Category Archives: Hiking

Hiking – Maud Island- 1 Apr 2020

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Activity Hiking
Destination Maud Island
Date 1 Apr 2020, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Sandra Burns
Contact Info sandraburns.ca@gmail.com or 3977.  Please do not call after 8:00pm.  Contact the coordinator in advance of the trip.
Description Hike to Maud Island through varied forest and terrain.  We will do a loop passing over the shoulder of  Mt. Lolo, crossing the causeway to Maud Island, enjoying views of Seymour Narrows, and returning by the salt water lagoon.  Allow 5 hours, including driving, for this walk of approximately 10km.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay Store for car pooling
Departure Time 9:30
Difficulty
 Moderate
Costs none
Trip limits 12
Dogs? no
Notes: Bring lunch, poles if you use them and gear for the weather.  We don’t usually do this trip in very poor weather.

Hiking – Reed Lake Loop – 11 Mar 2020

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Activity Hiking
Destination Reed Lake Loop
Date 11 Mar 2020, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Janis McLean
Contact Info 285-3614.  Please contact the coordinator prior to the trip departure.
Description We start at Reed Lake on Walcan Road, hike south on Straight-as-a-Dime, east on Backdoor Trail and north down Dick’s Ride to the large beaver-dammed lake (variously called Yellow Mud, Nighthawk, Hilda’s or Wood Duck Lake). Hiking along the lake, we follow Yellow Mud Trail northwest back to Reed Lake. If the weather is good and hikers are keen, we could expand this loop to include Silk Stockings and Little Black Dress.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay store parking lot for car pooling
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 Easy but trail on bluffs could be slippery.
Costs None
Trip limits 10
Dogs? Yes, under owner’s control
Notes: Hiking stick(s) are useful on the rock bluffs, lunch and rain gear.  Time – 3 hours.

Hiking – Open Bay & Crikey Creeks – 12 Feb 2020

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Activity Hiking
Destination Open Bay and Crikey Creeks
Date 12 Feb 2020, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Janis McLean
Contact Info 285-3614.  Please contact the coordinator prior to the trip departure.
Description We plan to walk a figure-of-eight loop starting on the trail along the Open Bay Creek, then circling back on a logging road. After a short walk down Open Bay Main we will hike up the Rio mountain bike trail and down Crikey Creek. About 6km and two hours walking time.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay store parking lot for car pooling
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 Open Bay Creek is easy, but can be wet. Crikey Creek is steep, but easy ground to walk
Costs None
Trip limits 10
Dogs? Yes, under owner’s control
Notes: Bring hiking stick(s), lunch/snack and rain gear.

Hiking – Homewood Trail Loop – 15 Jan 2020

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Change of destination to Hopespring-Thompson Trail Loop!

Activity Hiking
Destination Homewood Trail Loop
Date 15 Jan 2020, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Janis McLean
Contact Info 285-3614.  Please contact the coordinator prior to the trip departure.
Description We hike the Hopespring Trail, then south on Gowlland Trail and climb up to Homewood Bluff. From here we loop back on High Bluff Trail and climb to the High Bluff viewpoint. We follow the high route north across South Heriot Ridge past the communication tower, and down Hopespring Trail to the vehicles.
Meeting Place Hopespring trailhead
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 Easy with a little moderate scrambling up the two viewpoint bluffs
Costs None
Trip limits 10
Dogs? Yes, under owner’s control
Notes: Hiking stick(s) useful on the rock bluffs. Bring a lunch and rain gear.  Time – 2-3 hours.

Trip Report – South Morte Lake Loop – 6 Nov 2019

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Nine of us and two dogs enjoyed another beautiful fall day for this highly varied and scenic hike.  We started up the steep bike trail, Morning Beer, and continued on Upper Deadfish.  The path travels through open forest and rocky, mossy bluffs with dappled light in the sunshine and a few great viewpoints.  We had lunch at the Deadfish summit and then descended Seven Sins and Nirvana to the hiking trail around Morte Lake.  After stopping briefly at Morte Lake, we ascended the South Bluff trail and followed along Mud and Reed Lakes to the Walcan Road.  We crossed and hiked along Yellow Mud to Jack Rabbit trails, connecting back to the parking lot.  There were lots of great views, but perhaps the most photogenic were the myriad mushrooms. If you know what they are, please let us know. It’s been a great fall for mushrooms and there were lots of Chanterelles collected for dinner on this hike.  9.2 km;  4 hours.

