Galiano Island 34/18 weeks

The lot of us, Dionisio Provincial Park Galiano island

 Mark and I decided last year to take an island scooter holiday each year. We camped in the San Juan Islands in 2009 and we wanted one last retreat before the big wedding trip in October. We chose Galiano Island for its proximity to Swartz Bay. Through a series of internet maneuvers and telephone blunders, Mark and I got a great deal on a weekend cottage for our 34th outing. There are a number of interesting hikes on this island and one day we plan to return and experience them.
We arrived on Saturday morning so we were able to attend the farmers market and stock up on locally grown vegetables and a loaf or two of fresh baked bread. We then drove up the road and took the trail down to the beach at Bluff Park. We weren't thwarted by the warning signs on the trail, but I gasped a bit when I saw the marine rope. It was strung up as a hand rail that would surely function more as a tow rope on the way up.

Our first hike of the weekend near Bluff Park

Proceed with caution indeed.

Once we arrived at the bottom we were rewarded by a beautiful and relaxing time on a secluded beach. In fact, it was just us and a couple of intrepid young mothers and their children.

Our beach companions showing us how BC kids play in their natural environment.

This is a ferry corridor; Galiano is the last island before the push to the mainland.

We had split off from our daughter and her friend Robert after breakfast to meet back up at the market. Then we decided to head to our rental cabin and drop off our bags so we could explore the island a bit. Galiano island is a narrow 19 miles of mostly decent roads and 3 or 4 miles of rutted gravel. Our cabin was at the end of the rutted gravel road. Im sure that it was shorter than it seemed but I was on a small honda scooter so felt every bump and hole.  Once we arrived at our destination we decided to stay put. The rental property borders Dionisio Provincial Park which can only be accessed by foot or by boat.
It only took one 20 minute walk down the beach path to convince us we should stay and explore this gorgeous park. We hiked the park both Saturday and Sunday. Since we are boat less and our rental cabin was a bit of a fluke we can't be sure when we will ever visit this park in the future.

The tiny archipelago off of Dionisio Park. 

The surf has carved amazing patterns across the sandstone surfaces.

We were delighted to have been joined on our second annual scooter holiday by Hannah and Robert on Saturday. Dane and Jordan spent Sunday with us and we hope this is the first of many holidays that would include the entire clan. Jordan will be heading back to the states soon to work and attend school. He joins our middle son who is to be married in October and our eldest daughter who will be back from Europe for the wedding. 
I realize that all seven of us together in the same region of the world is almost tantamount to a lining up of the planets, but we'll do our best.

Coles Bay 33/19 weeks

All alone for this hike, I decided to head to Cole's Bay for some swimming.

Everyone I knew was busy on this particular Sunday and I had to work in the afternoon so I couldn't go too far by myself. I headed to my favourite swimming spot; Coles Bay.
While I was driving there I thought to myself, "I should explore for a swimming hole that is a bit closer to my house and more private..."

One of the more popular spots for salt water swimming. 

After a few brisk laps out and back I hiked back up the trail and headed home. This was the time I took a side road and found a trail back down to the water.  So here is my manifestation of a "swimming hole that is closer to home and private."  Well, once the divers cleared out it was private. Count on a diving club being there on nice days. I hear its a popular dive spot because of the wildlife and the easy access to the water with heavy equipment.

This is my new private spot that I found. If you are from here you can comment and guess as to its whereabouts.

Centennial Park 32/20 weeks

The impromptu birthday picnic hosted by Vickie.
Mowgli, Mark, Bernie, Vickie, Me, Alisa, Kaiko and Marlen.

This hike happily fell on Mark's birthday.  It also happily included, for the first time, our friend Vickie. She prefers a more level hike for recent health reasons so we headed back to our beloved local Centennial Park.
Since this is our second visit to a park that I covered pretty well on week 7, I will just show the photos of our 32nd outing. I well also report that the excitement we felt having our dear friend join us was marvelously compounded by her generosity in providing us with a secret picnic. Thank you Vickie.

Here Vickie tries to span an enormous tree; or so she said. 

