Lone Tree Hill 25/27 weeks

Mark and I stepped out alone again for our 25th hike. We figured since the last outing was a mountain we would keep up with the elevation and tackle Lone Tree Hill. Our youngest son warned us that this was a challenging climb and he was right; the ascent begins immediately. The trail is only a little over 2km round trip but in some areas it is so steep the trail was designed with switchbacks. Lone Tree Hill is a beautiful park nestled in the Highlands district and at the summit it is easy to see why settlers called this place the Highlands. At 364 m it is almost 1000 metres shorter than the Ben in the real Scottish Highlands, but try telling yourself that while you are traipsing to the top.

Mark heading toward the summit

Switchbacks designed to keep us on semi-level ground.

Have I mentioned before that Arbutus only grow within 30 miles of the Northwest coast?

My very sweet friend Wayne gave me a new tripod...but through a series of mishaps, neither the old nor the new tripod made it into the camera bag this week.

We were the only hikers in this park on the Sunday that we visited. Lone Tree Hill is out of the way as the Highland's most western park. It is off the transit system and even for car travel it is clear at the end of Millstream road.
Twenty five weeks into our commitment we begin to talk in terms of elevation using terms such as 'only' and 'not quite'. When we speak about hiking at our home state of Illinois we wonder how challenging we will find the mostly flat terrain. Mark brings up a good point. Area summits are measured by sea level and many times the trail heads are on roads that wind up the side of an elevation. 
One of the realities of Old Baldy Mountain (435m) in the Shawnigan Lake district is that the trail head begins  level with the lake. Compared to Mount Work (450 m) by the time you get to the parking lot you are already partially up the mountain. This may be the reason we got to the top of Mount Work and felt like it hadn't been such a bad climb. But we felt every single meter of the climb up Old Baldy.

I am the slower hiker and so Mowgli always comes back to make sure I am alright. Here he is trying to keep my pride intact and only peek at me.

Mark pauses on his way back down.

Any tree would look dramatic at this elevation.

This stump is all that is left of the 12 foot bonsai-like tree that stood at the summit for 2 centuries.

For comparison, this is a loonie, not a penny. I was struck by how enormous the slugs were at this park.

 My recommendations? Do it, hike this park and get to the top. Its less than an hour and the views make it  well worth the climb.

Next week: We are celebrating our 6 month hiking anniversary with a potluck lunch and a stretch at Kinsmen Gorge park. Follow the parking lot from Tillicum Road as far into the park as you can go and we will have claimed a picnic table between the parking lot and the water's edge.The walk will start at 10am and non-walkers will begin to arrive at 11:30-12 for lunch. Check out this Facebook map.

spectacle lake; old baldy mountain 24/28 weeks

Our oldest, Jordan, joined us for our 24th outing at Spectacle Lake.

Our 24th week ended up being more of a weekend excursion. Mark and I camped at Bamberton Provincial Park on Saturday and Sunday nights. The idea was to get out of town for a relaxing couple of days and to get ourselves into closer proximity to a number of hiking trails. Our agenda was to hike any trails at Bamberton and on Sunday we would hike Spectacle Lake. The trail around the lake veers off to the right and winds up the side of Yos Mountain.
Known as Mount Jeffrey, this is a sacred mountain to the Malahat people and, at 530m, one of the highest elevations on the Malahat Ridge. We were nervous enough about the elevation and wanted to remain sensitive to the sacredness of the place.  I contacted the band office to ask if there were clear trails to the summit and if it would not be an affront to hike there. I received a very gracious letter from an administrator thanking me for my inquiries and asking that we simply be aware of the sacredness of this place to their people. I was also informed that any search and rescue costs incurred would be my own.
Mark and I let that information stew for a few days before we left and we finally decided to head to Spectacle lake and remain open about the possibility of a Yos Mountain hike.

Mark is fixing us a carb-heavy  meal.

Our stay at Bamberton was a good one. The park was crowded but still felt spacious. There are no amenities at the sites and chemical toilets only. Also there is no shower house. Even so, it is a fantastic park. The location is far enough away to feel like a vacation and close enough that very little of your time is devoted to travel. We hiked the 2 km beach/campground trail on Saturday evening and found that the descent made it a small workout and nice warm up for the next days hike. 

The well kept picnic grounds looking toward Goldstream Park.

Bamberton light show on the north end of the beach.

