used for many years was badly affected in some places by recent logging and has had to be rerouted to avoid the slash covered area. It's now in excellent shape for hiking again and some new sections are more interesting than the old ones were!

JD.

Double-crested Cormorants at Marshall Point.

Next Hike

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

We meet at the ballpark at Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last week we hiked from the Bell Farm road junction towards First Lake then through the forest and down to a viewpoint looking towards the mainland and Nelson Island. It was quite a nice day, but the wind was cold and after a short lunch break we quickly got moving again and took a shorter route back to the vehicles.

My photo this week is another one I took on the recent hike to Davis Bay. We were on the new trail where it climbs steeply up from the shoreline and heads north towards Big Beach. The forest over a large area of steep terrain has been little affected by logging and remains almost pristine. It certainly has potential as a protected area and I hope it may one day gain park status.

JD.

The rugged northwest coastline of Texada near Davis Bay.