Category Archives: Quadra Island

Trip Report – Mine & Main Lakes – 9 Sept 2015

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Six club members enjoyed a relaxed day at the Lakes. We launched from the Mine Lake boat ramp at 10:00 and paddled around the Main Lake islands, landing at the sandy beach at the east end of the lake about 11:45. After lunch, most of the group walked the trail to Yeatman Bay, picking mushroom along the way. We returned to the boat ramp at 2:30. On this calm, mainly sunny day, we had the lakes almost to ourselves. It was a very pleasant early fall outing (with a small bonus of chanterelles…).

Darcy Mitchell, coordinator

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Kayaking – Main Lakes Provincial Park – 9 Sept 2015

Hiking – Mt. Seymour – 23 September 2015

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 Postponed to October 7 and then postponed again

Activity Hiking
Destination Mt. Seymour
Date 23 September 2015, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Julie Mellanby
Contact Info 285-3978; please contact the coordinator in advance of the trip.
Description This is a great hike with wonderful views on a clear day.  It’s a steady climb up old logging roads, until the trail branches off and follows open bluffs and forest to the summit at 620 m, the highest point on Quadra Island. We will then descend by the same route.  Four to five hours.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay Store for car pooling
Departure Time 9:30
Difficulty
 moderate
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs?
Notes: Bring lunch

 

Trip Report – Far West Wall – 5 Sept 2015

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The Chinese Mountains have recently become a popular climbing area.  On the down side, the trailhead parking lot is now often full (there are plans to fix the road into it and expand the parking lot), but on the plus side, there are new trails to explore and new viewpoints opened up.   On this trip, ten of us explored the path to what was called “Far West Wall” last year.  The new name is “Eagle Crag” because some climbers found an eagle’s nest on it.  The trip is short, only 4.4 km round trip, half on official trails and half on the new path.  And there is a section about 200 meters long where it is easy scrambling and not walking, where the path goes up a series of small ledges to reach the top of the crag.  There is about 200 metres elevation gain in total.  The view from the top of the crag goes from Morte Lake and Little Morte Lake, about 180 degrees to the south end of Cortes Island.  The view from the bottom of the crag is pretty good too.

For climbers, the guide book to this area is Philip Stone’s “Quadra Island Rock Climbs”,
http://www.wildisle.ca/quadrarockclimbs/

There are also some maps and photos online which show the climbing areas and the access paths to them.
http://www.quadraisland.ca/adventure-recreation-tours/rock-climbing/chinese-mountains.html

Norris

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Hiking – Far West Wall – 2 Sept 2015

Kayaking – Open Bay & Hoskyn Channel – 12 Sept 2015

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 CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER

Activity Kayaking
Destination Open Bay and Hoskyn Channel
Date 12 September 2015, Saturday
Trip Coordinator Valerie van Veen
Contact Info vvv@qisland.ca, 250 285 2329;
Please contact the coordinator not later than Thursday.
Description Paddle to explore the islands/islets in Hoskyn Channel: the Bretons and King Islets
Meeting Place End of Breton Road, Open Bay to determine which launch site to use, alt is end of Valdez
Departure Time Meet at 10:00 am
Difficulty
 Easy to moderate, depending on wind/weather. Go/nogo will be made after 4:30pm marine forecast on Sept 11.
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs? no
Notes: Plan to be back at launch by 4 pm at latest. Bring lunch, snacks. Lunch might be early on in trip due to lack of beaches beyond the Bretons

Kayaking – Main Lake Provincial Park – 9 Sept 2015

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Activity Kayaking
Destination Main Lake Provincial Park
Date 9 Sept 2015, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Darcy Mitchell
Contact Info darcm@telus.net or 285-2739.  Please contact Darcy by Monday if you plan to go.
Description A relaxed paddle/picnic/swim/hike at the Lakes
Meeting Place Boat launch, Mine Lake
Departure Time 10:00 am
Difficulty
 easy
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs? no
Notes: We’ll plan to be back at the boat launch by 3:00 p.m.  Bring lunch and snacks.

