Five of us walked the Little Black Dress – Back Door – Silk Stocking loop.  Instead of the predicted rain, we got a very fine mist, but it was calm and not cold.  The atmosphere was well suited to the very green, mossy bluffs, which these trails wind through and over.  On Little Black Dress we had a lunch break near the high point and remarked how quiet it was.  No signs of animals or birds, but we did hear a distant frog.  After lunch, it was mostly downhill on Silk Stocking, passing by artifacts from several old mining attempts.  (6.2 km; 2 ¾ hours)

Norris

Hiking -Little Black Dress – Silk Stocking – 20 Feb 2023

Seven hikers did a clockwise shorter loop walk on an overcast but dry day. Starting at the second parking lot, the short loop trailhead, we headed directly into the forest. Being late winter, most vegetation was beaten down and we had a better look into a beautiful mossy forest. We descended down to the junction above Village Bay, and elected to take the left trail down to the old oyster lease. The tree that fell on the trail last year had been cleared, making it a lot easier to get to the small beach. Not yet ready for lunch and it being a bit chilly, we headed back up to our junction, shortly after which we found another large tree down on the trail. We arrived at our lunch stop, the point at the entrance to Village Bay, where we sought out a bit of shelter from the wind for a quick lunch. Continuing along the coastal part of the loop, back to the parking lot, we arrived at the forest road trailhead, greeted by two friendly canine hikers, excitedly waiting to start their hike on the loop. We spent about 2½ hours in total, covering a distance of 4.7 kilometers.

Brent

Hiking -ShellaliganLoop – 15 Feb 2023

Once again we had big participation with 13 hikers.  The weather was not as nice as forecast, but adequate for the event.  It was soft and gentle even if grey.  We crossed the Walcan Rd and started out on Jackrabbit, crossing McKercher Creek and wandering up along the creek through the lush, green forest to Reed Lake.  There were a few wet crossings of minor creeks, but nothing unexpected in winter.  After re-crossing the Walcan Road, we followed along Reed and Mud Lakes until we took the Tripod trail over to the southwest corner of Morte Lake.  With the high water levels, the sandy beach was not inviting for lunch so we continued out to the point where we could perch with views of the lake.

After lunch, we followed the trail along the south shore at a brisk pace rejoining the main trail from the parking lot to Morte Lake at the east end of the lake.  We diverged at the Lower Deadfish junction and followed the creek down through this lovely, open forest back to the parking lot. It was a beautiful day for a forest walk.   (8.5 km; 3 hours)

Debbie

Hiking -Morte Lake Loop – 25 Jan 2023