Six of us visited the not-so-famous Santana Mine.  Mine Lake gets its name from it, since the mine overlooks the lake.  Or it would if the trees weren’t so high.  So we set out in a thick fog to visit it.  Thanks to Ellen and Alex for their permission to use their driveway and cross their private property.  There are other routes to the mine.  We made a loop, coming back down on Conville Point Road.  The other approach is from Bold Point.

The recent snow overload damaged trees and bushes, so this was a bit of a bushwhack.  Also, there was still snow covering parts of the path, so it was even easier to get lost than normal. The sun made a feeble attempt to show itself at the high “viewpoint” where we had lunch, but no view.  The mine is very interesting.  The main drift (tunnel) still has the old railroad tracks and is safely walkable.  The wildlife is abundant: long legged spiders, crickets, and a few moths.  We also visited the short opening a bit higher up, and peeked into a long drift a bit further north.  The entrance to that one is very low and the floor is flooded.  The route on to Conville Point Road had a few more deadfall obstacles, but the road had a very nice display of larches in full fall colour.  5.1 km; 3 hours.

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Hiking – Santana Mine – 16 Nov 2022

The day was cold (for Quadra) and the air was clear and still and the sun was warm.  Five of us took advantage of the nice early winter weather to hike to Maud Island.  Because the recent dump of heavy, wet snow left the trail coated with some icy, hard snow, we all wore some sort of ice cleats on our boots, which worked very well.  Actually the road access and the trail were in surprisingly good condition considering the storm. 

We had lunch at the Seymour Narrows overlook, along with a few sea lions.  There wasn’t much turbulence in the Narrows, but the sea gulls were fishing.  On the way back some of us took the high trail and some took the low trail.  For the high trail it was 10.1 km; 4¼ hours.

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Hiking – Maud Island – 9 Nov 2022

Six of us hiked this classic loop on an overcast, calm morning between fall storms.  After our long drought, it already felt a little bit more green and moist.  There was too much cloud for good views, so we didn’t linger at viewpoints.  We descended the big hill and enjoyed the many big Douglas fir trees in the valley which this route largely follows.  We took the side trip to the old growth grove before continuing on to the junction for the Thompson trail.  The trail meanders and undulates through a good variety of terrain with wetlands, forest and moss-covered rocks.  It was in very good condition.  We set a leisurely pace, stopping to talk amongst ourselves and twice with others on the way.  We were quickly back to the cars and home for lunch.  5.4 km; 2 hours  

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Hiking – Hopespring – Thompson Trail Loop – 26 Oct 2022

Five of us took advantage of one of the last beautiful summer days of late October to hike to Main Lake from the Surge Narrows Road.  This is a relatively new trail.  It has been around, but not widely known.  It was a place to easily get lost.  It had obstacles, such as the Jungle Gym obstacle course of huge deadfalls.  But now BC Parks has recognized it.  It is flagged and cleared and the path is easier to follow.  The first part can be wet, but that was not a problem after our long drought this summer.  We stopped off at Roscoe Lake, good for swimming, but nobody took the plunge.  Then the trail goes down through a nice old forest with mossy understory, passing some giant trees.    We stopped for lunch at the sandy east beach of Main Lake, then walked the old “portage” road to Yeatman Bay, which was very still and atmospheric.  On the way back we took another side trail to the swim rock on Main Lake, then walked back to the cars (noticing that it was uphill).  A lovely day, a lovely hike.    9.9 km; 4 hours  

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Hiking – Main Lake and Yeatman Bay – 19 Oct 2022

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Hiking – Shellaligan Pass Loop – 12 Oct 2022

It was forecast to be another scorching hot day, so we moved the start time an hour earlier.  Instead of taking the usual hiking trail up South Chinese Mountain, the four of us took a climbers’ path, which goes steeply up to the base of the rock wall.  From there the path is less steep and goes up a swale between the south peak and a minor southeast bluff.  We took a side trail which goes up that bluff for excellent viewpoints, a rest and a snack.  We continued on the path back down to meet the main trail at the “mud hole”.  Coming back down the regular trail we took the new “scenic route” trail which avoids a badly eroded section of the original trail.  Then we took another scenic route, which avoids another part of the main trail which is more stream bed than trail.  The second scenic section is not marked or flagged, but it is a very nice alternative route.  It rejoins the main south bluff trail near a viewpoint.   3.4 km; 2½ hours; 220 m elevation gain.

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Hiking – Alternate Chinese Mtn Loop – 24 Aug 2022