Activity Group News Posts are like blog or FaceBook posts and cover the entire history of the Glacier Probus Club, you can scroll down and all the way back to our beginnings in September 2013.
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With short notice some keen hikers took advantage of a break between storms. By joining and leaving the hike at different locations, our contingent hiked distances of 7, 10 or 14 kilometers. The full 14 kilometer route started in East Courtenay and included Sandwick, Lewis, Simms, Air Park, and Sunrise Rotary Parks, as well as the cemetery and the garry oaks reserve behind Vanier. All of us hiked the Riverway Trail from Simms Park to The Bayside Cafe for treats, then back to Simms. Photos by Steve and Bill. Our route. On Sunday, December 2nd six Probus members attended “A Christmas Carol” in Nanaimo at the Harbour City Theatre starring our own Steve Hill as Ebenezer Scrooge. It was a well done play, thoroughly enjoyed by all. Steve was certainly the star and most professional of the actors. We were spell bound by his performance and those of his extensive cast members, many of them children. The period costumes were especially well done. The carolling performed by actors as scenes were altered certainly put us into the Christmas spirit. We ended the afternoon performance by having dinner together at The Firehouse Grill in Nanaimo, just a short walk from the theatre. All enjoyed their dinner and Steve was able to join us. The performance continues until December 15th. If interested check out schmoozeproductions.com No photography was allowed during the performance, but thanks to Bill for his photo of us at the Firehouse Grill. Sandy  We were back to the Cumberland mountain bike trails for this hike, but exploring trails that were new to most of us. We hiked in the area referred to as the Eastern Block. As usual the bikers' creativity was apparent with the Iron Curtain trail and a few hammers and sickles on signs. Our route included wetlands complete with an impressive beaver dam (Site D?), mature forest, walking along the top and below a rock cliff, bridges, boardwalks and a clear cut with views of the Comox Valley and the Straight. There was some frost but traction was mostly good and we all stayed upright. We used trails rated intermediate for biking so our elevation changes were mostly gradual and hiking was fairly easy throughout the 11 km tour. The Wandering Moose was the site of our very comfortable debrief. Our route. Photos by Katie, Steve Ray and Bill B. Our Christmas Season Wine and Appies group gathering was held at The Griffin Pub on Thursday, December 6 and we all enjoyed the delicious variety of appetizers, comfortable environment and cheerful and efficient service that was provided by the pub staff. It was also wonderful to visit and get caught up with other group members during this busy time of year. Merry Christmas to all! With the temperature down at around minus 3, this was the first winter walk where gloves, and coats and hats were necessary. Regardless it was a beautiful sunny morning and the combination of blue sky, sun and crisp air made for an excellent outing. After little discussion it was decided to use the Whistle Stop for coffee, and as usual coffee was taken by most with a few of the thirstier members taking another rather larger dark drink-no names to be mentioned. Photos courtesy of Bill Jorgensen, click on the LINK to see them.  For our group's first visit to the Griffin Pub we were entertained by Centerpiece, a rock and country cover band. The small but close dance floor was well used through the evening. Most of us stayed past our usual bed times for a chance to try our luck at a growing cash prize. At 11:00 Bill Jorgensen's name was drawn. Bill didn't choose the right card for the big jackpot but received a gift certificate as a consolation prize. Thank you Bill for your photos of the evening. A chilly, sunny December morning saw some of the Hiking group members on their way over to Denman Island for a return visit to the Boyle Point Provincial Park trail system. Led by Bill Boham, we started from a different trailhead, ending up with a route that was around 8.5km long. After a short break at the Chrome Island lookout, we ventured onto an old side trail which followed the cliff-top along the west side of the Island. An interesting but arduous choice, which will likely not be repeated due to the fair amount of scrambling over deadfall and the semi-bushwhacking involved! As before, we were impressed with the varied and beautiful landscape - it is definitely an area for many repeat visits. Before heading back to the ferry, we stopped in at the Craft Market in town for a light lunch and a wander around the stalls. Photos are provided by Katie Hubberstey and Dawn Moore. The first of December was forecast as a sunny day, so a bird outing was planned to take advantage. The forecast was off a bit - we had periodic misty showers during the morning, but … so what. All six enjoyed the one to two hours spent on the Royston Seaside Trail area, binoculars glued to the eyes, trying to identify the numbers of birds that were, for the most part, in the distance. Our list?...Gulls, Crows, Bald Eagle, Common Loon, American Wigeons, Mallards, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Bufflehead, Cormorants, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Kinglet, Canada