Category Archives: Quadra Island

Kayaking – Gowlland Harbour – 2 May 2018

Posted on by
1

Activity Kayaking
Destination Gowlland Harbour
Date 2 May 2018, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Margot Wood
Contact Info 250-285-2393
Description We will meet, help each other to launch from Gowlland Harbour Resort.
We will kayak the islands to see the beautiful wild flowers. Kayak to May Island for our lunch.  Visiting the islands in Gowlland Harbour.  Returning to the launch area at approximately 2 p.m.
Meeting Place Gowlland Harbour Resort boat launch, 823 Gowlland Harbour Rd.
Departure Time 10:30 (unload and prepare at 10:00)
Difficulty
 easy
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs? no
Notes: This trip is dependent on weather.  Bring your ocean kayak, paddle plus safety equipment. Bring your own lunch and water. I will meet you at the launch site at 10:00.  We help each other with kayak launch.
Gowlland Harbour Resort has kindly granted us permission to use their boat launch for this trip. This is not a public access.

Trip Report – Deepwater Bay – 12 Apr 2018

Posted on by
Reply

Because the weather forecast was poor, we saved the planned view trip for another day when we would have a view, and chose another destination below cloud level.  We also postponed it a day to avoid the worst weather.  As luck would have it, we had a beautiful sunny day for a hike down to Deepwater Bay and back.

The first part of the hike was an unexpected detour through the forest around work to renew the old road for future logging operations.  Trees alongside of the roadway had been neatly felled onto the logging road and not yet cleaned up.  Beyond that, the walking was good except for a bit of erosion and a landslide on the north bank of the creek, which swept trees across to the south bank and the trail.  The whitewater stream was impressive with recent rains and there were several waterfalls.  We had lunch at the Bay in warm sunshine and returned uphill to the vehicle. 4.4 km; 2½ hours.  

As the hike was fairly short, we made a side trip to some of the nearby karst sinkholes.  There was a report that the creek had re-routed.  However, there was some water in the insurgent and resurgent creek, though not as much might be expected with recent rain.

– Norris

(click on photos to view larger)

 

Trip Report – High Bluff-Heriot Ridge Trail Loop – 21 March 2018

Posted on by
Reply

Six hikers and one dog enjoyed a three hour hike on Heriot Ridge. The weather was cloudy and threatened rain but none materialized, and we were even treated to occasional weak sun behind the clouds. Starting at the Hopespring trailhead, we walked up to the height of land, then headed south off-trail along the bluffs of Heriot Ridge. Our first stop was the location of the new North Island communication tower. From there we dropped off the south end of the ridge and proceeded through the woods to High Bluff viewpoint where we stopped for a break and snack. The Vancouver Island mountains were hidden from view, but we had closer views of Gowlland Harbour and Georgia Strait to the west and south. We returned north along the ridge’s open bluffs at a lower elevation, stopping to admire a rare grand old Douglas fir tree and wonder about a large pile of feathers, probably belonging to an unfortunate grouse. Back at Hopespring Trail, we headed north along Heriot Ridge Trail, and were treated to a frog chorus at a small wetland along the way. We connected to the Thompson Trail and proceeded down the trail to Thompson Road.

Janis

Hiking – Heriot Ridge and North Loop – 21 March 2018

Trip Report – Blindman’s Bluff and Eagle Ridge – 14 March 2018

Posted on by
Reply

Six hikers went to the end of Leishman Road and up the woodlot road to a spot by the bridge to park. There is large, gnarled, old growth fir near here that is worth looking at. We hiked up the old road to where it joins the official trail at the beaver pond. The beaver lodge shows well this time of year. We turned right and went up to Blindman’s Bluff trail. The trail is in good shape but one needs to watch as to not wander off it. There has not been much traffic on it so moss has grown on much of it. It was a mixed cloud and sun day so the views were spectacular over Gowlland Harbour and south. The wind was chilly though so we sat out of the open to have lunch.

After lunch we continued back to Eagle Ridge Trail and up to the top of it. There were great views over Discovery Passage. We then returned via the same route to the vehicles.

Les

(click on photos to view larger)

Hiking – Blindman’s Bluff and Eagle Ridge – 14 March 2018

Hiking – Stramberg Old Growth Grove- 18 April 2018

Posted on by
1

Activity Hiking
Destination Stramberg Old Growth Grove
Date 18 April 2018, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Debbie Quigg
Contact Info debbie.quigg@ualberta.ca or 285-3710.  Please contact the trip coordinator prior to the trip.
Description This trail begins near Village Bay Lake and follows open meadows leading into and through the forest on old, unmaintained logging roads.  The reward at the end of the hike is a grove of old growth firs.  This is not an official trail.  Expect blow-down and brush. About 13 km; 5 hours or more.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay store parking lot, to arrange carpools
Departure Time 09:30
Difficulty
 moderate, due to unmaintained trail and quite long
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs? okay if under control
Notes: Bring lunch and water.

