Cowichan River Footpath 17/35 weeks

 This week represented my last free Saturday before the beginning of Moss St. Market. For those of you who don't live on this part of the island Moss St. Market is the hippest organic farmers market in Victoria. I co-host a booth for chair massage and absolutely love it. So, I will be there as many Saturdays as I can this season. If you go, pop in to see me and let me know that you have seen the blog. I might just be excited enough to give you a deal on a great massage.

This picture of sleepy Lake Cowichan as seen through the opening on a rusty foot bridge.

Mark and I used this weekend to head up Island to a hiking place that we wouldn't normally be able to visit on a Sunday. Lake Cowichan is a village at the base of Cowichan Lake and almost the mouth of the Cowichan River. It is almost 2 hours from our house so we drove up Friday night, stayed over and spent Saturday exploring the area.
We are completely enchanted by the area. One of the first things we noticed, besides the surrounding mountains, was how mossy the trees are. It gives a distinct clue that you have entered the rain forest. When I ventured out that rainy Saturday morning for coffee the lady who served me laughed about the weather and told me, "This is the rain forest...we never check the forecast. Why bother?" So, if you plan to visit pack your rain gear because I can almost guarantee that it will be raining part of the time. Our Saturday dawned rainy but the skies cleared up after 10 am and we had only light sprinkles after that. The trees hold an incredible amount of moisture so every time I brushed up against something my jacket got soaked; not enough to dampen our spirits though.

Cowichan River

So, this is where Mother Nature keeps her Q-tips.

A calm bend in the river. This illustrates the elevation of the footpath in places.

We began our trip along an old reclaimed railway system that was built for narrow gauge trains to run timber out of the dense forests. As such, it is a level trail suitable for walking or biking and in some places horses are allowed. It was never our intention to hike the extent of the footpath on this visit because it is quite long for a day trip at 20km. We ended up spending most of our time at the Cowichan River  provincial park and it was here that we hiked the loop from Skutz Falls to the trestle bridge and back along the river. Mark and I were never out of sight of the river and always keenly aware of its beauty and danger.
We had to remind ourselves not to think about the time our kids came tubing on this river. They were yelled at to get off the water by an extreme sports show film crew. Apparently, the water was simply too dangerous for extreme sport lovers but my kids tried to meander down the river anyway. It is one of those parent moments that make you thankful your kids dont tell you everything!

The path that wound alongside the river was narrow but well kept.

Rocks playing hide and seek.

You can hear the falls from quite a distance.

 Many hikers treat the Cowichan River Footpath like a small West Coast Trail by coming on at the trailhead and camping along the way.  This is allegedly a fisher's dream but we didn't cross paths with any anglers. I suppose in the summer there are many trying for trout and even salmon at certain times. We only met people at the trail heads. Once we were on the trail itself we saw no one. It was a relaxing hike and one I would be excited to go on again. Perhaps this summer we will plan an overniter again and hit the trail early; with rain gear.

We hiked into a clearing and stumbled onto this beautiful group camp site.

This was taken at a very low spot on the trail. Most places soared above the river on steep embankments.

Next week: Logan Park