Category Archives: trip photos

Trip Report – Haskins’ Farm and Golf Course Loop with Lunch – 14 Oct 2025

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We had reservations at the Quadra Golf Course restaurant, The Q, at 12:00.  We met at the Fir Crest parking lot at 10:00 and wandered around the Fir Crest Loop, the Fir Crest Trail and the Haskins’ Farm trails for two hours.  (6.9 km).  The weather was great, sunny with fall colours.  

At the restaurant, it was the second to last day before closing for the season.  A beautiful room and the food was great.

Norris

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Trip Report – Denman & Hornby Islands – 5-8 Oct 2025

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Sunday: Seven of us went straight from the 10:00 ferry from Buckley Bay to the Morning Beach trailhead to take advantage of the relatively low tide, and walk to Tree Island (aka Sandy Island).  We descended the stairs on the east side of Longbeak Point and walked north along the shore and then across the sandy flats to Tree Island.  It was a perfect, sunny day.  We walked across the wooded area for the view north before heading back.  We hurried a bit, not wanting to be too late with the turn of the tide, but there was no problem and we could have taken more time.  We had lunch once we returned to Longbeak Point on Denman and then continued to the trailhead.  (7.5 km, 3h)  We went to Fillongley Provincial Park and set up our campsites in this popular park on Lambert Channel.  Several people explored Denman a bit more and visited Chickadee Lake looking for the best swimming spot.  (2.25 km, 45m).  The evening was cool and the group gathered around a fire for happy hour and later for dessert.  The moon was nearly full as it rose over the Salish Sea.

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Monday – The weather was again perfect.  We took the 9:40 ferry to Hornby and positioned the vehicles for a car shuffle.  Starting from Mount Road, we hiked up Middle Bench in the Mt. Geoffrey Escarpment Provincial Park and almost immediately had wonderful views to the west, over Lambert Channel and Denman Island.  The gradual climb continued on Outer Ridge up to the summit of Mt. Geoffrey at 330m.  But the views are not at the summit, they are along the embankment with the unusual conglomerate geology. We continued on the Cliff Trail in Mt. Geoffrey Regional Park, with views that included the Hornby farmlands and the scenery to the north.  We descended the dirt stairs down to Lea Smith Road and took the ferry back to Denman Island for the evening at Fillongley.  The trail was very quiet and we encountered only one group of mountain bikers all day.  (9.2 km, 3¾ hours, about 300m ascent)  Once again the campfire was the social centre and the truly full moon rose over Hornby Island.

Tuesday – We had a spectacular sunrise, which was followed by significant cloud cover until late in the afternoon.  We again returned to Hornby Island on the 9:40 ferry and went to Helliwell Provincial Park to walk the south-facing bluffs.  The views are great and the cliff formations from conglomerate are fascinating.  We walked north to the park boundary and then followed the trail loop counterclockwise.  There were sea lions swimming below the cliffs and in a colony on nearby Flora Island.  (5.4 km, 1¾ hours).  After visiting the Hornby Coop Store, which is an amazing source of anything that you might need, we continued on to Tribune Bay for lunch and to enjoy the fine sand and the scenery.  After a quick visit to Little Tribune Bay, there were a variety of short explorations before returning to Denman for the evening.  Regrettably, we did not have time or tide to explore the rock formations at Heron Rock and elsewhere.  Back on Denman, a few in the group went to explore the Lindsay Dickson Nature Reserve and Graham Lake, which were both worth the visit.  (2.9 km, 1h)

Wednesday: For most of us, this was a short and cloudy day.  A group hiked the eastern shore in Boyle Point Provincial Park to see Eagle Rock and the view of the Chrome Island lighthouse.  This was a gentle walk through a fine forest.  (2.9 km, 1h)

We then headed home after a great trip with an amazing variety of hikes and scenery.

Debbie

Thanks to Jim, Louise, and Norris for the photos

Multi-day Hiking – Denman & Hornby – 5-8 Oct 2025

Trip Report – Mt. Elma – 25 Sept 2025

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Nine of us took advantage of an overcast, but gentle day to make this lovely hike to Mt. Elma.  It has been a very dry summer on the Forbidden Plateau and the autumn colours were not as intense as some years, but deep reds nonetheless.  We walked through Paradise Meadows on the boardwalk and continued up to Battleship Lake where we admired the views from the various platforms.  We carried on past Kooso and Lady Lake before turning off on the now well worn trail up to Mt. Elma.  The route is increasingly steep as it nears the ridge and then flattens out as it meanders through the excellent sub-alpine terrain with great views and foliage.  We stopped for lunch at the south end of the ridge and managed to eat most of what we had brought, in spite of very aggressive Canada Jays.  We returned via Helen Mackenzie Lake to make the trip more varied and then were quickly back to the parking lot.  As we reached the vehicles, we saw Sandhill Cranes flying overhead and circling around. 14.7 km; 500m elevation gain; 6¼ hours.