Hiking – Nole’s Pizza Peak – 11 April 2018

Posted on by
Reply

 Change of destination and day!

Activity Hiking
Destination Nole’s Pizza Peak Deepwater Bay
Date 11 April 2018, Wednesday 12 April, Thurs
Trip Coordinator Norris Weimer
Contact Info 285-3710 or norris.weimer@ualberta.ca; please contact the coordinator in advance of the trip
Description Nole’s Pizza is the informal name for the west ridge of Beech’s Mountain.  It is a great viewpoint overlooking Morte Lake.  It is a flagged route, not an official trail.  There are several different approaches that we can use and a loop is possible.  About 5 hours.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay Store for car pooling
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 Moderate to challenging, for steep sections and unmaintained trail
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs? no
Notes: Bring lunch.  If you use poles, bring them.  We won’t do this trip if the weather is poor.

 

Hiking – Campbell River- 4 Apr 2018

Posted on by
1

Activity Ramble
Destination Campbell River
Date 4 April 2018,  Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Valerie van Veen and Darcy Mitchell
Contact Info 250 285 2329
Description A Campbell River ramble, easy walking but long distance, approximately 15 km. We will walk from the ferry terminal (come over as walk-ons) to ERT north trailhead, ERT to Beaverlodge trails to Willow Point Park Sportsplex trails to Seawalk, Seawalk to Willow Point for lunch (café in Willow Point or bring your own), Seawalk back to ferry terminal. Rain or shine. 9 am ferry from QI, estimated 3:30 or 4:30 ferry return.
Meeting Place Ferry Terminal
Departure Time 9 am ferry walk-on
Difficulty
 Easy, but long
Costs Ferry foot passenger
Trip limits none
Dogs? Yes, but must be on leash part of the way
Notes: Must contact organizer by Monday, April 2 evening. Thanks.

Trip Report – Hikes from Open Bay Main – 28 Feb 2018

Posted on by
Reply

The weather forecast was not good. Bad actually: heavy rain and high winds.  But seven hikers ventured out anyway.  First we walked a trail along Open Bay Creek, a nice salmon stream, and walked back on a logging road.  There had been quite a lot of logging east of the road since our last trip here. 3.2 km; 1 hour.

There was snow on the trail and it was slippery, so for the second act we hiked to Stramberg Lake instead of the planned Crikey Creek mountain bike trails. The mountain bike trails were steep and the route to Stramberg was flat, but the snow was a bit deep in places.  We stopped for lunch out of the wind and then took the old logging road into Main Lakes Park.  We followed the side trail down to Stramberg Lake for the wintery view and then returned. 4.5 km; 1½ hours.

There were some wet feet from the snow. On the plus side, we were quite sheltered in these forests from the wind, and it didn’t start raining hard until we got back.  There were lots of huge wolf prints in the snow.

– Norris

(click on photos to view larger)

Thanks to Norris and Les for the photos

Hiking – Hikes from Open Bay Main- 28 Feb 2018

Trip Report – Hopespring – Thompson Trail loop – 21 Feb 2018

Posted on by
Reply

Three hikers and one dog enjoyed a lovely 2½ walk in the woods. Because Daphne wanted to add lots of steps on her FitBit, the coordinator ensured this would happen by going the wrong way, not once, but twice. We began at the Hopespring entrance, continued past the three sisters on to the grove of old growth. We then headed up the trail, supposedly toward the Thompson trail, which actually took us close to Rousseau Ridge, adding about half an hour to the total trip. According to the FitBit we took about 14,000 steps.

Sandra

Thanks to Sandra and Vic for the photos.

Hiking – Hopespring-Thompson Loop – 21 Feb 2018

Hiking – Hopespring-Thompson Trail loop – 21 Feb2018

Posted on by
1

Activity Hiking
Destination Hopespring-Thompson Trail loop
Date 21 Feb 2018, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Sandra Burns
Contact Info sandraburns.ca@gmail.com
Description This is a classic loop on official trails, with lots of variety: a big descent, old growth Douglas fir, some optional views, creeks, and forest.  The hike will be about two hours.
Meeting Place Hopespring trailhead
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 Fairly short and undulating
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs?
Notes: Bring a snack and poles if you use them.