Category Archives: Hiking

Hiking – Mt. Seymour – 6 Nov 2023

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Change of start time! Dress for the weather.

Activity Hiking
Destination Mt. Seymour
Date 6 Nov 2023, Monday
Trip Coordinator Les Hand
Contact Info lhquadra@gmail.com or 285-2029
Description We will meet at Heriot Bay store and then drive the half hour to the Granite Bay approach. From here we will hike approximately two hours up to the top. We will have lunch and then come back down. It will take approximately 4 to 4 1/2 hours with lunch. Dress for the weather. If there is snow or heavy rain, the trip will be postponed or canceled. Please sign up at least a day early so that I may contact you if there are changes.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay Store parking lot
Departure Time 10:30 9:30
Difficulty
 Challenging but we will try taking it a little slower.
Costs None
Trip limits 10
Dogs? No
Notes: Bring poles if you use them and good footwear as there are rocky and steep areas.

Hiking – Kw’as Regional Park, Cortes – 30 Oct 2023

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Activity Hiking
Destination Kw’as Regional Park, Cortes
Date 30 Oct 2023, Monday
Trip Coordinator Debbie Quigg
Contact Info 285-3710 or dmquigg@gmail.com.  Please contact the coordinator by Monday.
Description We will hike through this lovely park, situated between Gunflint and Hague Lakes on Cortes Island.  Along with great views, there is fine old growth, interesting geology and history, and a good variety of trails.  We hope to include a bit of everything in the day’s hike.  We will return on the 1:50 or 3:50 ferry.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay ferry terminal to Cortes.  Drivers will need to be early enough to be on the ferry.
Departure Time 9:05 ferry
Difficulty
 Moderate.  A few steep and undulating places, but mostly reasonable walking on good trails. The possible loops vary, but we may hike about 10 km.
Costs Ferry costs; bring your ferry card.
Trip limits 10
Dogs?
Notes: Bring lunch and gear for weather.

Trip Report – Haig-Brown House and Baikie Estuary – 16 Oct 2023

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The forecast was fairly grim, with big wind and rain predicted, but five of us went ahead with the planned outing.  We started at the Haig-Brown Heritage House, situated on the Campbell River, and enjoyed the tour and Marjorie’s informative talk.  Centred in the family’s library and Roderick Haig-Brown’s office, we learned about the family’s history.  We also enjoyed seeing the rest of the main floor of the house and a walk in the beautiful garden.  More information about Roderick Haig-Brown, the family and the house are available here:  https://www.haig-brown.bc.ca/haig-brown-family-history/

The second part of our outing took us to two pocket parks on the Campbell River: the Spruce St. viewpoint and the River Nook, both just a block apart.  The river is beautiful, but Alex Witcombe’s driftwood sculptures of bear and fish, and his fish mural add a whole new dimension to these tiny, urban parks.  Here is more information about Alex Witcombe and his work:  https://driftedcreationsart.ca/

We walked across the bridge over the Campbell River and down into the paths on the north side of the River and its side channels.  The fall colours were great and there were still a few salmon in the channels, but most were dead after spawning.  We followed the quiet trail through this area, which has been restored from log dumping and milling.  There is lots of Campbell River history here and there are interpretive signboards to document it. The rehabilitation effort has taken place over 25 years, with lots of money and volunteer work to make it happen. The transformation is quite wonderful.  Here is more information about the rehabilitation of the Baikie Estuary:  https://www.greenwaystrust.ca/projects/baikie-island-and-campbell-river-estuary/  (4.5 km; 1½ hours for the walk)

We retraced our steps back to the vehicles and then went for lunch at More Eatery.  We had a lovely, social meal there before heading our separate ways.  Amazingly, the rain held off while we walked, but deluged during lunch.  We counted ourselves lucky.

