Category Archives: Hiking

Summer Planning Meeting – 20 June 2021

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Activity Summer Planning Meeting
Date 20 June 2021, Sunday
Coordinator Debbie Quigg
Contact Info qioutdoorclub@gmail.com for inquiries
Description The planning meeting we normally have inside the Community Centre, will be held outside.  We will review the recent Club experiences, likely future scenarios for the summer, but primarily we will be working to construct a summer schedule.
Bring your own chair and gear for weather.
Meeting Place Community Centre Ball Park
Meeting Time 3:00

Trip Report – South Heriot Ridge Loop – 2 June 2021

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This  was the first Club outing since Dr. Bonnie Henry re-opened adult outdoor sports in British Columbia.  It was great to go out with a group again.  The six of us first talked a bit about work that has been done documenting the geology, plants, animals and Indigenous history in this area.  We started out on the Homewood Camp trails leading to the first and most easterly bluff with views to the south and east.  We descended and continued on to Homewood Bluff for more views.  After a brief section off-trail we followed a forest trail leading to a short, steep ascent and High Bluff.  We stopped for lunch, then descended and made our way westerly across open mossy bluffs below the Citadel.  We climbed up a line to the plateau on the Citadel and visited the emergency communications tower with entirely different views to the northeast.  It was quite warm and humid, so we vegged out a bit on the helipad before continuing along the ridge and joining the Hopespring trail.  This trail led us to North Gowland Trail and then the Isle of 19 old growth Douglas firs.  We admired these survivors of the 1925 fire before crossing the small bridge, and again out onto mossy bluffs.  We followed a good line down to a forested logging road, where a Barred Owl sang to us, and a then short trail section leading back to North Gowlland Trail.  From there we walked east back to the vehicles.  7.7 km; 4¼ hours.

Debbie
 

(click on photos to enlarge)

Hiking – Homewood and N Gowlland Trails – 2 June 2021

 

Hiking – Morte Lake Loop – 9 June 2021

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Activity Hiking
Destination Morte Lake Loop
Date 9 June 2021, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Diana McKerracher
Contact Info diana@gicable.com  285 3204.  Please contact coordinator by Monday June 7
Description An easy 9 km hike on established trail all the way around Morte Lake. 4-5 hours with breaks and a possible swim.
Meeting Place Morte Lake parking lot; (allow 15 minutes to drive from Heriot Bay store)
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 Easy to moderate.
Costs None
Trip limits 10 participants
Dogs? Okay, if under control at all times
Notes: Bring lunch and swim gear.
Covid protocol in effect.

Hiking – Homewood and North Gowlland Trails – 2 June 2021

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Change of meeting location!

Activity Hiking
Destination Homewood and North Gowlland Trails
Date 2 June 2021, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Debbie Quigg
Contact Info 285-3710 or debbie.quigg@ualberta.ca.  Please contact the coordinator by Monday.
Description We will hike to three bluffs off of Homewood trails before climbing up to the telecommunications tower on Heriot Ridge.  From there we will descend to North Gowlland trail to visit some old trees and open bluffs.
Meeting Place Community Centre parking lot
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 Moderate.  Some steep sections, wet sections.  We will follow maintained trails, unmaintained trails and routes.  About 8 km; 4.5 hours with lunch.
Costs None
Trip limits 10 participants.  If you RSVP for this trip, please commit to coming as others may be excluded by the cap on trip participants.
Dogs?
Notes: Bring lunch and gear for weather. COVID protocol in effect.

Trip Report – Cortes Island – May 2021

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Day 1 – With Dr. Bonnie Henry’s encouragement to go camping locally, we stayed three nights and four days on Cortes Island, using the Smelt Bay campground as our base. After taking the ferry on Monday to Cortes, setting up camp and after having a sunny, relaxed lunch on the beach at Smelt Bay, we went to Manson’s Lagoon at a very low tide so that we could walk to the little island and explore the intertidal zone. (1.5 km; 1 hour)  After that we hiked to Easter Bluff, a short walk rewarded with excellent views to the south and east. (2.3 km; 2 hours)

(click to enlarge photos)

Day 2 – The night was quite cold, but we warmed up hiking up to the summit of Green Mountain, the highest point on Cortes Island, but still a very accessible trip. The loop around the top provided great views in most directions. (4.3 km; 2 hours)  In the afternoon, one couple kayaked on Hague and Gunflint Lakes, while the rest of us kayaked from the Whaletown government dock out to Shark Spit, once again at a very low tide. The launch down the steep ramp was quite extreme.  We walked around the Spit before portaging the boats over the spit and exploring the islets and coast around Uganda Passage.  (9 km; 2.5 hours)

