Six of us hiked this loop starting from North Gowlland Road.  The recent welcome rain made the bushes wet and the day humid.  We hiked North Gowlland Trail up to Rousseau Ridge with a short break for elevenses and to enjoy the view..  From there we descended the mossy bluffs toward Gowlland Harbour Rd, with a few short steep sections into the forest and back up on the ridge.  Each ridge has great views of Discovery Passage and the Vancouver Island mountains, which were in cloud for us.  We stopped for a leisurely lunch on the third and lowest bluff.  We continued our descent to a logging road heading east and then picked up a route over lower, but still open bluffs taking us back to North Gowlland Trail.  We enjoyed the three very old Douglas firs, the Three Sisters, on the way back to make our loop.  Since we did this loop about 15 months ago, the flags have been removed, making the route finding trickier.   6.8 km; 3¼ hours.

(click on photos to enlarge)

Hiking – Rousseau Ridge Loop – 13 Sept 2023