Debbie

(click on photos to enlarge)

Tour and Hike – Haig-Brown House and Baikie Estuary – 16 Oct 2023

Trip Report – Morte Lake Loop – 11 Oct 2023

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The rain quit in the morning and three hikers enjoyed a beautiful sunny autumn day. We started up the mountain bike trail known as Dead Fish. There has been considerable work done on this trail. Mountain bikers have made new jumps and numerous banked corners. They have moved large amounts of rocks and dirt to do this. The small creek is now running again after the few rainfalls we have had. There were numerous multicoloured mushrooms that have just come up because of the rain as well. We crossed back over to the old Morte Lake Trail where Dead Fish turns and goes up the hill. We proceeded on past the two small lakes that are very low and to the east end beach of Morte Lake. It is very low as well, and a lot of new sand showing on the beach. Instead of taking the new mountain bike route that makes huge switch backs up the side of the hill ,we kept to the old trail, which is much shorter. It is in poor condition now, though, as it has quit being maintained.
We stopped at the north west beach to have lunch. Someone has cleared many of the rocks into piles so it is a very sandy beach with the water so low. We enjoyed the sun here and the lake before going on around the lake. We kept to the old route all the way back to the cars. (11 km; 3½ hours moving time)

Les
 
Thanks to Les, Valerie and Carrie for the photos.
 
(click on photos to enlarge)

Hiking – Morte Lake Loop – 11 Oct 2023

Hiking – Morte Lake Loop – 11 Oct 2023

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Activity Hiking
Destination Morte Lake Loop
Date 11 Oct 2023, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Les Hand
Contact Info lhquadra@gmail.com  or 285-2029
Description We will do the classic around the lake hike. May do some small adjustments depending on the group.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay store parking lot
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 Easy
Costs none
Trip limits 10
Dogs? OK, but must be under control and not run back-and-forth through group
Notes Sorry for the short notice for this hike. I thought maybe some of us would like to work off some of the turkey, LOL.
Please contact one or two days early to sign up as only those who have signed up will be contacted in case of postponement or cancellation due to weather.

Work Party – Chinese Mtn – 25 Oct 2023

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Activity Work party
Destination Chinese Mountain
Date 25 Oct, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Norris Weimer
Contact Info norris.weimer@ualberta.ca or 3710; please contact the coordinator in advance of the outing.
Description The Chinese Mountain system is not in bad condition, but there is some deadfall that needs to be chainsawed and the annual brush cut is due.  If there is time and energy, we may work on the trail to Beech’s Overlook.  The Trail Committee provides tools.  Bring your own gloves, and your own tools if you prefer them.  We will have lunch at a scenic location.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay store parking lot to organize tools and carpool to the trailhead
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 Moderate work
Costs None
Trip limits 10
Dogs? No
Notes: Bring lunch.

Trip Report – Amor and Nearby Lakes – 29-30 Sept 2023

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This trip used the road-accessible Rec Site on Amor Lake for greatest flexibility.  Of the six people who participated, some stayed three nights, two nights, one night or just one day.  It certainly isn’t the best campsite on Amor Lake, but it has some conveniences. We were incredibly lucky with the beautiful autumn weather, since the trip was planned long in advance.

Friday:  Two came out on Thursday and set up camp.  Three others arrived on Friday morning and all launched as soon as possible.  We headed out to the south end of Amor and hauled out at the Mr. Canoehead campsite.  We navigated the short portage to Surprise Lake with the assistance of borrowed wheels for the kayaks and paddled across Surprise Lake as if we were doing the canoe circuit.  We left the boats at the south end of Surprise Lake and walked the 2.2 km portage to Brewster Lake through a lovely forest.  We had lunch at the launch site into Brewster Lake before retracing our steps and paddled back to the campsite by mid-afternoon.  We walked down the Blackwater Main logging road to visit the Rec Site on Blackwater Lake, which was sunny and scenic.  After relaxing on the shore, we headed back for dinner and enjoyed a great campfire, as the ban had just been lifted during the week and the evenings were cool.  The full moon was a bonus. (paddling 5.2 km, 1¼ hr; walking 8.3 km, 2½ hr)

(click to enlarge photos)

