Activity Group News Posts are like blog or FaceBook posts and cover the last two years of the Glacier Probus Club, you can scroll down and back to January 2018.
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With a lot of rain forecast to fall on Mount Washington in the coming days we were motivated to enjoy the limited snow before it gets really wet up there. We hiked the popular Lake Helen Mackenzie - Battleship Lake loop. We followed the park hiking trails due to the many water hazards. Our route was well packed though narrow in some areas because it was first traveled by skiers when the snow was soft. Thank you Dawn, Teresa, Cheryl and Michele for capturing the adventure in photos. After so much rain, it was lovely to take the opportunity for a hike in the sunshine on Tuesday. Our group started off the day's outing with a side-trip to view the Falls and were quite impressed with the thunder of water making its way downstream over the rocks. We may have seen it higher over the years, but anything making this sort of noise can be regarded as impressive! From the Falls, we maintained a brisk pace along the trails taking us to the picnic tables at Comox Lake's BC Hydro day-use park. Here, we enjoyed a lunch break before hitting the trails for the return leg. We found the paths in good shape after all the precipitation - some muddy patches but no real pooling to contend with. What a beautiful day to walk in the sunshine by the ocean. We departed from the Royston picnic shelter on Marine Drive to walk to the end of the Royston Seaside walk and back up to the cafe. It was a perfect way to end the walk with good company, treats, coffee and hot chocolate. Thanks to Barbara and Lorne for photos.
For our first snowshoe adventure of the season we wandered around Paradise Meadows. We mostly stayed on the well packed park trails due to the many water hazards. One exception was a stretch of bushwhacking up and over a hill that shows up as a very squiggly line before km-2 on our GPS plot. We covered just over 5 kilometers, which seemed like plenty for our first of the season experience. Thank you Dawn for capturing the moment in photos. A hike scheduled for Monday had to be cancelled due to inclement weather, so today found a large group of hikers out on the trails, determined to get some much-needed exercise. We decided on Seal Bay Park as our venue, since it is a pretty good bet in times of soggy weather and it did not disappoint. To accommodate the number of signees, we broke into two groups and headed off to circumnavigate the trail system around the area between Bates Rd and Hardy Rd. The two groups crossed paths a few times but despite some friendly rivalry, we ended up back at the Hardy Rd parking lot within minutes of each other. The brisk pace was welcome and the company enjoyable. Thanks to Dawn and Barbara for the photos. It was a small group of four who made their way to the Ships Point area for a morning of birding. For two hours, we meandered around the Ship's Point Park shoreline before heading across the way to the end of Tozer Rd for a look along the Fanny Bay shores and the adjacent dike path. It was good to be out in the sunshine for once, even if it made it hard to get good photographs of the birdlife due to reflections off the water. The birds tended to be off in the distance due to a low tide, but though we were not able to get sterling photos, we did catch sight of a fair number of birds that we were able to identify. Our species list for the day included: Dark-eyed Juncos, Song Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Anna's Hummingbirds, Stellar Jay, Bald Eagles, Northern Flicker, Spotted Towhees, Northwestern Crows, Belted Kingfishers, Great Blue Herons, Cormorants, Buffleheads, Black Oystercatchers, Common Loons, gulls, Black Turnstones, Greater Scaups, Mallards, Surf Scoters, White-winged Scoters, Common Mergansers, American Wigeons, Harlequins, Long-tailed Ducks, Horned Grebes, Red-necked Grebes...and lots of very noisy sea lions along distant shores! One of our favorites is the Seal Bay walk. Starting from Hardy Road to Bates Road and back via Melda's Marsh takes almost two hours to complete. As you can see, work is still ongoing at the Bates Road entrance. Debrief was at Milano's at the Cubes, where we sat outside. Such a hardy bunch we are! Thanks to Patti for photos!
November 10th turned out to be a good choice for a hike and a relief after so many days of rain. It was cool (just right for hiking) under mixed skies, so we took full advantage of the dry day. Our pace was brisk in order to get a good workout despite the absence of significant ascents/descents. Still, we were able to enjoy the beauty of the woods that we passed though, while having a good gossip. A debrief followed at Bowser's Footless Rooster Coffee shop. Great morning for a walk! No rain and mild temperatures! From Puntledge Park, Ruth Masters, First Street Park to Morrison Nature Park was it. Not as smelly as I thought it would be except one section. Debrief was at Mudsharks. Thanks to Patti for photos.