Trip Report – Nugedzi Lakes & Overlooks – 22 Aug 2015

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The Nugedzi hike is special because there are so many highlights along the way. Six of us hiked up the logging road, passed the lily pond to the viewpoint looking southeast over Rebecca Spit, Georgia Basin and the nearby islands and coast. We continued on through the undulating forest and cedar grove, and stopped for lunch and a swim at Nugedzi Lake. The water levels are significantly lower and the forest is very, very dry. After lunch we hiked out to the viewpoints over Discovery Passage toward Vancouver Island. On the return trip, we made the short loop to Little Nugedzi Lake. This was a fairly leisurely trip with everyone taking time to enjoy the special scenic points along the way. 5 ½ hours, about 12 km.

Debbie

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Hiking – Nugedzi Lakes – 22 Aug 2015

Hiking – Far West Wall – 2 Sept 2015

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 POSTPONED to Saturday, September 5th

Activity Hiking
Destination Far West Wall
Date 2 5 Sept 2015, Wednesday Saturday
Trip Coordinator Norris Weimer
Contact Info 285-3710 or norris.weimer@ualberta.ca; please contact the coordinator in advance of the trip
Description This hike begins on the south side of South Chinese Mountain.  It then follows a flagged route to a climbing wall.  The route goes around and up to the top of the climbing area.  This involves some big steps and minor scrambling. The effort is rewarded with great views.  About 3 hours.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay Store for car pooling
Departure Time 10:00
Difficulty
 Moderate.  This is a short hike (5km) mostly without a maintained trail and one very steep section
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs? no
Notes: Bring lunch

 

Hiking – Nugedzi Lakes – 22 Aug 2015

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 Rescheduled

Activity Hiking
Destination Nugedzi Lakes and overlooks
Date 22 Aug 2015, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator Debbie Quigg
Contact Info 285-3710 or debbie.quigg@ualberta.ca; please contact the coordinator in advance of the trip
Description We will hike up the old logging road and into the forest.  This trip takes us through some old forest groves and on to the Nugedzi Lakes.  Hopefully, it will be warm enough for a swim.  We would like to visit both of the overlooks, which makes this a fairly long hike (about 12 km) with a moderate amount of elevation gain.
Meeting Place Heriot Bay Store for car pooling
Departure Time 9:30
Difficulty
 moderate
Costs none
Trip limits none
Dogs?
Notes: Bring a lunch and possibly a bathing suit.

 

Trip Report – Granite Bay – 8 July 2015

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A group of six paddlers enjoyed perfect conditions for a tour around Kanish Bay on July 8th. The smokey atmosphere had cleared and we could enjoy the view across the Inside Passage. We made our way out through Chain Islands, then cut across the calm waters of the bay to Granite Point – a destination you can only attempt in such ideal weather. We poked around the point to take a look into Okisollo Passage, then moseyed back along the north shore of Kanish Bay. We had heard that there were pictographs somewhere along the cliffs, and happily we were able to spot a couple of sketchy images in red pigment. Lunch was on a rocky point part way along the shore, followed by a swim at Orchard Bay. It felt like a pretty mellow day, but we covered 18 km in our circuit around Kanish Bay.

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Kayaking –Granite Bay – 8 July 2015

Trip Report – Surge Narrows – 3 July 2015

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We had a group of 10 for this outing on a hot, sunny and very windy day. Of the ten, five had never been on a hike with the QIOC and the ages spanned more than 50 years. We started at Mine Lake, on the big rock, for a swim and lunch. The water was very warm, but there were white caps on the lake. We drove out to the end of the Surge Narrows road. As we visited the community dock, we were treated to a close encounter with an eagle carrying a fish. We hiked along the Surge Narrows trail to the viewpoint, arriving about a half hour before the max flood current of 10.6 knots, which was very impressive. Some of the group continued on the unmaintained route to the next bay and point, with views up toward Okisollo Channel and lots of wind and waves. There was a ground nesting wasp sting and a hurt foot on the return trip, but the victims took it in stride.

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Hiking – Surge Narrows – 3 July 2015