Monthly Archives: July 2024

Trip Report – Newton Lake, Small Inlet and Waiatt Bay – 24 July 2024

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A large group of 11 hikers (including 1 guest and 1 new member) undertook our “annual” midsummer trek to Newton Lake, Small Inlet, and Waiatt Bay. It was a cooler day after some rainy days, but a swim was still happily anticipated by some. After regrouping and adjusting the pace at the Small Inlet Park Boundary, we had a soggy go through the thick patches of salal, thanks to recent rain, and then arrived at Newton Lake for a short rest.

Our long line of hikers became longer as we descended the switchbacks down the steep slope to Small Inlet. We walked out onto the mudflat and shortly realized that we were in one of the inlet’s many clam gardens. The tide seemed exceptionally low and revealed the long arc of piled boulders that enclosed the clam bed.

A few minutes later we crossed the mudflat to the Waiatt Bay trail head, stopped to marvel at the freshwater spring a few strides later and then made the short hop to Waiatt Bay. By this point we had only met up with a few pairs of hikers coming from the anchorage. At the bay on Quadra’s east coast, dozens of “yachts” were visible. Perhaps the very big tide flat was discouraging them from coming ashore?

After a leisurely lunch the group was again on the move and ready to tackle the uphill leg back to Newton Lake. We ascended slowly, and with it being a cooler, overcast day, everyone arrived at the top in good shape. Arriving at the lake with a light rain shower starting made a dip in Newton Lake’s inviting waters even less appealing. So, after a brief rest, we tackled the final leg of this classic hike. (12.8 km; 5 hours 48 min)

Vic

Thanks to Carl and Norris for the photos

(Click to enlarge)

Hiking – Newton Lake-Small Inlet-Waiatt Bay – 24 July 2024

Trip Report – Gold River Area – 15-17 July 2024

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Day 1: There were six of us for the hikes to the Upper and Lower Myra Falls in Strathcona Provincial Park.  We had a beautiful, but very warm day, and enjoyed the drive out along the Upper Campbell and Buttle Lakes.  We started hiking at 11:30 and made our way along the well maintained trail through a mature forest and occasionally large boulders, arriving at the Upper Falls within an hour.  The falls had lots of water pouring through.  We had lunch near the end of the trail and then headed back down.  (7.4 km; 1.5 hours; 220m elevation gain)

(Click on photos to enlarge)

We drove a short way to the Lower Myra Falls parking area.  The hot weather made this a popular and busy destination.  We walked down to the viewpoint and then out to the falls.  While we had seen no one on the Upper Falls trail, there were lots of people here.  These falls are more accessible and very beautiful, but completely different from the upper falls, with a series of smaller cascades and wide open rocks to get close to the water.  We left without swimming.  (1.4 km; 0.75 hours; 60m elevation gain)

Four of us continued on to Gold River and set up camp at three neighbouring sites along the Gold River.  It was lovely, shaded and peaceful.

Day 2:  We had an intentionally leisurely start and some of us explored the trails from the campground along the river in the early morning.  We began hiking around Antler Lake shortly after 10:00 on an even hotter day than Monday.  This well-constructed trail has quite a lot of variety with lake views, boulder fields, quirky trail decorations and truly impressive old growth trees.  We took our time to appreciate all that it had to offer.  (4.3 km; 1.75 hours; 100m)

We had lunch at a picnic area by Antler Lake and then drove out to the Upana Caves stopping at the Cala Creek Falls for the view.  There are fives caves in the Upana Cave system.  The trails between them are quite short.  The maps are very interesting, but not always easy to visualize once you are in the cave.  We visited all the caves, but did not have the enthusiasm for slithering in the mud or getting very wet.  We missed some of the loops in the caves inadvertently. (0.8 km; 1.75 hours)  It was 33° C on the drive back to Gold River and we were happy for our shaded campsites.  There was some exploration to a swimming area on the Gold River in Peppercorn Park, used by locals.

Day 3 – We mostly headed home, but three of us hiked the short walk from the Gold River bridge to the junction with the Heber River and up along the Heber Gorge, which is quite impressive.  The trail is unmaintained, but has a chainlink fence along much of the way where the trail is narrow and exposed.  (2.9 km; 1.25 hours; 85m elevation gain)  On the way home we stopped for photos on the Upper Campbell Lake and for lunch at the Echo Lake Rec Site.

There was at least one new area to explore for everyone that came on this trip.  The weather was photogenic, if hot, and there was great variety with the varied falls, the lakes, beautiful forests and fascinating caves.  There is lots to explore near to us on Vancouver Island.

Debbie

Multi-day Hiking, Camping – Gold River area – 15-17 July 2024

Trip Report – Century Sam Lake – 13 July 2024

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Five of us hiked to the picture postcard called Century Sam Lake.  It’s named after a character that Sid Williams played.  Must have been quite a character to have a lake like this named after him.  We wanted to hike to it when it was in full sunshine, to show off the deep blue-green.  The trade off was that it was very hot.  But the crowd that was there was fully into swimming and diving off cliffs, so it was perfect weather – cloudless, a bit of breeze.  The Lake is located below the Comox Glacier.  This contributes to the other attraction of this hike which is the ice cave.  It wasn’t as good as on a previous trip, maybe too early in the season, but still very interesting.  And the wildflowers were excellent.