Our traveling Buddha well cared for.

Vickie and the birthday boy.

These two are getting pretty good at flying.

Just in case anyone had forgotten the majesty of these trees.

My new favourite hiking colour

So long, you two.

basking

mt work 013
Originally uploaded by barbe2010

Matheson Lake 31/21 weeks

We LOVE this lake! Not enough to move to Metchosin, but still.

Mark and I chose Matheson Lake for our 31st outing.  It is one of my favourite places on this part of the island; more rugged and longer than the trail around Durrance Lake. It is also all the way over in Metchosin so we don't get over there very often. Matheson Lake has almost 4 km of trails with a couple of cuts into the waters edge. It is picturesque in any season. Since it is a large lake the winds in certain spots can be sharp.

Always amazed that the trees seem to grow right out of the rock here.

Mark wore red so I wouldn't lose him.

On the day that we were there the sky was reflecting the recent Albertan forest fires and so the light had a beautiful rose coloured cast to it. We kept stopping to take photos to illustrate the gorgeous lighting. Im sure we fell well short.

The lighting almost makes the forest look on fire. 

At The Moss Street Market Paint-in of 2008 I was approached at my massage booth by a woman with a request that I visit her friend as a massage patient. When I learned that he lived outside of Metchosin, I was very reluctant to travel that far on a weekly basis and made up my mind that I would charge him a travel stipend. He called and charmed me into becoming his bodyworker. The idea was made more appealing by my resolve to hike Matheson Lake after our weekly sessions.
The pot was also sweetened by showing up and meeting local artist and fellow ex-pat Jimmy Wright. I enjoyed his company and our time together and I was inducted into a small club of people whom Jimmy called 'little buddy'. He gave up his battle with cancer at the end of that summer and Im grateful that I was able to spend time with him and ease some of his discomforts. Mark and I remembered Jimmy on our hike. One of my scheduled massages that year fell on Mark's birthday so I brought him along to Metchosin and we hiked the lake as part of his birthday celebrations.

We bushwhacked our way atop this grass covered rock in order to avoid the two young families that were right behind us on trail. Now it will always be our own special outlook.

Buddha on the rocky out cropping.

A painter would have had better luck capturing this amazing light.

Velcro ball dog. Im still not sure how Mark was able to clean his coat. Yes, that is a pinecone on his head.

I am not a red head but this photo illustrates the whacky lighting for the day.

 All in all, we were in the park for 2 hours. We took pictures and rested, we had a picnic and watched the energy of the wind make designs on the surface of the water. I do not exaggerate when I tell you that I love this park. Make a day of it and go explore for yourself. Just getting out into the Metchosin countryside is a wonderful treat. If you make your plans to go on a sunday in the summer you could also visit the Metchosin Farmers market for some fresh veggies and interesting hand crafted delights. 

This is a copy of one of Jimmy's prints that hangs in our kitchen.
RIP Jimmy 1937-2008

John Dean Park; Pickles Bluff 30/22 weeks

The view from Pickle's Bluff is incomparable.

Here is the thing about summits and peaks; many times they are not the best part of the hike. Indeed, we mostly get to the top of a hill, mountain or monadnock in order to say that we have been there. I can think of a few hikes where the summit was anti-climactic. The summit at Mt. Work is difficult to discern. You could probably start hiking down the other side without even knowing you had just crested the summit. Old Baldy's summit was a barren jumble of sun-fed rocks and we paused only long enough for a couple of pictures. At both of these locations there are look out points before the summit that are much more hike-worthy.
The hike up to the summit of John Dean park and BACK DOWN a secondary trail is the most sterling example of this. The very apex of John Dean park is only note worthy because it is a summit. Sure, there is a look out platform and sure, when you look across the trees you can see a chain of islands and beautiful coast. But you are also sharing the summit with a communication tower and a weather station. It was the destination of our 5th hike and we were all glad to get there. We pretty much ignored the sign for Pickles Bluff; I was curious but the troupe was fatigued and I wasn't sure about the secondary trail. Im glad that we did not explore it that day.
Mark and I made it a destination hike for this outing. From the parking lot we took Thunderbird trail up into the woods. It is a fairly short jaunt through the trees and ends at the joining of the access roads.  You will want to turn left out of the woods but stay on the larger road to the right. This hike will take you up to the communications tower summit and the sign for Pickles Bluff is across the road.
This is a relatively short hike through woodland trail and boardwalks. There are a few sets of sturdy stairs. The entire time I was thinking this cant be right. How can a person get to the summit and then access a lookout by hiking DOWN? It is a steady descent. Pickles Bluff is the bald outcropping of rock seen from East Saanich road about 3/4 of the way up Mt Newton.

