Sleeping Beauty's Decommissioned Roads/Trails

Glorious day and so much to do ... around 10:30, into Blueberry we piled and off we headed towards Sleeping Beauty ... parked on the first road up from the beach and off we went on a new walk for some. The ground was a bit frosty, perfect for hiking, not too hard and not too soft and not slippery.

We were thankful  for the work on the trail and especially the ashphalt-ed bridge. Lots of alder blow-downs but easy to go under or around.

The stillness was haunting with shafts of sunlight bursting through. This hike is mostly flat for about 1/2 hour, then a gradual rise as we parallel the coastline; all while jumping over the un-culverted streams. 

We only went in around a hour, watching the clock, as we planned to be back out to Skidegate for a Slideshow on Vietnam ... thank you to the O'Higgans!

Next stop was the archery event by SKIFFS ... thanks to Barb and Charlie and their crew. You may have a new convert ... finally back to QCC for another "birthday party" ... with the Birthday girl doing most of the cooking!

F

Crabapple and Western Gore connector - Feb. 18, 2010

Gorgeous day, ground a bit frozen ... so off I went solo to gps some of the Town Trails.

Entered off M&B yard, a good parking area then up Crabapple Trail to the Y and went off to the west to the creek, then doubled back on the main trail to the 2nd Ave. exit.

From 2nd Ave.exit sharp north turn up the adjacent waterline road and on to the cross over to the Gore Brook trails ... that was where I missed the 10th Street exit ... oops. Beautiful day, so just keep going, next thing I know there are more Y's and I'm preparing to jump across a Gore Creek tributary. Walking along the trails I had a gps in each hand, but when it got to questionable ground I just slipped them in my pockets for a bit. This I did to jump the creek ... but next thing I knew I was flat on my face but on the other side of the water.  No harm done but a good wake up ... so just continued on about 20 minutes ... then turned back and this time found the pallet - boards path and came out at the 10th St. exit.

All and all ... great exercise and I did get some gps readings. We have to get in and get the markers up!

You will not have "nature deficiet disorder" [Graeme.Gibson] if you enjoy these trails often enough.
F.

A Birthday Party Hiking Event

How it was kept a secret is amazing but we did it ... the plans changed many times ... lunch/hike was cancelled and a mini hike was thrown in ............ a calm sunny day in between winter weather chaos. The mini hike took us to the south Miller Creek beach .... lots of new shells were found [had to get the books out to identify some of them].

Then back to town for the surprise ... which was that we were taking the birthday party with us [uninvited] to E's home. Bundled up for a 20 minute open boat cruise to our retreat complete with big smiles and birthday hugs.

By the time we reached the north western end of Maud Island M. saw the other hikers on shore and we disembraked for a marvelous hike back to the house ... it was so great for us all to be celebrating together.

After a marvelous meal, great companionship, wine and games we ended our great day. Next morning after an amazing breakfast we had another open boat trip across the channel to Graham Island where we walked the beach, investigated an old eco-camping site, and then headed up the logging road where none of us had been ... the only access being by water!

After an hour or so of walking we got to a view spot and snapped some photos so we could pinpoint where we were ... then what happens but we run into a fellow in a pick-up looking pretty surprised to find 4 over the hill hikers on top of his logging road. We surprised a couple of other fellows too who were removing bridges. We were happy we got as far up as we had, as without one bridge we won't be able to get that far again.

An unexpected surprise was the arrival of the barge to pick up their equipment ... as we waited for our ferry to take us back for another terrific meal and finally the trip home ... with a plan for a Thursday hike!

Perfect weather on the Island ...sun, clear, calm, only once did we see a shower and we were inside at the time ... little did we know that snow and wild winds were on the way to keep us inside and E on the Island.

Nude Beach Walk

Usual forecast for bad weather but it wasn't, also as usual ... so we all piled in the car and headed for a flat beach walk at the Nude Beach. Couldn't smell the buried whale so assume it is still buried! We walked the soft sand down to small curling waves at the lowish tide and then hopped the rocks, and jumped the streams. Short but enough time to pick up more ocean treasures.

You will notice we weren't "nude" .... maybe in August and maybe not?

Charlotte's Town Trails

Today we did an abbreviated tour of 4 Town Trails ... began at the Trundl Loops, through the woods to the meadow and back out through the woods ... lots of blow down; next to the Crabapple Creek trail ... where we admired the work that Paul and Mike have done ... thanks; next crossed over into the Gore Trails section and ended up going to up to the first plateau on the Charlie Hartie Creek trail. Great day for hiking and lots of good conversations. Thanks Karen.

Dover Trail - Feb. 5, 2010

Planned for a few weeks ... and you never know about the weather ... forecast said fine in the AM and rain after noon .... so we were on the 10 ferry and after a few photos hit the trail by 11. Lots of us, strung out in groups, connected by walkie-talkie; it was a great hike among towering cedars. Lots of blow-down but we navigated the trail well ... lots of ups and downs and overs involved. Unfortunately lunch break was just a bit too long ... and we missed the 1:30 ferry home so headed to the airport for a snack and some more visiting .... as the rain and wind worsened we decided to skip a secondary hike out to Onward Point!.

We were all anxious to get home to be ready for the Margaret Atwood Graeme Gibson readings at 7:00 ... after listening to Greame speak of the growing problem of "nature deficits" ... we were a bit smug after our wonderful absorbing time in Nature today ... no deficits here!