Walk was from Burns Road on the One Spot trail for about an hour and 45 min.. No rain! There was a little mud but easy to bypass. Debrief was at Mudsharks cafe, a popular debrief spot where we can sit outside. Thanks to Patti for photos.
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With a dodgy weather forecast we set out on Friday the 13th to hike in the Wildwood Forest. We were all well prepared for the light shower that occurred on our way back to our vehicles. Considering some of the predictions, luck was on our side. Photos by Dawn and Patti. Walk was from the Millard Lookout to Beachwood Road and the greenway leading to The Ridge. To add to our walk, we walked the Comox Logging Road where a local trail leads to the tracks. Debrief was outside on the deck. Thanks to Cheryl and Patti for photos.
Our group went to the south edge of Campbell River to hike a 14 kilometre loop around Woods and Storie creeks and the golf course. The maze of mountain bike trails in the area are interesting to hike, especially near the creeks and ponds. A golfer on the nearby driving range with the unfortunate combination of abundant power and lousy aim provided more excitement than we would have preferred, as did an overly "friendly" wet dog. Fortunately we all survived unscathed. Photos by Steve Ray and Bill Boham Puntledge Park to Ruth Masters and First Street Park and Morrison Nature Park was our walk on a slightly rainy day. It did not stop us or others such as dog walkers, family daycare kiddies and even a small wedding party at Puntledge Park taking photos. Many fawn lilies and trilliums to be seen. Debrief at Mudsharks where we could sit outside under the ceiling heaters at Gladstones. Thanks to Patti for the photos.
 Donald Bourne finally receives his 2021 trophy for winning the putting contest at the end of the 2021 golf year. We all had a great time last year and look forward to another fun time with our golf group this season.
Lazo Road to Balmoral Beach and then back to the Lazo Marsh lookout was our walk today. A little light rain off and on did not stop us from enjoying this walk. There were a few surprises at Curtis Corner with what looked like a magnolia tree from a distance, but it turned out to be a tree covered in shells. Another creative project was the wooden fish sculptures with marble eyes. This was a hilly walk with so many trails to choose from. Blackbirds and sparrows flew around us at the lookout. Quite a pleasant walk with a debrief at Benino's in Comox. Thanks to Patti for photos.
A mix of sun and cloud, the forecast predicted. They were half right. Our selfie-sized group was in the clouds for most of our climb up Mt Menzies. We opted to leave snowshoes behind. This decision was appreciated on the bare logging road until the top third of our route. From there the snow became progressively deeper, maxing out at about 2 meters at the summit. Fortunately we only sank to about the top of our boots most of the time. As if our 575 meter climb wasn't enough we decided to check out a trail to Saddle Lake that looked easy and inviting on the maps. That turned into a bushwhacking loop that added another 75 meters to our total ascent. On our way down the low level cloud cleared so we were rewarded with a view from the lower viewpoint. Photos by Cathy and Bill Some of the hiking members took advantage of a dry day to get out for an outing in Cumberland. Our route was a variation on others used in the area and turned out to be very pleasant. Plenty of chatter along the way as we all got caught up on each other's latest doings and since the trails proved to be very picturesque, we thoroughly enjoyed the time together. As the route led us over two loops originating at Jumbo's Cabin, we were able to enjoy a lunch break at the picnic tables below the Cabin half-way through the hike. Photos by Dawn and Bill. Bill Jorgensen's portfolio The walk on this sunny, windless day was from Oyster River Nature Park to Salmon Point. Just beautiful after yesterday's extremely windy, rainy day. We changed it up by walking by the river and onto the beach rather than on the trail for the whole way. Thanks to Cheryl and Dawn for photos.For a different approach to Seal Bay Park we started on Mission Road, 3 blocks from Lerwick. We hiked through the forest to enter the park from Huband Road. A few sections of very wet trail added a bit of a challenge to an otherwise easy route. In the park we hiked to, and around Melda's Marsh before returning on mostly the same route. Photos by Steve Ray Some of our birders headed to the Little River area on Sunday to make our usual loop from the Little River Nature Sanctuary through a subdivision to the shoreline south of the ferry terminal, along the beach to the terminal and across it to check out the Little River mouth area, and then a return to our park along the river bank and back through the subdivision. This route generally takes two hours or so to complete and exposes us to the possibility of birds in a range of habitats. Our bird total on this occasion was twenty-seven (with a few only noted once the photos were downloaded onto the computer and processed): Red-winged Blackbirds, Brewer's Blackbird, Northern Flickers, Violet-Green Swallows, Song Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Robins, Common Raven, Bald Eagles, Turkey Vultures, gulls, Great Blue Herons, Common Loons, Surf Scoters, Buffleheads, Horned Grebes, Mallards, American Wigeons, Eurasian Wigeon, Common Mergansers, Scaups, Long-tailed Ducks, Killdeer and Yellowlegs. We were impressed with the number of large rafts (groups) of Surf Scoters seen and especially enjoyed the sight of Horned Grebes in full breeding plumage....so pretty! It was also good to see the Eurasian Wigeon amongst the Mallards and American Wigeons - a rather uncommon sighting. Oh...and the nest between the subdivision and Little River Nature Sanctuary is once more occupied by a Bald Eagle. We appreciated some snowmobile tracks to follow on our 5 kilometre loop through the Ramparts area. The untracked snow was heavy going but taking turns at the front of the line