Geese, Surf Scoters, White-winged Scoters, Great Blue Herons, Scaups, Spotted Towhees, Annas Hummingbird, Flicker, Robins, and Juncos. Photos weren't great this time, due to distance involved from camera to subject, but are included to show identifying features. The walking group lucked out again this last Tuesday. The forecast had been terrible but 7 of us met up and headed out to Seal Bay. Bill agreed to ‘lead’ the walk though it was Carol and Sandy who set a fierce pace. The weather was super, the sun came out and the light through the trees made it very special. We were having our usual coffee at the Country Market when the rain started. Thanks to Bill for the great photos. Please click on this LINK to see the photos On a heavily overcast Sunday morning, some of our hikers headed over to the Wildwood Interpretive Forest's Piercy Rd trailhead, prepared to do a 3-hour excursion through Wildwood and the adjoining Bob Webb Trail (off Burns Rd). Do check out this link to a lovely area of our Valley: Wildwood and Bob Webb trail system . It wasn't long before a light rain started up; hardy folk that we are, we continued our trek as far as Brazier Rd and then returned to the trailhead within our allotted 3 hours, feeling quite virtuous! Thank you, Bill J. for the link to your photos. I always look forward to seeing your work. Bill B. has provided a plotaroute for the hike, for those who like to know some outing stats. Yes, the stairs up the Grind are all done. One thing about this time of year, you not only hear the eagles, you can actually see their nests too! We braved the chill and enjoyed a great walk. And the coffee and conversation after were fine too. click on photo to enlarge; hover cursor over photo to read captions, if provided  This should have been called an exploratory hike. The route to the closest end of Rossiter Lake was the same as used by the Snowshoe Group about a year and a half ago. Since that time the forest beside a short stretch of logging road has been clear cut. Maps and trip reports indicated two trails between Rossiter and Divers Lakes which form a loop. One of the trails was in good condition and took us to a beautiful view at Divers Lake. The other trail has become overgrown at the Divers Lake end and was steep and in poor condition at the other end. Hence the exploratory nature of the hike. Armed with the discoveries from this hike it would be easy to return in the future to enjoy the views and skip the deteriorated trails. As with our snowshoe adventure, the 2 km long steady climb back up to our vehicles was breath taking, and not for the scenery. Thanks to Steve Ray and Bill Jorgensen for the pictures. To view or download Bill's pictures from this hike click here. On Remembrance Day we hiked about 14 km through Seal Bay Park. As if by precision timing (actually by luck) we arrived at the beach a few minutes before 11:00 where we had a moment of quiet contemplation. We all gathered post hike for a debrief at the Courtenay Country Market Cafe. Thank you Patti and Bill J for the pictures. To see the rest of Bill's pictures of our hike click here. The Lunch Bunch met on November 14 at the Blackfin on the Comox marina. There were 23 members in attendance which required two separate seating areas; however, there was no shortage of conversation on a range of topics – an enjoyable time together.  In spite of rain being in the forecast this last Tuesday we managed a good walk up at Nymph Falls and stayed dry. No real sun to speak of but no wind so it was quite pleasant. It was our smallest group for some time 8 of us walked and then adjourned to Country Market for coffee and chat. Thanks to Bill for the photos. Please click on this LINK to view the photos.  Sometimes more Live Music Appreciation Group members want to attend an event than the venue can accommodate. Other times no so much. This edition of Talk 'n Tunes at the High Tide attracted the smallest signup so far. As we enjoyed our pre-show beverages our server informed us that their computers were down and they were likely going to cancel the performance and close the pub. When the musicians had about half of their gear packed away and most of the other patrons had left we were informed that the computers were back on line and the show would go on. Hosts Doug Biggs and Anela Kahiamoe with guest Andy Lorimer put on a great show. Andy is a master at the keys and covered Elton John to AC DC plus at least one original composition. As is often the case our contingent made up about half of the audience. Good times! This hike started on the Rail Trail in the Beaver Lodge Forest in Campbell River, an area familiar to some of our group. From there we used the Trailforks app to find our way across the Inland Island Highway to mountain bike trails that took us along the top of the Quinsam River valley. These trails were new to all of us, and they did not disappoint. Most of the walk from Beaver Lodge to the river was on an interesting single track trail through new and mature forest, with some short stretches on logging roads. The trail above the river, called Road Apples offered great views of the Quinsam below. After hiking 14 km we had a refreshing debrief at the Beach Fire Brewing and Nosh House. Thank you Bill Jorgensen for visually capturing our adventure. To see all of Bills pictures of our hike click here.