Saturday: We were joined by one more person on Saturday morning and were quickly away, heading north and across Amor Lake to the portage to Twin Lakes.  The launch site was quite muddy, but we managed awkwardly to get to the trail and walk up the undulating path to Twin Lake.  The campsite there, which is accessible by road, was very busy on this long weekend with great weather.  We briefly followed a trail up the north side of Twin Lake to a swim rock before heading back.  After returning to Amor Lake, we stopped for lunch at the first campsite we passed, which was on the north shore and had a beautiful sandy beach and lots of sunshine.  Continuing on, we came out of the east arm of the Lake and headed to the campsite at the north end, which has significant infrastructure.  We admired the dock with the picnic table as well as the covered shelter, but especially the sandy beach, sun-facing direction and great view.  We headed south along the western shore exploring the many campsites and sandy beaches along the way.  On our return to the campsite, two of the group packed up and left, leaving four others to enjoy another relaxed evening around the campfire.  (paddling 13.1 km, 3¼ hr; walking 2.5 km, ¾ hr)

We saw four of the Sayward canoe circuit lakes on this brief two-day paddle.  It was an easy and relaxed exploration.  We only encountered four other boats on Amor.  This was a fitting end to the season, having begun in May with an outing to Morton Lake Provincial Park and paddling on two other Sayward canoe circuit lakes – Mohun and Goose.  We had beautiful weather for both trips and enjoyed the relative quiet of the shoulder season.

Debbie

Multi-day kayaking and camping – Amor Lake – 29-30 Sept. 2023

Trip Report – Mine Lake Bluff – 20 Sept 2023

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Six of us were fortunate to have a truly beautiful autumn day for this highly varied hike.  The group decided to do the hike as a loop, which is more challenging than out-and-back. We walked along the Mine Lake shore to Homewood’s Woodsman Camp and then steeply up the trail to the foot of the bluff.  The exposed section of the route was fairly dry in spite of the previous day’s rain.  Views of Mine Lake, the Quadra high plateau, and the Vancouver Island skyline made it all worthwhile.  We explored much of the bluff perimeter, with impressive cliffs on the east and west sides, before settling down for lunch at a sunny viewpoint.  We picked up the trail down the north side and under the impressive cliffs we had just been standing on.  After visiting some of the periphery of the camp we followed the path out to the first campsite, at the corner of Mine Lake and the narrows. One person swam before we headed back along the lake to the vehicles.  We enjoyed this leisurely hike to so many beautiful spots on a wonderful fall day. (6.6 km; 4 hours)

Debbie
 
Thanks to Carrie and Norris for the photos.
 
(click on photos to enlarge)

Hiking – Mine Lake Bluff – 20 Sept 2023

Trip Report – Rousseau Ridge Loop – 13 Sept 2023

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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.

Debbie
 

(click on photos to enlarge)

Hiking – Rousseau Ridge Loop – 13 Sept 2023

Day or Multi-day Paddling – Amor Lake – 29-30 Sept 2023

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Activity Day or Multi-day Paddling
Destination Amor Lake
Date 29-30 Sept 2023, Friday – Saturday
Trip Coordinator Debbie Quigg
Contact Info dmquigg@gmail.com or 3710; please contact the coordinator well in advance of the trip
Description We will try to make this a very flexible outing.  Kayaks or canoes are welcome with good gear and experience.  Participants may come for one day or for both.  The base for our activities will be the small Rec Site on the west side of the lake with five campsites.  This is a free Rec Site accessible by logging road.  The boat launch is modest.  Amor Lake has lovely beaches and islets with much to explore.  It is on the Sayward Canoe Circuit and we can walk the portages.
Meeting Place QCove ferry terminal or Amor Lake
Departure Time 9:00 ferry to Campbell River or by individual arrangement
Difficulty Easy to moderate.
Cost Ferry
Trip limits 10
Dogs? No
Notes: Here is information about the Rec Site and Amor Lake:  http://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/search/search-result.aspx?type=Site&site=REC0174
There is currently an advisory for an aggressive cougar, but I believe that is quite old.