Mt.Baker

Looking south toward Victoria. 

This is the giant at the head of Thunderbird Trail.

In all 30 weeks of hiking I have never seen a more beautiful view of this island. This viewpoint has everything. It is a panorama from the Gulf Islands to Victoria.  It is a short hike leaving more time for relaxing and soaking up the view. It is a vigorous hike so we got the heart rate up and its a pretty steep trip back which is good for the hamstrings. We were on Mt. Newton less than an hour but really felt the workout. One draw back; it is a natural outcropping of rock and there is no platform or guard rail. So exercise caution with children or exuberant fellow hikers. A good rule of thumb is to just enjoy the view from well away from the edge. Next time I will bring a map of the Peninsula so that I can be sure of the geography that I am seeing.  We were there at noon and were able to see Cordova Spit due to the low tide.
Another delight about this hike were the dozens of dragonflies. They cruised the rocks in a steady stream. There were so many, I was surprised there were no birds preying on them.
I have been so taken with Pickles Bluff, it will now be a destination hike for visiting friends and family. If you decide to go on one short hike this year based on anything at all that Ive written about on 52weeks, I whole heartedly recommend Pickles Bluff. You will not be sorry that you took the time and effort. I cant wait to visit in the fall to see the display of changing colors.

Pickle's Bluff from East Saanich road.

Goldstream trestle bridge trail 29/23 weeks

Standing at the base of the falls in Niagra Canyon.

On Sunday Mark and I hiked at Goldstream Provincial Park. We plan to hike Mt Finlayson eventually but for today we chose the trail that winds around Niagra Canyon and up to the C&N rail trestle bridge.We told our son we were heading to Goldstream and wanted a hiking goal. He asked if we would prefer the 'Wall of Death' or the 'River valley of Death'. Frankly, we are getting too old to hike anything that has the word death attached to it but it was a nice ego boost to think that our son thought we were capable of it.

Goldstream is a BC Park and, as such, qualifies for next years blog celebrating the 100th birthday of the formation of BC parks. We will tick that one off the list by camping there, but that is another blog. 2011.
It turns out that Mark and I have hiked this trail before. Its a testiment to our hiking commitment and our subsequent fitness that I remember the trail being longer, steeper and hotter.

However, I didnt remember making it to the trestle bridge. As you come up over a steep portion, look up to see the trestle standing tall and strong against the sky with its bridgework blackened by age. It can really be breathtaking. And I wish I could show you. However, blogspot.com will only allow me to load these two measily photos that do NOTHING to show the beauty of this park. Or the height of Niagra Canyon.

Niagra Canyon base looking across Highway One at Mt. Finlayson.

At the trestle looking back over the Highway it is easy to see that only the very tip of Mt. Finlayson is left. Of course if you have ever hiked Finlayson then you know the tip is the hardest part; where you cling to bare rock on narrow trails that wind over the controversial golf course.
Apparently the C&N train only runs in the morning and evening so you are alright to walk out onto the trestle bridge. It is a long span over Niagra Canyon and has no railings; just platforms to hunker down into should you be unfortunate enough to have the train roar past while you are up there.
I love trestle bridges. They are a fine example of the engineering feats of a time gone by. When men put their heads together to figure out how to get goods and people across a span. They are fading from our landscapes as they weather and rot and the cost of replacing them becomes higher and higher.
I will try to post some pictures later and will alert to their presence on more recent blogs.