 We had the distinct pleasure to see the movie "Mary Shelley" starring Elle Fanning on Sunday night. This was a wonderful movie filled with the sights and sounds of London in the 1800s, but not from the perspective of the rich. Instead we were lead through various impoverished locations in London, following Mary Shelley and her lover Percy Shelley as he tried to make a living with his writing. Eventually their life lead them to a luxurious locale, where Lord Byron hosted them. This locale proved to be more complex than life in London, given Byron's excesses. When they returned to London, Mary was abandoned to a life of poverty again, where she wrote "Frankenstein". Eventually Mary and Percy found their way back to one another, he having changed a great deal. The movie was a wonderful piece of history brought to life.
After we dined at Sushi Jo, on Cliff and 8th. The sushi and other fare was very good and the conversation was excellent! This movie was all the better since it was the last movie we will ever have to spend in the uncomfortable seats at the Rialto! Good bye to those horrible things! Thursday was a busy day for the hiking group: Bill Boham led some of the hikers on an exploratory outing (described in a separate post), while Dawn and four others opted for the NE Woods trail system, with diversions to the shoreline off Curtis Rd and to the Lazo Bird Sanctuary. It was great to be out enjoying nature on a pleasant November morning, with temperatures just cool enough to be invigorating. click on photo to enlarge; hover cursor over photo to read captions, if provided Rock Cod performed at The Mex Pub for the First Tuesday fund raising concert. Our group was recognized by the band as Rock Cod alumni. Yes we have been to a few of their concerts. As usual their East Coast traditional style music had toes a tapping. L'Arche was the organization supported by this event. There was a large contingent of their members in attendance. They were a treat to watch as they danced with much joy and little inhibition. Thank you Steve Ray for the photographs. The group was small today, but enthusiasm abounded. We met at the Little River Nature Park on Wilkinson Rd near the Powell River ferry terminal and made our usual, slow circuit to take in pond, marine shoreline, river and the landscape in between (check route map below). The birdlife was abundant and varied and we even sighted a muskrat (we think) swimming by in the pond and a salmon attempting to swim up the shallow river. This is an area well worth visiting by the birders amongst us. Birds noted were: Gulls, crow, Bald Eagles, American Coot, American Wigeons, Pied Grebes, Horned Grebes, Red-necked Grebes, Hooded Mergansers, Common Mergansers, Mallards, Ring-necked Ducks, Dark-eyed Juncos, Downy (Hairy?) Woodpecker, Killdeer, Black-bellied Plovers (I think), Surf Scoters, Buffleheads, Green-winged Teal female (I think) and a Northern Shoveler female. In August Ena organised for us to have a guided walk of the Morrison Headwaters Nature Preserve. As a number of our regular walkers had missed this it was decided we would try the walk again before it got too wet. Once more we were blessed with a great day, no wind, no rain and some sunshine. It became obvious that no one was really familiar with this walk, but no one got lost and everyone seemed to enjoy the walk. It was fascinating to see, since we were last there, the dam the beavers had built and also how much more water was in the pond. 16 of us enjoyed the walk after which most of us retired to the Whistle Stop for coffee and conversation. Thank you to Dawn and Bill for the photos-click on the LINK for Bill's photos  The hiking group intended a hike which circled Allen Lake (above Cumberland) on November 2nd but when we reached the lake, we found the trail leading around it to be pretty much submerged in water (those pesky beavers!). Oh well....plan B took effect. We got out the map plus Bill B.'s gps and basically followed our noses, taking a variety of trails gradually leading us back to the trailhead. Lots of fun! Due to recent rains, the way was fairly muddy and wet, but once we left Allen Lake, all trails taken were negotiable. The Cumberland Brewing Company was the 'watering hole' of choice post-hike for our debrief. |
