Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 28th March.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last week we drove a short distance down the road to Davie Bay and parked at the first metal gate on the right. This hike takes us south not far from the coastline although the sea views are non-existant because there is still quite a lot of forest between the old logging road and the cliffs. Our destination this time was to be one of the pocket beaches although different side roads and trails go down to the seashore at different points. It was interesting to see so many flowers on the otherwise bare branches of the salmonberry so early in the year, but following the extra mild winter we have had it should not be a surprise. On the drive back from the hike we stopped at the Mouat Creek bridge to take a look at the two holding tanks for chum salmon fry. In about a week from now they will all be carefully released into the fast flowing water and within a few hours all will be swimming freely in the saltwater.
JD.

The next hike.

The next hike will be on Saturday, 21st March.

We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10.00am

Last week we had quite a long hike as we started off right from the ballpark for a change.  Heading up School Road and taking the left sideroad from the left fork at the Y junction we once again took advantage of the network of new bike trails that now crisscross the forested area to the north of the community.  Eventually we reached the old Cap Sheaf road again much higher up and soon after branched off on the left heading towards Turkey Vulture Bluff.  For lunch we stopped at a high spot on my trail with a view through the trees of the distant mountains on Vancouver Island.  

My photo this week was taken as we started downhill on another bike trail passing a giant boulder topped by a cluster of ferns from which arose this lovely Red Currant bush in full bloom.  These are not all that common on Texada, but the few that survive the deer are popular with the earliest male Rufous Hummingbird.  

I have to give advanced notice of the special hike on Saturday, 4th April which includes the annual Texada Trekkers beach BBQ potluck at Raven Bay.   I will include more info on this event in my next weekly email hike notice.

JD.

A flowering wild native Red Currant bush on top of a moss covered rock beside the trail. 

Next Hike,

The next hike will be on Saturday, 14th March.

We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10.00am.

Last week we had more hikers than usual and drove a little longer than usual going about half way down the long road to Cook Bay on the west side of Texada. Parking was at the turnoff where an old logging road starts the climb uphill towards Angel Lake on the high Central Plateau area.  We were not going quite that far our destination being a large beaver pond situated to the south-west of Angel.  The road is in quite good shape with a reasonable walking surface most of the way and we   made good time reaching the beaver dam not much past 12:00 o'clock.  It was a lovely calm sunny day and and very pleasant to sit on some extra large conifers that the beaver had cut down a while ago.

My photo was taken from the lunch spot looking east with the northern part of the rugged Twin Peaks ridge towering above the forest. We have a trail that leads to the very top of that rocky bluff on the right of my picture — it has quite the view!  The many dead trees were killed years ago when the beaver first built their dam and raised the water level higher than the roots of those trees and effectively drowned them.  This stand of dead trees along the shoreline of a pond is a clear indication that beaver are or have been active in an area.

JD.

A view of the north end of Twin Peaks from a large beaver pond not far from Angel Lake.  

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Friday, 7th March.

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

Last week we had a lovely dry sunny day for our hike and picked one of the more popular hiking trails taking us to the summit of Mt.Davies for the lunch spot and the great views on a cloudless day.  It's the last week in February and yet the mountain peaks close to the coast are quite bare of snow and even in the far distance the snow line is clearly much higher than one would expect it to be in mid-winter.  We have had lots of precipitation this year, but always with unusually high air temperatures.  On some days in January and February the daily highs were all time records for those days of the month at the Powell River Airport weather station. 

JD.  

At the summit of Mt. Davies looking north-east towards the mainland mountains.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 28th February.

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

Last week we had perfect weather for a visit to the high ground and headed up to Bobs Lake, parking on the south side where the gasline crosses the logging road. Following the pipeline right of way south, crossing the Anderson Bay Rd and then swinging off at the next junction headed downhill into an area we have never explored before.  These days, with Google Earth maps for free, it's so easy to view and print off a map with roads and logged areas clearly depicted we had a pretty good idea of what to expect. Even so it was a bit of a surprise to find the clearcut we picked for lunch so very steep.  After lunch we split into two groups with half going for the scramble up to the upper road and the other group playing it safe and taking the longer less steep route back.

My photo is from an earlier hike this year when we passed a beaver dam close to the road and this alder with fresh beaver teeth marks.  It will be interesting to see if the job has been finished next time we drive that way. 

JD. 

http://texadatrekkers.blogspot.ca/

  

Caution: Beavers at Work!   The teeth marks of a beaver close to a new beaver dam on Pocahontas Rd.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 21st February.

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

Last week we had a good day for hiking and decided to head up onto the high ground not knowing for sure if there was fog at higher elevations.  It was difficult to know if some of our hiking trails would be passable at this time, not because of possible snow patches which are often on the high ground in February, but because the recent rains meant some smaller creeks might be to deep and wide to cross.  We managed to cross several on the first trail, but then were almost forced to turn back by one creek that was both deep and a bit too wide.  No one was keen to do that and so rocks and a big chunk of tree trunk were gathered up and a causeway quickly created.  Lunch was in a sunny spot on Thompson Rd. and we returned to the vehicles by a different, and drier, route past the Hydro Reactor station.

My photo is one I took when on a hike last month.  I don't ever remember seeing such an odd natural mass of the foam that is often seen on our fast flowing creeks.  I believe there are organic oils in the water derived from rotting vegetation and these produce a white foam when mixed in fast flowing water in rocky creeks.  This circular mass was floating, rotating and trapped in a small pool. 

JD.

  

     

A curious natural donut floating and rotating in a pool in Mouat Creek. The foam is a natural feature of fast flowing creeks.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 14th February.

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

Last week we were faced with yet another dull and rather overcast day and started walking from the Ballpark through the forest and swampy area directly north of Gillies Bay.  We did run into much more water on the ground than expected, but managed to avoid the deeper spots and more or less followed the overgrown route of the old nature trail that was cut many years ago. Leaving the trail after it crosses Cranby Creek on a very large fallen tree we came out on the logging road that links to School Rd, and walked west and then started on a new long bike trail winding through some very mature forest.  This took us to a grassy bluff to the east of the highway Gravel Pit where we stopped for lunch at a high spot with just a glimpse of the sea through some trees.

JD.

   

An extra large bracket fungus on the trunk of a dead but still upright tree on Gillies Bay Nature Trail.