Imagine a forest in trust to the children of Cortes Island.

On Wednesday, April 15th, 13 walkers plus one black dog experienced a part of this forest. We took the 9:05 a.m. ferry to Cortes and were met by Andy and Andrew who hosted this walk on behalf of ‘Forest Trust’. Andy Ellingsen began by giving us an overview of the walk in the woods. These forest lands, at the heartland of Cortes Island, are ecologically significant and contain wetland, herbaceous plants, woodland and old growth. We followed the old logging road and onto well marked paths.  Andy took us to the site of an old settlement, the old fruit trees in full bloom. We continued onto Carrington Lagoon, a narrow channel through which the tides flows. We sat and had our lunch in this beautiful area with a number of lovely campsites. From here we continued onto ‘Grandmothers Grove’, a beautiful old growth stand of trees, along side James Creek watershed that supports cutthroat trout & spawning salmon. Andy fed us all so much information on identifying trees and what to look for in trees. His father was a logger in Van Donop region and gave Andy a wealth of knowledge.

We then continued onto the parking area filled with the memory of a small part of northern Cortes Island.

We thank our hosts Andy, Andrew & Christine Robinson for organizing this hike.

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Hike Carrington Bay – 15 April 2015