Debbie

Thanks to Carrie, Jim and Norris for the photos

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Hiking – Mt. Elma – 25 Sept 2025

Trip Report – Kanish Bay and Beyond – 9-11 Sept 2025

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Day 1.  Six of us launched from the boat launch at the Granite Bay Park.  We paddle out of Granite Bay and across Kanish Bay to Orchard Bay, where we unloaded the kayaks at quite a low tide.  We explored the area, set up the tents and had lunch before heading out again.  The morning had been a bit overcast, but the afternoon was lovely.  We paddled into Small Inlet and beached the kayaks at the peninsula where the trail comes down to the shore.  We chose this site because the low tide was going to make it impossible to reach the end of Small Inlet.  We hiked over to Waiatt Bay, which was already much quieter than in the high season.  After a short break we hiked back and paddled back through the islets in Small Inlet.  (14.3 km paddling and walking; 5 h)  We gathered for dinner under the huge Big-Leaf Maple tree.  With the sun setting before 8:00 pm, we were in the tents quite early.

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Day 2.  After a leisurely breakfast, the morning fog was beginning to lift as we left shortly after 10:00. We paddled along the north shore of Kanish Bay against a light breeze pausing only to admire the big cliff with pictographs.  With the increasing sunshine and benign conditions we carried on around the northwest tip of Quadra Island and into Okisollo Channel. We paddled a short distance beyond Metcalf Island and had lunch on the sunny, north-facing beach.  On our return, we had a bit more wind and waves, which subsided as we turned downwind in Kanish Bay.  Our route took us south of Nixon Island, then returning to Orchard Bay.  (15.1 km; 5 h)  We watched some wildlife in the Bay and had happy hour on the very small, shell beach waiting for the high tide, which came up to and under the boats. It was an exceptionally beautiful day.  We visited the steep, mossy bluff to the east before again having dinner under the Maple tree. Some stayed up a bit later around the fire pit.

Day 3.  Our final day was quite short as some had deadlines.  We packed up, loaded the kayaks at a medium tide and paddled out to the eastern edge of the Chained Islets.  After circling a few islets, we checked out the derelict house at the east end and the tiny islet with the white shell beach before heading into the inlet to Granite Bay and the boat ramp. (6.0 km; 2 h)

This was a great trip to a beautiful area in perfect conditions.  We were fortunate to see some wildlife including multiple encounters with mink, harbour porpoise, harbour seals, and birds: Belted Kingfishers, Great Blue Heron, Surf Scoters, Short Billed Gulls, Glaucous Winged Gulls, Vultures, Bald Eagles, and Crows.

Debbie

Thanks to Louise and Norris for the photos

Multi-day paddling and camping – Kanish Bay and Beyond – 9-11 Sept 2025

Trip Report – Beech’s Mtn Loop – 27 Aug 2025

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Instead of doing Campbell River Lookout, due to heat and unexpected circumstances, we decided to do a Beech’s Mountain Loop. This is a challenging hike, but not as much as Campbell River lookout. We had an early 8:15 start from South Chinese Mountain parking lot. It was a lovely 15° but with smoky skies. On the way up, Norris showed us a short alternate route instead of going up the washed out creek. When we got back on the main trail, we continued to the junction of Beech’s Mountain and South Chinese and had a short water break. This is a excellent spot to listen to frogs in the early spring. Once we got onto one of the open ridges we were surprised to find a big Canadian flag in one of the trees. There are great views on the open ridges to the west, but the smoke hampered some of the pictures. We continued the steep ascent and took a break on the large open rocks where you have great views to Rebecca Spit and the mainland mountains. After this, we had lunch on the top of Beech’s Mountain, where we enjoyed the views and shade after the steep climb.

There was a steep descent then to the old road that comes up from the Nugetzi Lake turn off. This trail is not well used, but was flagged well. The old road is quite washed out with many loose rocks, but was a nice walk in the shade of the trees. We came to the turn off that goes to North Chinese Mountain and were surprised to find that it has hardly been used the last few years. I had an old track from 2014 that we followed. We came across a few old flags that marked the trail, but there is much blow down and salal and would not recommend it to anyone that does not like bush whacking. There are many large bluffs along the way that give great views. When we came to the last bluff before North Chinese Trail, we were surprised to find that someone had brought up a large, old fishnet and strung it between three large trees over the top of the bluff. I actually think this could be quite dangerous as it is 8′ above the rocks in some places.

We continued on to North Chinese trail and descended back to the parking lot and our vehicles. It was starting to warm up now so we were quite pleased that we had left early.
(6.5 km, 3¾ hours, 420m ascent)

Les

Thanks to Jim, Carrie, Les and Norris for the photos

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Hike – Beech’s Mtn Loop – 27 Aug 2025

Trip Report – Manzanita Bluff – 8 Aug 2025

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The Manzanita Bluff hike was postponed due to weather and it was worth the wait. Attending were six adventurous hikers that survived the long drive up the logging roads to the trailhead. We were surprised to find the first 100ft of the trail recently groomed with the blackberry and salmonberry branches removed. The route is now a well marked trail up to the Bluffs following the creek bed and eventually through an open forest with beautiful mature Douglas Fir trees.  By consensus, we decided that this trip was fairly challenging.

