Twelve hikers, two of whom were new to the Outdoor Club, met at the Hopespring trailhead for a four hour hike. The day was sunny and warm. We headed up Hopespring trail to the top of the ridge and down the west side, turning northwest onto the Gowlland Harbour trail. This trail was followed through shaded second growth forest and along a ten-year-old clearcut, nicely regenerating, to North Gowlland Harbour Road. Crossing the road and up Missing Links Road a short distance, we hiked northeast along Bite the Bullet which parallels the logging road, managing to avoid being dusted by logging trucks. Recrossing the logging road, we turned southeast at a large beaver dam and walked up John Marlow’s woodlot road. At a deep pool in an old quarry at the roadside, we stopped to admire the critters (salamanders?) swimming there. At that point, we turned south onto a faint bike route that led us to intersect with the Gowlland trail at Rousseau Ridge. Climbing to the top of the ridge, we enjoyed lunch with great views to the west over Copper Bluffs, Discovery Passage and the Vancouver Island mountains.

On the return trip, the group split into two at the Thompson Trail intersection. One group followed Thompson Trail to Thompson Road; the other group retraced their hike down Gowlland Trail and up and over Hopespring Trail to the vehicles at the trailhead. We managed to stay in the shade for most of the hike, and out on the open ridge we had some cloud cover and a nice breeze. However, an earlier start may have been in order – by the end of the hike, the temperature was climbing, with my home thermometer on Thompson Road reading 29C.  10.1 km; 4 hours.

Janis

Thanks to Norris and Les for the photos

(click on photos to enlarge)

Hiking – Rousseau Ridge Loop – 4 July 2018