Day 3 –  Rain was forecast overnight and into Wednesday, but we really only had drizzle overnight and it was dry by morning. Still, for breakfast we took advantage of the beautiful picnic shelter at the Smelt Bay campsite, with its timber-framed structure, wood stove and picnic tables. We then set out for the long loops at Kw’as Regional Park. Starting near the Cortes Motel, we hiked the eastern side Millennium Trail out to the Swim Rock for lunch. We followed along the Rock Face trail on the Hague Lake shore and visited the amazing Survivor Fir before crossing the narrows and hiking the loop out to the bench on the Pierre de Trail. Returning by the Cedar Ridge, we re-crossed the narrows and followed the Gunflint Lake shoreline stopping at the old steam donkey and then back to the cars. (12.4 km; 5.75 hours)

Day 4 –  Wednesday night was cool and windy, but Thursday turned into a lovely day. A few headed back on an early ferry (which it turned out didn’t run until 3:50), while the rest of us hiked in the morning at Hank’s beach, catching the low tide, sunny facing shore and great views. We rambled over the rocky bluffs and explored some tidal pools.  (3.2 km; 1.25 hours)  We then headed over to Squirrel Cove for lunch on the beach. We carried the kayaks a long way to the water and paddled into the protected anchorage, through the islands, enjoying the intertidal life. We were happy to see that the purple sea stars are returning very well. We stopped at the creek into the Squirrel Cove lagoon and walked across to the lagoon. In addition to the excellent intertidal life, there were duck and chicks in the lagoon. (7.7 km; 2.25 hours)  After ice cream from the Squirrel Cove store, most of us took the last ferry home.

There is so much to see and do on Cortes and we packed a lot into four days. The weather was kind to us, the low tides fascinating, and the spring growth lovely. We are so fortunate to have this nearby.

Debbie

Thanks to Norris and Bonnie for the photos

Trip Report – Shellaligan Pass Loop – 18 Nov 2020

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In damp, cloudy weather, eight hikers enjoyed our first “Hot Chocolate” hike of the season, perambulating the beautiful Shellaligan inland loop clockwise. We set off from the first parking lot from the turn off from Valdes Road, a good decision in retrospect as the logging road was blocked further on by downed trees from the previous day’s windstorm. The first part of this loop is on good logging roads, watch for signage for the turn-offs. Soon we turned right off a wide logging road, onto the trail, this turn easily missed so now marked with extra orange flagging tape. We followed this lovely, easy trail through a veritable sea of green, alongside a very full creek, to the shore. Here we admired the “neurotic sapsucker tree” and noted the collected marine debris awaiting pick-up. Soon reaching the trail sign a bit inland, we headed back on the “shortcut to parking lot” to the “middle” parking lot, turning right onto the logging road back to our cars. Just under 2 hours, good exercise, good company, home by the fire by early afternoon, a great first “Hot Chocolate” hike. 4.9 km; 1½ hours.

Thank you to Norris for the photos!

 
Valerie van Veen
 

(click on photos to enlarge)

Hiking – Shellaligan Pass Loop – 18 Nov 2020

 

Hiking – Shellaligan Pass Trail – 18 Nov 2020

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Activity Hiking
Destination Shellaligan Pass Trail – Land Loop
Date 18 Nov, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Valerie van Veen
Contact Info 250 285 2329; vvv@qisland.ca
Description This is a “Hot Chocolate” Hike:
South end hikers … meet at Heriot Bay store at 10 AM if carpooling or want to convoy together.  Otherwise meet co-ordinator at turn off to logging road (trail access road) on Valdes Road at 10:20 am. We will drive to the first parking lot (on the left, marked with a trail sign). We will follow the land loop around to the second parking lot, walk back on the logging road to our cars.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay Store at 10:00 or Valdes Road at 10:20.  See trip description.
Departure Time See trip description
Difficulty
 Easy
Costs None
Trip limits 10, following Club Covid protocols
Dogs? Must be in full control, or on leash.
Notes: This is a Hot Chocolate hike; we may stop briefly for a Snack break or continue on. About 2 hours. If rain, sections could be a bit muddy.

Trip Report – Kw’as Park, Cortes – 11 Nov 2020

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We were a group of four on the Remembrance Day hike to Cortes Island.  The ferry was uncrowded and the crossing calm.  We began the hike at the trailhead near the Cortes Island Motel and walked through this beautiful rainforest.  We ascended up toward the Summit and then along the Millennium Trail undulating over rocky bluffs through some old growth trees.  We had views of Hague Lake before we reached the Swim Rock, where we stopped for lunch.  The water and the weather were calm, and we chatted with a local woman who was fishing from her kayak.
 
