Next Hike starts from Van Anda - for the Annual Beach BBQ.

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

We meet at the Royal Canadian Legion parking at 10:00am

Last week we hiked close to Gillies Bay and just drove a short distance to park near the airport.  From there we hiked down to the beach at Cox Lagoon and then south to have lunch not far from the Sandbanks cliffs.  The return was through the forest on the old logging roads and trails to the sandpit beside the airport road.

If you are unable to hike right now, you 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 on the High Rd. at the junction to the Raven Bay turnoff which is at Slow Farm.  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 at the Legion.

   

For more details please get in touch with David Taylor or Russ Sparks. I'm not chasing wild geese on Vancouver Island this year and will be the guide for the one way hike which will take a couple of hours or so.

My photo is one from a few years ago that shows what one of our native mosses looks like.  I've been asked about this type because there is interest in finding on Texada a very rare moss that is a close relative of the one in my photo.  The Rigid Apple Moss has been found on Lasquiti, but not so far on Texada.  It will probably take a good closeup shot like mine to get a positive ID, and an expert eye to confirm it's identity.

JD. 

 

Common Apple Moss, Bartramia pomiformis, growing close to some fallen branches with grey lichens.

Next Hike

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

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

Just a reminder that the last Saturday in April, the 29th, will be the annual Texada Trekkers beach oyster roast and pot-luck at Raven Bay.  All hikers past and present are welcome as are spouses and significant others.  There will be a one way hike to Raven Bay that starts at the Canadian Legion in Van Anda at 10:00am for those who are able, and for those not hiking they can drive and park at the Raven Bay turnoff on the High Road [the road down to the bay is too rough for cars, OK for pickups and some sturdy SUV's] and walk or get a ride down to the bay.  

For more information contact David Taylor or Russ Sparks. 

Last week we had a great day for hiking and drove up to the gasline road crossing not far south of the Hydro Reactor Station. For some of the hikers this was their first visit to Mt. Davies and the trails through the forest and past the beaver ponds and the panoramic views at the top were all greatly appreciated.  It's a pretty good work-out too as the elevation change from parking place to the summit is about 1,000ft, 300 metres.

JD. 

What a lovely bright and sunny day — lunchtime on the summit of Mt. Davies.

Next Hike

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

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

Last week we drove to the parking place near the top of Pocaahontas Bay Rd. and headed up the steady climb that passes close to te side trail to the site of the old Pocahontas Fire Lookout post.  We then took the next turn on the left that continuous mostly uphill to one of our newest viewpoints an open area with a mircrowave reflector as big as a city billboard.  This day the weather was dry and fairly clear, but the odd shower cloud was drifting around in the distance.  The previous time when we made the effort to reach this high point of land we were deep in fog that only cleared just enough to see a bit of sea and distant mountain.

My photo was taken on a recent drive to a hike that started on the Cook Bay Rd.  It shows some of the big piles of cut trees we saw in an area of extensive logging to the south of Shingle Beach.  We wondered how many of these logs would be shipped offshore instead of contributing to the BC forest products industry and the additional jobs that would generate.

JD.

Logs awaiting transport to the booming ground at Mouat Bay.   This is in an area of recent forest clear-cutting to the south of Shingle Beach. 

Next Hike

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

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

Last week we had an unusual hike that started off in very foggy conditions near Mascyk Farm and ended up in beautiful sunshine which had replaced the fog as we ate lunch.   

I'm giving advance notice of the Texada Trekker's 23rd annual beach Oyster Roast.  This will take place on the beach at Raven Bay on Saturday, 29th April.

My photo is one I took on a recent hike to the beach at North-east Point.  We had seen a really old giant Douglas Fir tree a little earlier in the day and I included a photo of that tree in the following hike email.  This time the tree I photographed was not so large at the base and not a fir.  This one is a White Pine, Pinus monticola, and the unusual thing about the tree is that it is both very old and also seems to be very healthy. On Texada the species is not usually very long lived as they are prone to suffer from a rust disease that weakens them to such an extent they frequently die well before reaching maturity.  

JD.

The base of a very old White Pine tree not far from North-east Point.  We do not often see such large specimens of this species. 

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 1st April.

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

Last week we had an especially interesting hike that took us along new hiking trails and down onto a small beach not far from North-east Point on the east side of the island.  To reach this area we again drove along the High Road and then down the Pocahontas Bay Road to park a short distance to the south on the old Pocahontas Bay Main logging road.  As we had done a few weeks ago we hiked towards the new clear cut area where we had found a very old giant Douglas Fir tree, but this time used an old overgrown logging road that took us on a more direct route to the shoreline. This led to a winding trail that dropped steeply down through the forest and past the base of an astonishing vertical rock face covered in ferns and mosses. We had lunch at a small shingle beach then scrambled along some low bluffs to avoid a section of shoreline with no beach at all! Beyond that section and close to where a small creek reaches the sea we were able to return to the clearcut through a area of open forest with some very large old growth trees. One of these was a healthy White Pine that I think must be one of the oldest on the island.

JD.

     

An unusual vertical rock face in the middle of the forest near North-east Point.

The next hike.

The next hike will be on Saturday, 25th March.

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

Last week we needed to be back at the Ballpark about 2:00pm to allow hikers time to take in a presentation on the Texada Island Official Community Plan.  The hike started from the usual meeting place at the Ballpark and we made good use of some of the well maintained biking trails that climb through the forest to reach the Gillies Bay Bluffs one of which has the name Turkey Vulture Bluff.  It was quite a cool day again so the steady uphill climbing helped us to warm up. We have had so many hikes in snowy conditions this winter I was hoping the previous hike which climbed to above 1,000ft elevation would be the last.  Our lunch spot this time was much lower down, but I guess there is still a good deal of cold air passing over us and we should not have been surprised when snowflakes started falling from the sky.

JD.

 

On Turkey Vulture Bluff where we stopped for lunch there were snow flakes falling from the sky for a while.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 18th March.

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

The hike will end back at Gillies Bay a little earlier than usual to give hikers a chance to take in a presentation at the Community Hall at 2:15pm. Details of the meeting are in the attached poster. 

Last week we drove south towards Shingle Beach then turned off at the top of the last hill to get onto the new logging road system0 that eventually joins the lower part of the Cook Bay Rd.  We parked not far from the junction and headed up the road going north towards Mt. Davies.  The plan was to explore for a new viewpoint that is situated very close to a side road at a point very much higher than our parking place.  We did reach the spot we had hoped to reach, but there was cloud cover at that elevation so it will be another day on another visit before we can fully enjoy the new viewpoint.  For most of the hike we were walking on bare roads, but much of the side road still had a fair bit of snow on it as you can see from my photo which was taken at the highest point.

JD. 

Hiking in the snow to a new viewpoint high above Cook Bay Road.