On Sunday morning we left for Spectacle Lake. I can't convey Mark's disappointment when he heard that the lake was named not for a visual spectacle or spectacular beauty but because it is shaped like a pair of glasses. There is a 2 km trail around the lake that we anticipated being fairly rugged given its location in the Malahat area. When we pulled into the parking lot we noticed an early model car with all of the windows busted out. As we ended our hike we met the fisher group who owned the car and found that they had only been on the lake for a little over an hour. We were also struck by the amount of graffitti at the park and the horrible condition of both chemical toilets. 

It felt like residual bitterness which seemed appropriate given the history of the First Nations struggle to keep their sacred land in this territory. The Malahat Nations website history reads like a true life Avatar, complete with eviction and tremendous sacred trees.  Without casting stones, it seems likely that a land in such dispute would carry the energy of the argument. Now this place seems neglected and left to its own devises to fend off the advances of the careless and disrespectful. 

A definite pall was cast over the morning and rather than attempt the trail to the summit of Yos Mountain, we finished the hike and were back at the parking lot within the hour.

At certain points the forest was so dense that we seemed far from a lake.

The trees were magnificent.

Glasses or not, the lake IS spectacular.

Can you believe this is the only book I found in our car while looking for the trail map book?

Jordan headed back to Victoria and I plied Mark into a Shawnigan Lake visit with the promise of outstanding sushi. The cafe that I was looking for has since closed but we stumbled upon Shawnigan Joe's Grill and Teriyaki at the corner. At less than five dollars for eight pieces of fresh vegetarian sushi in a beautiful cafe setting we will definitely visit here again soon. Across the street we visited the Shawnigan Lake museum and were escorted through by a gentleman whose extreme knowledge of the area and its lore was quite fascinating. And here is where the weekend took an interesting turn. 

Across the street from Shawnigan Joe's, for a mere twoonie the historical society will treat you to way more information about the area than you ever thought you needed to know.

As we were leaving and thanking him for his time I asked if he knew of any local hikes besides the Kinsol Trestle. He grabbed a Shawnigan Lake map and proceeded to give us insider information on finding a trail up Old Baldy, the mountain that overlooks Shawnigan lake. One of the effects of the 52 week commitment half way though is that a 2km hike now seems pedestrian and my muscles crave more. So when the gentleman assured us that it was a good one for folks who hike we were in it for the adventure. He promised incomparable veiws of the islands and even Sooke Lake. At this point know that he also told us it was a half an hour to the summit.

Mark and I at the trailhead...we have already cut through the Easter Seals camp to get here.

Just as we were snapping the above picture a couple came onto the tracks from Mt Baldy. They told us that they hiked to the tower and warned us about the rough patches and tips on where to pick the trail back up when it disappeared. It turns out the man gave us impeccable directions right down to the make of the car we needed to look for on the hard road to find the trail cut again. We lost about 20 minutes when I talked Mark into going the wrong way but it ended up being the most shaded part of the hike.

We think we are tough; we are just babies on the side of this mountain.

The elevation allows us to just see the tip of Shawnigan lake.

After leaving the railroad tracks there is a fairly wide trail winding through sparse woods. The mountain then opens up to an ATV track or a gravel road. This was rough going and not my favorite part of the hike though it proved to be the longest; maybe it just seemed longest. It was hot and dusty. The day was gorgeous and clear so the sun felt magnified on the surface of the road. Also, the gravel is very rough so you have to be mindful about your footing. You could end up pitching over or twisting an ankle. We nearly slipped many times and coming down the mountain was even worse.  It didnt take long on the gravel road to decide we had better ration our water. Remember that we took off on this hike on a lark so had only one water bottle between us.  Poor Mowgli just walked from one peice of shade to the next.

 Mowgli on the left is in no big hurry to catch up because it means walking in the sun.

 About halfway to the summit we walked through an arbutus forest. It was the most arbutus we have seen in one spot and because they were competing with the conifers on the mountainside they grew straight and tall. At this portion of the trail we figured that we could turn around and go back down because we had already seen so much beauty. Mark kept quoting Forrest Gump; "We've come this far. Might as well keep going."
On the gravel road we met another couple coming down. The were sunburnt pink and flushed from exertion. They told us they had made it to the tower and that the trail to the summit from there was rough and steep.
Just after that, we arrived at the tower ourselves.
                             

Posing at what would be refered to as the Hillary Step, the last spot before the push to the summit.

my new boot shot for the blog

After a nice rest Mark quoted Forrest Gump again and we decided to head to the summit. We met 2 more hikers coming down and that brought the number of hikers to six, only 2 who made it to the absolute summit. This fact was not lost on us as we slogged the last bit of trail.

WAY down there in the middle of the picture is the swimming pool we parked our car next to. Why did we look up and believe that we could summit Old Baldy in 30 minutes?