For a hike along Hornby Island's Mt Geoffrey Escarpment, two dates were offered so that more people could enjoy the outing, on a preferred day. This worked out quite well, with both groups maxxing out in numbers. Oct 29: Bill B. led his group in a counter-clockwise direction. He reports..." On Friday we took advantage of a bright sunny day to hike on Hornby Island to Ford Cove and along the Mt Geoffrey Escarpment. It seemed like the views were even more spectacular than usual. Perhaps with the cool windy weather the air was particularly clean so visibility was excellent. We hiked at a fairly brisk pace but stopped frequently and lingered at viewpoints, soaking in the sunshine and vistas." Bill Jorgensen has provided a link to his photos of the day and a few of the photos are provided below. Thank you, Bill. Nov 1: Gil and Dawn led this group in a clockwise direction. Aware that the cool dry conditions were due to deteriorate to rain in the early afternoon, the group didn't linger at viewpoints very long, tempting though it was. Still, they were able to enjoy fully the beauty of the landscapes along the way and were pleased to have the rain hold off until the final fifteen minutes of the hike. It was considered a very successful outing. Photos were submitted by Patti, Steve H., Barbara and Dawn. Thank you all. Some Birding Group members headed to the Little River Ferry area to check out the bird activity this past Sunday and were quite pleased with the variety seen: Trumpeter Swan, Mallards, Ring-necked Ducks, Buffleheads, Pied Grebe, Merlin, Stellar Jays, Red-winged Blackbirds, Kingfishers, Northern Flickers, European Starlings, Dark-eyed Juncos, finches (including House Finches), Anna's Hummingbird, Great Blue Herons, Bald Eagles, Song Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Fox Sparrow, gulls, Common Loons, Red-necked Grebes, Horned Grebes, American Coots, Northwestern Crows, American Wigeons, Green-winged Teals, Black Oystercatchers, Killdeer, Bewick's Wren, Spotted Towhee, Brown Creepers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Golden-crowned Kinglets. The weather started out crisp and cold, but the sun was out and the day warmed as we ambled through a very pleasant morning of discovery. Photos below by Ian, Bill and Dawn An amazing day for our 8 k walk at Nymph Falls! So glad the day was changed from the rainy and windy weather that Tuesday was. As you can see, many pictures of the raging river were taken. Never have any of us seen it overflowing the banks and the rocks where we usually view the salmon. We were filled with awe! Afterwards, many of us enjoyed Mudsharks where we were welcome to sit at a Gladstones table. Thanks to Cheryl, Helmut and Patti for photos!
One Spot trail is always a welcoming sight in Autumn. Lovely to be out considering all the rain we have had. Debrief was outside on the deck with a firepit if any of us needed warming up. Thanks to Helmut for the cake. Delicious! Thanks to Patti for the photos. Also thanks to Donald for capturing Patti on camera!
Our hike along the Trent River and Bloedel Creek proved to be a popular activity once again. The 16 kilometer route is mostly on flat or gently rolling trails. The fall colours and lots of water in the creek and river added to the beauty this time. Photos by Bill Jorgensen. To see all of Bill's pictures from this hike click here. This was our first ascent of Mount Seymour, the highest peak on Quadra Island. We found an interesting variety of terrain and trail conditions. We started the day with a steady climb from the trail head to the summit. That was a 400 meter ascent in 4 kilometers. For the last kilometer to the summit we made our way from one rock cairn to another with some interesting scrambles along the way. There were enough breaks in the clouds to feel rewarded by the views. On our way back we took in the Nugedzi Lakes and a viewpoint above Discovery Passage. Photos by Bill J and Michele. To see all of Bill's pictures from this hike click here. We braved the weather for a walk from Oyster River Nature Park to Salmon Point. As tempting as it is to stay home, exercise and good company wins out. It was only light rain and no wind. It poured afterwards! Thanks to Patti for the photos.
Our group of 12 adventurous hikers set out at a strong pace on Friday morning to challenge Mt Elma. Half of the group had not done the hike previously. Our weather was very good but cool and overcast. We maintained a healthy speed and arrived at the base of Mt Elma relatively quickly. We split into two groups for the climb. We also did the same for the descent. One group consisted of participants who wanted to move a little quicker and the other group was for those who preferred a more moderate pace. The split worked well as everyone could go at the pace which suited them best. We rejoined into one group at the top of Elma. The colours were beautiful but the view was compromised by the cloud cover. We enjoyed our lunch break at the rock outcrop overlooking Croteau lake far below us. Our return hike back to the parking lot was smooth and relatively quick. Debrief was at Mudsharks. Photos by Katie, Bill J and Steve Hill. To see all of Bill's pictures from this hike click here. It turned out to be a lovely morning for a walk at the Airpark which included the extension. There were some threatening clouds but that was it. Only sun, clouds and no wind! Debrief was at my place on the deck for coffee and tea. Thanks Helmut for the plum cake. Delicious! Also, thanks to Patti for the photos.
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