The Lake is in Strathcona Park, but the approach is not.  Trail maintenance is ambiguous, but someone had just clipped the aggressive brush, including Devil’s Club, so that was good.  The route is rough everywhere and steep in the headwall up to the Lake.  The access to this trail is on a logging road through Mosaic lands and the gate is only unlocked on weekends and only when Mosaic is not logging and the fire danger is low.  We timed it well, so all was good.  (11.3 km; 7.5 hours; 423 m elevation gain)

Norris 

Thanks to Louise, Jim and Norris for the photos

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Hiking -Century Sam Lake – 13 July 2024

Trip Report – Gowlland Harbour – 10 July 2024

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Ten people gathered on a beautiful, calm, sunny day for a paddle and social. The Stuart’s place is a bit difficult to launch from as there is a steep driveway with a switch back and only one vehicle can come down at a time. Then you have to pack the kayak around the pond. This was made easier by the fact that I live here, two members paddled over from their place, and another member brought his kayak in by boat to the dock. All in all it worked out well and we managed to leave a little ahead of schedule. We paddled south around the south end of Gowlland Harbour to start. After passing the old sunken barge, we stopped where the two abandoned boats have sunk to talk about how bad the government is managing abandoned boats on our coastline. We then paddled on flat water up the east side of Gowlland Island and stopped to stretch our legs on the north end. As we proceeded toward Gowlland Resort there was a colony of seals on some of the small islets. At Seascape Resort, now called Jade Resort, we stopped to look and discuss the falling apart of the old barge hotel. This is a total disaster of waste and garbage being emptied into our beautiful harbour because of the inability of government and courts to deal with a problem.
We then had an easy paddle back to our entry point. Here we had a great social on the deck, complete with chips and salsa, smoked oysters and meats with cheese and crackers, veggie platter, and Smokies and buns from the barbecue.  Plus drinks and desserts.  (7 km; 2 hour paddle)

Les

(click on photos to enlarge)

Kayaking – Gowlland Harbour – 10 July 2024

Hiking – Thompson Trail-Hopespring Loop – 7 Aug 2024

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Activity Hiking
Destination Thompson Trail-Hopespring Loop
Date 7 Aug 2024, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Les Hand
Contact Info lhquadra@gmail.com or 285-2029
Description We will start at the end of Thompson Road and do the circle counter clockwise. Bring a snack or small lunch and we will stop at the top of Heriot Ridge before we come down to Hopespring Road.
Meeting Place End of Thompson Road
Departure Time 9:00
Difficulty
 Easy
Costs None
Trip limits 10
Dogs? Okay, but under control
Notes: We are starting earlier than normal to beat some of the heat. Bring hiking poles if you’d like to use them.

Multi-day Kayaking and Camping – Granite Bay and Beyond- 20-22 Aug 2024

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Due to weather this is now a day trip on Thursday.  There is a new trip description.

Activity Kayaking and camping
Destination Granite Bay and beyond
Date 20-22 Aug 2024, Tuesday to Thursday
Trip Coordinator Vic Gladish
Contact Info vicgladish@gmail.com; 250-287-0459
Description This will be a two night multi-day paddling trip out of Granite Bay. We will set up a base camp at Orchard Bay and explore the familiar haunts of Small Inlet and Kanish Bay. As well as doing lots of paddling we will do the hikes to Waiatt Bay and Newton Lake.
Day 1: paddle to Chained Islets and Bodega Pt and finish at Orchard Bay on a rising tide.
Day 2: paddle to east end of Small Inlet and hike to Waiatt Bay and/or Newton Lake (big tidal changes to deal with); camp at Orchard Bay
Day 3: paddle to Granite Pt., Nixon Is, Ashlar Creek and return to Granite Bay and take out on a rising tide.
WEATHER/WINDS will determine the final trip plan and itinerary. We will be very flexible.
Meeting Place Granite Bay boat launch
Departure Time Meet up 0830. On the water by 0915.
Difficulty Moderate, but difficulty variable with the wind.
Cost Fee for launching/parking and fuel
Trip limits 8
Dogs? No
Notes: Must have ocean kayaks with sealed hatches and sprayskirt with all Transport Canada required safety equipment. PLEASE REVIEW OUR PADDLING GUIDELINES. You will not put in unless fully equipped. (https://qioutdoorclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/paddling-guidelines-july2023.pdf ) Trip is weather and wind dependent. Only signed-up participants will be contacted of any changes in plans. MUST sign up by Sunday evening, August 18.
You need drinking water for 3 days, your own camping gear and food. Be aware of the weather forecast when prepping your gear and clothing. There are no food caches or outhouses. We will hang our food and have a designated “outhouse” area.

Trip Report – Mt. Kitchener – 3 July 2024

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Quite a few people wanted to go on the Mt. Kitchener hike then couldn’t make it for a wide variety of reasons.  So at the last moment, the trip went ahead with only three.  We can report that the road up does not have waterbars, so any vehicles with four-wheel drive, good clearance, and good tires should be able to make it.  On the way up we had a special treat of seeing a herd of elk, seven with three young ones and another, smaller group higher up.  The trail is in good condition, although there is a section of large windfall to go around at the start.

There was some morning cloud, especially in the north, and we parked just above the clouds, which went away as the day warmed up.  After the first steep ascent on to the ridge, we  hiked along the ridge to the Mt. Kitchener summit, where the communication infrastructure had been removed since our last visit.  We had excellent views all around, looking over Johnstone Strait and up Loughborough Inlet to Mt. Waddington.  We stopped for lunch before descending and then made the short climb to Mt. McCreight, with more views to the south.  We had excellent weather and took our time to enjoy the hike.  (4.3 km; 4.25 hours; 475 m elevation gain)

Norris 

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Hiking – Mt. Kitchener – 3 July 2024