We are probably the only two people from Alexis Illinois to have placed rocks on this cairn.

Here we are at the top of our world that day.

We began the descent in a bit of a hurry because we were out of water for Mowgli. There were a couple of close calls on the loose gravel but we got down and to the second water bottle in approximately an hour. That was without stopping to rest so I can not imagine someone even running to the summit making it in 30 minutes. The lesson learned here was to always be prepared for a big hike no matter what the local guy says. 

dreamy little jellyfish on the ferry ride home.

Next week: Lone Tree Hill

Cuthbert Holmes 23/29 weeks

This is the end of the trail at the movie theatre. I was so anxious to get out of the rain I didnt even squat down.

I should begin this blog with a solid apology. The Sunday of our 23rd hike began cloudy and only let up occasionally in a mostly rainy day.  We were to attend the memorial service of a friend's husband later in the day and my heart just wasn't into the hike. It rained the entire hike and became heavier towards the end which didn't help.  I didnt even want to risk getting the camera out of the bag and these few pictures are the result.
The group shot above was taken right in front of the Silver City movie theatre. It happens that the main path from the parking lot winds right to Tillicum Mall. If you are heading to the mall anyway, you could park at the Cuthbert Holmes parking lot and get your walk in for the day.

Part of the main path trying to stay dry.

This is an urban trail and it runs right alongside highway one. It is a dense forest and difficult to see to the other side.  British Columbia has saved so much natural space for everyone to enjoy and these little urban gems literally dot the map. My experience of this park was cursory because of the weather. I know that I haven't given it the attention it deserves. The Colquitz river runs alongside the southern portion of Cuthbert Holmes and is a great body of water for birdwatching. I will schedule another visit here. There is so much more to see and little secondary paths to travel. We did meet a number of people on the hike who were undaunted by the rain. This is a popular spot for the locals.
Dont be surprised if you stumble upon a nest for a homeless person. The number of homeless people in this part of BC is high due to the mildness of the weather. I know if I were to experience homelessness, I would want to curl up in a wooded area as well so I cant say that I blame them.
I have mentioned it before in my 52week commitment; this area of the world can be wet and hikes needn't be postponed or one would never get out during the rainy season. Im glad I was able to remind myself of that. I didnt take the necessary precautions to keep myself dry and my camera undamaged. I will be better prepared next hike.

Wet, wet, wet

Mark welcoming the day; even the rain.

Next week: Spectacle Lake and Yos Mountain

Bear Hill/Brookleigh Road 22/30 weeks

Swinging from the trees....

 Mark and I climbed up the back trail of Bear Hill on Sunday. This was our 22nd outing of the year and we wanted to stay in our own backyard. There is a trail head on Brookleigh road just across the street from the Elk Lake boat launch. It is just a signpost going into the woods so if you're not paying attention you might miss it.

A friend of ours told us that this direction on Bear Hill is a more rugged experience and he was right. One of the fun attributes of Bear Hill is the ascent which begins almost immediately on all of its approaches. This trail is also a bridal path and gets a bit chewed up and muddy in places. The muddy spots are a small part of the trail and easy to navigate around.

This angle illustrates the density of the forest in some places.

There were other paths branching from this initial one. Since our objective was to get to the top we stayed on the main trail. At times we passed just alongside a property fence but for the most part the park felt secluded and vast.

Mowgli on a level  portion of the trail.

Some parts are steep enough that the universe threw in natural steps.

I feel like yodeling.

Overlooking Elk Lake.

If you have to have a cell phone you must accept the towers.

One of the views from the top.

Elk lake to the south.

The Strait of Georgia to the east. In the background are Washington state's San Juan islands.

We hiked Bear Hill on our second outing of the year. That approach is the main one accessed off of Bear Hill Rd at Oldfield. This hike felt like a completely different park. The view is worth the climb. It was my first glimpse of Elk lake from any elevation and I was excited to see it. I could easily fall in love with this park and will be ready to hike it again soon. Next time we will plan to stay longer and explore the secondary trails from this approach. This is indeed the more rugged side of Bear Hill. As a bridle path the trails are not always hiker friendly but worth the extra work. The ascent makes the hike a work out.
It is week 22 into our 52 week commitment and I can feel myself getting stronger. We are also seeking out the more difficult and challenging hikes; I was still happy to take a couple of breathers on the way to the top. Of course, the pause at the summit is always a great time for relaxing.

I'm proud to say it looks as if Mowgli has had the worst of it.

Don't let me fool you; I was actually just lying down.

My hiking buddy/sidekick. I couldn't ask for a better one.