made it manageable. There was plenty of pristine snow for our second season finale. Will there be a third? Maybe! Photos by Cheryl and Bill Walk was changed to Wed. due to a snowy Tues. morning. Beautiful gardens and the snow capped mountains was a visual treat to be seen. Then, it was through Hurford Park to the Leprechaun tree with its Irish blessing on the door. Through a few city streets and pathways led us to a field and Lerwick Forest trails. The Valley Greenway led us back to the start. Thanks to Patti for photos.Before this outing we watched the weather forecasts carefully, concerned about the possibility of too much snow.... in April! It did snow most of the time that we were out, fortunately lightly. Our plan was to go down into the Piggott Creek valley on a circle tour. We opted to stay higher as visibility was poor and the untracked snow slowed us down a bit. So the trip turned into an exploratory. We were able to find a route up and over a hill, then down to the Lake Approach ski trail. As the resort is closed for the season we followed Lake Approach and The Ponds trails back to the lodge. This was billed as the season finale, but with the cold temperatures and more snow in the forecast there could be an encore. Photos by Cheryl and Cindy. On Saturday we repeated a hike from North Island College to the Tsolum River that we first did in January. This time instead of ice and snow we had a few muddy patches, wild flowers and treats at the Farmers Market. Photos by Dawn and Bill J. Bill Jorgensen's portfolio On Wednesday, a small group of birders gathered at the end of Hilton Drive to view the birds along the Royston Seaside Trail and towards the boat hulks off the south side of the parking lot. It was a successful two-hour outing with a total of twenty-five species noted. Of note were the variety of birds that were showing off in their breeding plumage (Horned Grebes and Red-breasted Mergansers, for example). Species sighted were: Bald Eagles, Song Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, American Robins, Northwestern Crows, swallows in flight, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, House Finch, Spotted Towhee, European Starlings, Rock Doves (Feral Pigeons), Mallards, Buffleheads, Horned Grebes, American Wigeons, Common Goldeneyes, gulls, Common Loons, Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Mergansers, Yellowlegs, Dunlin and Black-bellied Plovers. Nymph Falls must be one of our favorites! With the unpredictable weather lately, we lucked out in the sun and cloud. Our outing was just shy of two hours and afterwards many of us enjoyed being outside at Mudsharks. Thanks to Patti and Donald for photos.
Cathy and David led us on a hike that they scoped out to a waterfall on the Trent River. This waterfall is about 6 kilometers upstream from the well known falls near Highway 19. Our route took us south from the Cumberland Recreation Centre mostly on mountain bike trails and a few short stretches of logging road. We enjoyed our lunch with a view of the falls. This 16 kilometer hike included more distance and elevation gain than our nearby Nikkei Mountain route. With more trails to explore along this part of the Trent River, I'm sure that we will be back. Photos by Dawn, Cathy and Bill J. Bill Jorgensen's Portfolio For the last of our spring break southern hikes we started at the popular Westwood Lake trail in Nanaimo. It was even more popular than usual with 3 bus loads of elementary students hiking around the lake. We hiked around the lake on a very scenic trail that is never far from the shoreline. From the east end of Westwood Lake we entered Morrell Nature Sanctuary and hiked along Morrell Lake and the beaver pond. A very short road link took us from the Nature Sanctuary to Colliery Dam Park. Here we hiked around the two lakes and stopped for a sunny lakeside lunch. After lunch we retraced our route back to our vehicles at Westwood Lake. Photos by Dawn and Bill J. Bill Jorgensen's portfolio Warm day for a walk at the Royston Seaside trail and Marine Drive today! We walked to the end of Marine Drive where we paused to enjoy the views. Then it was off to the Royston Cafe to sit outside with our coffee and goodies. Thanks to Deb for photos.
Another new route for our group, this time in the Nanoose area. We started off hiking along Enos Lake and a few smaller lakes or ponds. On the way we found an unexpected little water fall. Back at our starting point we hiked along the roads to the Notch Hill trailhead. After a 100 metre climb we were rewarded by beautiful views. We continued down the other side of the hill, then climbed part of the way back up to take a mid level trail back to the road. In addition to the fir dominated forests we were treated to lots of garry oak and arbutus along these trails. Photos by Robin and Bill This spring break we headed south to the Nanaimo area to explore a route that is new to our group. We started near Jingle Pot Road and hiked trails in the VIU Woodlot to Benson Creek Falls Regional Park. Access to Benson Creek and to the falls, also known as Ammonite Falls has been very recently upgraded with new bridges, stairs and viewing platforms. We hiked a loop around and beyond the park before descending to the falls. Our route included about 400 stair steps. We all agreed that this route rates a return visit, perhaps in late summer when the falls become a trickle and a swim below them could be our reward. Photos by Steve, Cathy and Bill. Puntledge Park to Ruth Masters Park, First Street Park and Morrison Nature Park was our trek on a cloudy but mild day. No rain! A book box was discovered across from the parking at Puntledge Park. Debrief was outside at Mudsharks. Excellent way to end the walk! Thanks to Patti for the photos.
Starting from the new trailhead next to the Comox Valley Water Treatment Plant, we hiked the River Trail along the east side of the Puntledge River to the Comox Lake dam. Crossing the dam we hiked a short loop on the west side then crossed back and completed our hike on the upper trails. Photos by Bill Jorgensen and Steve Hill. Bill's Portfolio |