Debbie

(click on photos to enlarge)

Hiking – South Morte Lake Loop – 6 Nov 2019

Hiking – Carrington Bay – 2 Dec 2019

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Change of date!

Activity Hiking
Destination Carrington Bay, Cortes Island
Date 2 4 December 2019, Monday Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Debbie Quigg
Contact Info 3710 or debbie.quigg@ualberta.ca.  Please contact the coordinator well in advance of the trip, so that car pools can be arranged.
Description After the ferry crossing we will drive to the Carrington trailhead and follow the trails to Carrington Bay and lagoon.  We will have lunch at Carrington Bay and continue on to Grandmother’s Grove following the stream.  We plan to return on the 3:50 pm ferry.
Meeting Place Cortes ferry line-up.
Departure Time 9:05 am ferry; vehicles need to be in the ferry line-up not later than 8:15 am for this  busy sailing.
Difficulty
 Easy to moderate.
Costs Ferry travel costs; bring your experience card and ID
Trip limits 12
Dogs? no
Notes: Bring lunch and gear for weather.

Hiking – Haskin’s Farm Loop – 20 Nov 2019

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Activity Hiking
Destination Haskin’s Farm Loop
Date 20 Nov 2019, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Vic Gladish
Contact Info vicgladish@gmail.com; 250-285-2111; (cell 250-287-0459)  Please contact the coordinator in advance of the trip.
Description We will follow the Haskin’s Farm trail to the beach and pass by some great old growth trees before walking through the gently rolling paths on the golf course.
Meeting Place Haskin’s Farm trailhead at Smith and Heriot Bay Roads
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 Easy
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs? Yes, but must not run through the group.
Notes: Dress for the weather and bring a snack/lunch.

Hiking – Shellaligan Loop – 13 Nov 2019

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Activity Hiking
Destination Shellaligan Loop
Date 13 Nov 2019, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Julie Mellanby
Contact Info 285-3978.  Please contact the coordinator in advance of the trip.
Description We will park on Valdez Rd and hike the logging road to the trailheads.  The loop we choose will depend on the weather.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay store parking lot for car pooling.
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 Easy to moderate.  There are a few rocky bluffs to scramble up and some undulating sections.
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs? Dogs must not run through the group.
Notes: Bring lunch and gear for weather.

Hiking – Eagle Ridge Loop – 27 Nov 2019

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This trip is FULL

Activity Hiking
Destination Eagle Ridge Loop
Date 27 Nov 2019, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Janis McLean
Contact Info 285-3614.  Please contact the coordinator in advance of the trip.
Description This hike will include the official trail to Eagle Ridge and an unmarked route descending the ridge and continuing on to the higher ridge to the north.  From there we will descend to the logging road and return to the vehicles. The descent from Eagle Ridge is very steep on mossy rocks.  There is no trail.  Three to four hours hiking.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay store parking lot for car pooling.
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 The section up to Eagle Ridge is a maintained trail of moderate difficulty.  The descent from Eagle Ridge is briefly tricky.  The segment to the next ridge and down to the logging road is on an unmarked route through mostly open forest.
Costs none
Trip limits Maximum of 10
Dogs? Depends on the dog.  Would need to be completely controlled during the descent from Eagle Ridge.
Notes: Bring lunch, poles if you use them, and gear for weather.

Trip Report – North Gowlland Loop – 30 Oct 2019

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Our group of nine hikers and two dogs had a beautiful fall day for this varied loop. We started at the bridge across the creek and climbed up Marlow’s logging road. We followed a flagged route over to the North Gowlland trail and made a side trip to Rousseau Ridge. We enjoyed great views of Discovery Passage, Vancouver Island and parts of Quadra. We carried on northwest along North Gowlland trail, crossing the foot bridge back over the creek and continuing up the Copperhead logging road to the mountain bike trail, Little Black Dress. We passed by the shallow trenches that were an open-pit copper mine and a small woodland lake before we climbed up a rise and had lunch in the sun on a mossy bluff. After lunch we meandered along the Little Black Dress trail, undulating through open forest. Four of our group had early deadlines, so they parted from us just before the Cash Only trail and headed down a logging road to return to their vehicle.

The rest of us followed the Cash Only trail down to the North Gowlland Road and crossed to the mountain bike trail behind the wetland, Lady Lumps. There were a few trees down on the trail, but it was a lovely walk back to the bridge. This mix of trails makes a great loop with lovely forest and lots of variety. 9.3 km; 3¾ hours.

Debbie

(click on photos to enlarge)

Hiking – North Gowlland Loop – 30 Oct 2019