The group had a light snack surrounded by the Manzanita bushes and taking in the amazing views. The trail taken back was a loop back to Darkwater Lake where we all had a great lunch and a few took the opportunity for a cool swim before returning to the trailhead.  

Afterwards, most of the group went down to the bay on Discovery Passage for the view. 

Total distance of 5.1km, 340m ascent and total time of 4hrs 16 min.

Louise
 

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Hiking – Manzanita Bluff – 8 Aug 2025

Trip Report – Main Lake and Yeatman Bay – 30 July 2025

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It was a beautiful, but hot day for our hike into Main Lake Provincial Park and down to the Lake.  We started an hour earlier than originally scheduled due to the heat.  The eight of us hiked down through the beautiful forest, with green mossy understory in spite of the drought. The campground at East Beach was empty on arrival.  It was too early for lunch or even a swim, so we continued on, crossing the new skookum bridge over the creek, to admire the view from the swim rock, and then walk over to Yeatman Bay.  A large kayak group had pulled-up on shore just as we arrived.  After a short break we headed back to the campground for lunch.  The bay was very busy with three groups of visitors for the day.  About half of our group swam before heading back up the hill to Surge Narrow Rd and the cars.  It was a classic summer day for a wonderfully varied hike.  (9.7 km; 315m ascent; 4½ hours)  

Debbie
 

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Hiking – Main Lake and Yeatman Bay – 30 July 2025

Reconnaissance Report – Raft Cove Provincial Park – 22-24 July 2025

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We had wanted to visit Raft Cove by boat from the Mackjack River for at least a decade.  The combination of adequate information, timing and weather never worked out until July 2025.

The launch site is now well known and quite popular.  After the short, gravel path, access to the river is down a wooden ladder.  We thought the shore would be muddy, but it’s more like sand.  It works best to depart just as the tide in the river peaks and turns to ebb. This allows the boats to go with the current and float over the fallen trees.  The paddle down the river was lovely and makes clear that we are in a temperate rainforest.  It was mostly sunny and very quiet except for the Kingfisher.  The weather at the beach was “coastal” – warm with soft clouds and not too windy.  We set up our tents on the beach.  There were quite a few others camping in the park, but the area is large and absorbs many.  The park infrastructure of tent pads, outhouses and food caches was quite good for a remote park.

We had no particular agenda for our middle day.  The morning cloud/fog lifted to a brilliant, sunny day.  We relaxed in camp and walked a lot on the long, sandy beach, visiting the arch and sea stack.  We walked the hiking trail to the parking lot.  This was not exactly part of the plan, but the recent drought and the trail upgrade in 2009-2010 made this a reasonable walk instead of a gymnastic exercise climbing over fallen trees and through mud pits.

We packed up on the third morning and paddled across the river to briefly explore the south side of the park.  Although it was a bit early for the rising tide, we went with the flood tide back up the river returning to the launch site and the vehicles.  There were a few hurdles, but we arrived before two canoes launched and six paddle boards arrived after us.  This is a beautiful, wild area, but at least in the summer, it isn’t complete wilderness and solitude.

Debbie

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Trip Report – Newton Lake and Small Inlet – 23 July 2025

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A small group of four hikers undertook our “annual” midsummer trek to Newton Lake and Small Inlet. Being a hotter day we passed on the Waiatt Bay leg and allowed more swimming time.  It was shady and cool to start the hike so we arrived at Newton Lake in pretty good time. There was a solitary Common Loon to check on while we had a short drink break and then we headed to the Inlet.

Just under an hour later we were on the tidal flat of Small Inlet. The tide was flooding but still low enough to allow us to trek across to the spring and the trail to Waiatt Bay. The group decided to take the first turn off and headed back towards the lake. We crossed paths with a few boaters on their way to and/or from Newton Lake as we made the slow climb up the switchbacks with visions of lunch and a swim motivating a pretty steady pace.

We had the swim rock to ourselves and enjoyed a great swim on a beautiful summer day! The water was clear and not cold, the air warming towards mid-20s.  The shady trail down from the Lake made for an enjoyable walk out to the trailhead. (We were spared any attacks by wasps despite the warning sign posted by a hiker earlier this week).  (Length: 12.6 km, Time: 4 hrs 41 minutes)

Vic Gladish

Thanks to Jim, Louise and Vic for the photos

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Hiking – Newton Lake and Small Inlet – 23 July 2025

Trip Report – Gowlland Harbour – 21 July 2025

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Nine people gathered at my place for a easy paddle and social on a sunny summer day. Because of the driveway, launching from here is a challenge and the tide was very low. Once in the water we paddled north to check out all the new toys at Camp Homewood. It seems they have acquired many new and different types of boats. Then on to Seascape, now called Jade Resort, to find that the sunken barge had finally been cleaned up. Unfortunately, at the taxpayers cost. On past Gowlland Resort we turned and went to the Vigilant Islets for a quick stop and to stretch our legs. On our return, there was a colony of seals on Wren Islet that were enjoying the warm sunny day. We then paddled between Fawn Islet and Stag Island to return to my home for cold beverages and appetizers provided by everyone.  About 5 km and a 2 hour paddle. 

Les

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Kayaking – Gowlland Harbour – 21 July 2025