Five of us set off to see some of the Stramberg big trees. It was going to be a very hot day, so we moved the start time of the trip an hour earlier and we were thankful that this was a trip in the shade of the forest. So we started down the deactivated logging road called Little Main Road, which is now part of Main Lakes Park. It’s a pleasant stroll apart from being prone to the occasional attempt by huckleberry bushes to retake the path. The road probably goes all the way to Shadowbrook Creek, but the last 50 metres are definitely overgrown. Instead, the path crosses Stramberg Creek, a very nice gravelly stream this season. After that, the flagged route turns back south and winds gently up hill through the old forest, passing one huge big fir tree and reaching a lovely grove of old fir trees where we had lunch before returning home. This grove is just a bit north of the Stramberg big trees we go to more often. These trees aren’t quite as big, but the grove itself is nicer. 11.7 km; 4½ hours.

Norris

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Hike – Stramberg Creek and North Grove – 24 Aug 2016

Nine of us walked the trail to Maud Island on a beautiful, warm, summer day.  We arrived at the Ripple Rock viewpoint on Seymour Narrows at the maximum on a flood current of 14.2 knots.  We met a hiking group from Comox on the trail and another group of seven on the trail that day too.  We went out over the Mt. Lolo bluffs and returned by the Salt Water Lagoon.  9.9 km, 4 hours.

Norris

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Hike – Maud Island – 3 Aug 2016

The nine of us had a perfect day for the hike to Nugedzi Lakes and lookouts. We started a bit earlier to get up the old logging road before the heat of the day. We stopped at a viewpoint just before the end of the old road with great views to the northeast and then continued on to the Lily Pond and the viewpoint looking southeast. We hiked through the ancient forest arriving at Nugedzi Lake in time for lunch and a swim. We continued on to the viewpoints over Discovery Passage and then retraced our steps, making the loop to Little Nugedzi on the return.   We were quite warm and fairly tired when we reached the parking lot, but had a wonderful day.   11.9 km; 6½ hours.

Debbie

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Hike – Nugedzi – 27 July 2016

Thursday dawned clear with summer in mind, so five of us set out to Noel’s Pizza Lookout. We started up the steep old logging road between the two Chinese Mountain peaks and continued up along the ridge which forms North Chinese Peak following a lovely flagged route.  When the route reached an old Nugedzi logging road we resumed the steep rough hike to the north side of Beech’s Mountain.  From there another flagged route took us to the Noel’s Pizza viewpoint, with great views overlooking Morte Lake and points from south to west to north.  We then took another flagged route to the summit of Beech’s Mountain for more views, including to the east.  From there, the official trail takes us back down the ridge which forms South Chinese Mountain.  8.3 km, 5 hours.

Norris

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Hike – Noel’s Pizza Peak – 21 July 2016