Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 1st June.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last week we drove up to the High Road and parked near the start of the hydro line going to the towers at the top. Taking the more gradual route up through the forest we took the right turn just before reaching the hydro line right of way and started on the George Lechner Memorial Trail. Part way up the steepest section of the zig-zag trail we saw a couple of clusters of the young flower spikes of the leafless Candystick, Allotropa virgata. This not particularly common saprophytic plant depends on dead and dying organic material in the soil for nutriants and has no leaves with chlorophyll like most other flowering plants. We sat for lunch at the viewpoint close to the BC Hydro compound at the base of their massive tower.
JD.

Next Hike

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

We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10.00am

Last week we drove south to Eagle Creek and then turned left parking part way up the hill towards Thompson Road.  The destination was Balanced Rock Lake and the route does have some pretty steep uphill sections, but it was a pleasant day, a bit on the cool side and we made good progress.  Lunch was enjoyed sitting close to the balanced rock high above the calm water.  On the way back we did some exploring of the long clearcut that parallels our narrow trail through the forest and decided afterwards that it was easier to walk the clearcut than fighting past several fallen trees on the original route.   Once down to Thompson Road we turned right and then left getting down to the parked vehicles on different logging roads to the one we used in the morning.

JD.  

Hiking down from Balanced Rock Lake through a replanted clearcut towards Thompson Road.

 The islands off the north-west end of Lasqueti  are visible in the distance. 

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 18th May.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last week we hiked through the forest from the Oasis to the Airport down to Coxs Lagoon and along the beach towards the Sandbanks. After lunch we returned via the Airport and Paxton Lake to the Oasis, although some of us more directly than others. I have found from personal experienc that on dull days it is easy to lose one's sense of direction when hiking through trail-less forest, and end up coming back to the place you started from. It does help to have a compass handy provided you know which direction you need to be heading in if you expect to get there.

My photo this week is of a fairly common, but poisonous, mushroom. This is Amanita muscaria, common name Fly Agaric, with an orange cap. The colour of the cap in this species is sometimes red with white warts and patches rather than yellow or orange with white scales and warts.
JD.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 11th May.
We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last week we decided to return to Ladybird Bluffs, which we visited fot the very first time just a couple of weeks earlier. The weather that day was not great, very different to the lovely dry warm sunny weather we have been having for many days now. We took a different route to the start of the hike this time, driving from the High Road right down to Pocahontas Bay and then south along the old Pocahontas Main logging road. This gave us a little more time to explore the northern part of the Ladybug Bluffs ridge and we found a nice route up to the highest point where we had lunch. My photo shows the view looking south-east along the spine of Texada with Black Mountain the peak on the left. The road running down the side of the clearcut goes down past the White Pine Research area and over Russ Creek on the high old style loggers bridge. The low green shrub hugging the rocks in the foreground is one of several very healthy Manzanita [spanish for "little apple] bushes on the crest of the ridge.

Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 4th May.

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

Last week we were driving through a heavy rainshower on the way to the start of the hike at Hydro East and wondered if we would have a wet hike.  However, by the time we reached the parking place the rain had eased and after hiking a little way the clouds cleared and we had nice conditions for the rest of the hike. We took the lovely old logging road going north from the site of the logging camp just south of the big fenced Hydro compound and for lunch branched off down a steep ATV trail that ends at the beach. 

My photo this time is from our recent hike to a new viewpoint on Ladybug Bluffs.  The ridge has steep rocky slopes on the east side, but the approach from the south is by good logging roads that are just overgrown in a few places and only moderately steep.  The white building on the mainland in the upper left of my photo is an old hydro station fed by a massive penstock that can be seen from the main highway south of Powell River where it crosses a long bridge.    

JD.   

The view east from Ladybug Bluffs. At upper left is the Stillwater hydro station and white surge tower.