Francis/King Park January 17, 2010 3/49 weeks

On Friday we lost Fred, our good friend and Tao kin, to heart failure. We were all reeling from his sudden death so Mark and I didn't expect anyone to hike with us this week. All of the kids were to go but the phone calls came as they fell away one by one. Our daughter Hillary and her travel buddy Matthieu were the only people planning to hike with us. We imagined that we could take our time and not break our necks to get there right at 10:30. The phone rang at 10:45 and it was Jessica and Marlen. They had just
arrived at the park. When we got there, Alisa and Bernie got out of their car where they had been waiting and Wayne and Pauline showed up just as we were heading deeper into the forest. I suppose what we all needed was to get out into the fresh air and remember Fred for the great outdoorsmen he was.

Francis/King park is located just a couple of miles from our house. At the edge of Prospect Lake the road will either head to Langford or up further into the Highlands. We told the kids that if they felt like a more challenging hike they could take the trail that would link Francis King with Thetis Lake. I figured that, since you would have to cross the Highlands to get there, it would be an arduous leg to the journey.

At the park map we noticed that the lake trail sort of veered off of the main one with very little notice. Marlen and I laughed about the possibility of just looking up suddenly to see that we had taken a wrong turn and were at the lake.

Imagine our surprise when Marlen discovered this sign...

I was hoping that no one at the trailhead had overheard him say,

"You choose and we will all follow you."

Thats a pretty heavy responsibility for a chronically lost lefty with no internal compass. We had mutually agreed to start on the opposite side of Munn Road and go to the heritage forest.

This small grove is home to some of the oldest and largest trees in the area. Saved by the donation of land to the district for park use, they are amazing to stand in the shadow of. As these next photos can attest.

Marlen, Hillary and Alisa

The tree at the top of the article in the group shot is the one that we all

formed a ring around. It took 7 of us holding hands to encircle it.

Hillary and Matthieu

This last sign, seen in the parking lot on our way out is a good image to close with. We all marveled at the immense beauty of this park, the majesty of the trees that an act of generosity had saved for all of us.

As a CRD park this one is deep

forest and as such can be muddy and have standing water across the trail in some places. Be warned but dont let it stop you from enjoying this amazing space. An afternoon sheltered by these giant trees can be just the thing to remind us of how transcient our time here really is.



Next week: A memorial to our friend is scheduled. We will start the day with a quick early morning hike to the top of Oak Haven Park.