Eight of us had spectacular weather for our trip to the Children’s Forest on Cortes Island, including Carrington Bay and the Grandmother’s Grove.  We took the 9:05 ferry to Cortes and the views of Sutil Channel, the mainland and Vancouver Island mountains couldn’t have been better.  We were met by Sabina who guided us through the forest and told us so much about the efforts of the community to acquire this forest, so that this incredibly diverse and important habitat can remain intact. Sabina shared her amazing knowledge about so many topics including lichen and moss, wolves, wildlife trees, flying squirrels and owls and so much more.  We continued on to Carrington Bay and the tidal lagoon, and crossed the narrow channel through which the tide was rushing out.  We walked to the swim rock and sat in the sun for a leisurely lunch admiring the mergansers, golden eye ducks and a curious seal.  From there we continued on to Grandmothers Grove, a beautiful old growth stand of spruce and cedar, in the James Creek watershed which also supports cutthroat trout and spawning salmon. The greens of the mosses were vibrant after all the recent rain.  We followed the trail and logging roads back in a loop and made a short variation on the James Creek Trail before returning to the vehicles and the ferry. 10.4 km; 5 hours.

Thanks so much to Margot for organizing this event and to Sabina for sharing her enthusiasm and knowledge with us.

Debbie

(click on photos to view larger)

Here is a short video of the area using mostly drone footage:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-zs5BjQo2U

Hiking – Carrington Bay – 23 Jan 2019