We continued on the trail high along the shore with great views and descended the ladder along the Rock Face.  We made a short side trip to visit the Survivor Fir, which we measured as 7.9m in circumference.  We crossed the bridge across the narrow waterway between Hague and Gunflint Lakes and walked the loop to the south, including Pierre de Trail and the Cedar Ridge.  We also enjoyed the large Douglas fir at the junction, which we measured as 8.35m in circumference.  We returned over the bridge and walked the trail along the west shore of Gunflint Lake, with great views along the way and the steam donkey remains.  We continued on through the Spruce Grove and returned to the vehicles.  
 
It was a great hike with lots of variety and highlights.  The trail was very quiet at this time of year.  After the hike we stopped at the Cortes Coop for delicious refreshments before taking the ferry home.  8.9 km, 4½ hours.
 
Debbie
 

(click on photos to enlarge)

Hiking – Kw’as Park, Cortes – 11 Nov 2020

Reconnaissance Report – Snowden Forest – 6 Nov 2020

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Having now hiked the Lost Lake area three times, I was really keen to check out the trails further west,  particularly “Lookout Loop” and “Enchanted Forest”.  Armed with an old Ministry of Forests “Forest Recreation” map and the more recent coloured map, I headed out with my daughter and her dog on a lovely crisp fall day. We passed the Lost Lake parking lot, and the Riley Lake parking turn-off shortly after, and using the Ministry map (the coloured map has a logo right over the relevant section) we found the turn-off to the Elmer Lake parking lot, as marked on both maps. However, though marked as an almost straight north logging road, this quickly became a network of logging roads, with no signage anywhere. The northerly route eventually turned into a narrow, unmaintained quagmire, unnavigable if we hadn’t been in my daughter’s Honda Ridgeline. Obviously, this access route would be impossible for club members. We tried a few more logging roads that quickly opened out into recent clear-cuts with signs of active logging. Most regretfully, we turned around and headed back into more familiar territory.

We turned off at the sign to the Riley Lake parking lot, a bit further west of the more popular Lost Lake parking lot. Finally on foot, we headed up the Riley Lake trail. We soon came to a map which outlined the very area that we had been trying to access, now off-limits as active road construction and logging is presently underway there. So that explained the lack of any signage. To avoid the logging, the northern stretch of Riley Lake trail is being redeveloped, it is wide and with a good dirt base, easy walking. Eventually as Riley Lake trail turned west then SW, it became a narrow trail off the developed pathway, (not signed, used our compass and common sense). We followed the narrower trail to Pepper Spray (signed) to a T-junction with Cheshire Cat. Here the signage was very confusing. The right hand branch was signed “Out” but this would lead, eventually, to the very parking lot we had tried to find earlier, and would be in the closed area. Ignoring the “Out” sign, we went SE on Cheshire Cat, which came down to a clearing off the main road. We decided to follow Cheshire Cat back north, then took Oggies right back to our truck. Altogether about 2.5 hrs without a rest stop, easy to moderate hiking through beautiful woods. The short drive to the Riley Lake parking lot is a little rough, I think the Trimac trail links the Riley Lake trail to the Lost Lake parking lot, which would be more convenient. Definitely another hike to do in the beautiful Snowden Forest.

Valerie

Reconnaissance Report – Century Sam Lake – 7 Nov 2020

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Another weekend was forecast to be fabulous, so we did another short-notice hike to check out a place we had never been to.  It’s a difficult place to get to in part because the logging company keeps the access road closed most of the time.  When it is open, the gate is locked promptly at 6:00 p.m.  There is a long drive inside that gate, some of which has great views of Comox Lake and mountains along the way.  Then there is a 2 km section which has water bars (cross ditches) making it accessible for 4×4 only and then there is the hike itself.  The trail is well worn, but hardly improved, so it is slow.  And this makes it harder to do as a day-hike.  We parked before the water bars and hiked up the logging road to the trailhead.

The trail isn’t special.  It’s often muddy, rooty and slippery, there is a lot of deadfall, there is a headwall below the Lake with a few places which require a bit of scrambling (and could use a rope).  Also, for us the trail was frequently icy, and occasionally the rock had a thick coating of ice. 

The destination is quite nice.  Century Sam Lake is a glacial blue – it would be great with sunshine on it.  We were too late in the season for that.  The Lake lies in a hanging valley below Comox Glacier.  A kilometre or so beyond the lake there is an ice patch with ice caves.  Fantastic.  For us, there was a strong, cold winter wind blowing across the lake, so we did not stay long.

This has become a very popular destination in the summer, when it is green, and you can see why.  Even now, late in the season, there were lots of people there.  Our whole hike was 13.6 km, 7 hours, 568m elevation gain to 1,000m at the ice caves. For just the trail portion, it was 8.3 km, 5¾ hours, 400m altitude gain. 

Norris

Thanks to Norris, Stephen and Carrie for photos

(click on photos to enlarge)