Five people took advantage of the partial sunny day and went for a comfortable hike. We went down Haskin Farm Trail to the beach and enjoyed the sun for a moment, then back up the hill and across Fircrest Trail. Along this portion, we enjoyed the partial ocean views toward Cortes and the old growth Fir. We circled the new housing development at the golf course and then went down to the clubhouse. We took a moment here to look at the mini golf course and all the wonderful driftwood sculptures that have been put by the course. As we circled the golf course we enjoyed how wonderful the greens and fairways are still looking. We traveled partially on Fircrest Trail again and then went up Todd’s Trail and back to the vehicles . (7.6 km and 2½ hours)

Les

Thanks to Les for the photos

Seven of us had a lovely day of sun and cloud, sandwiched between days with lots of rain and wind.  We had 46mm of rain in the previous 24 hours, so we knew that the trail would be very wet, and it was.  The purpose of the walk was not to go as directly as possible, but to walk as many of the trails as possible in two hours.  We started out on the old wide path which crosses to the Heriot Bay Road and then circled back to admire the old Big Leaf Maple on the historic homestead.  We tried to avoid the worst of the wet-walk by not going along the marsh.  We took the Sheppard and Black Jack Trails, with short sections of the Homestead Trail, leading to the Swale Trail.  This is a beautiful, open under-storey forest.  The creek, which is usually dry, was very active.  After the walk we had lunch at the Community Centre, with a few more people joining the group.  We enjoyed the great variety of food and refreshments that the group had brought and had a very social gathering.  It was great to walk in the forest and to see everyone on these short, dark days in December.  (6.7 km; 2 hours)

Debbie

(click on photos to view larger)

Hiking – Blenkin Park Loop – 18 Dec 2024