Category Archives: trip photos

Trip Report – Baikie Island – 10 Nov 2025

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Five of us met on the 10 o’clock ferry to start our 3.5 km walk at River Village Park at the foot of Spruce Street. Lots of work has been done there, as it is now the beginning of a much larger walk (7.2km) walk called Quinny’s Quest. After dealing with a flat tire, we got a late start and followed the road across the bridge and along the Campbell River to Baikie Island Nature Preserve. All of the trees we saw from last year’s walk have been planted and, even though all the maples had dropped their leaves, it was nice and green for a fall day. The walk was a little over an hour and we were back for lunch after seeing many spawning salmon, a paddle boarder and two new artist sculptures.

There are QR code story stations along the new trail and could be a walk for the future.  The route also includes:
Public art and interpretive signs
Trail map and rest spots
Family-friendly access and wayfinding
Nature, history, and storytelling along the way
Here is the map: CRV_Map_25

Neil U

Thanks to Neil and Les for the photos

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Hiking – Baikie Estuary – 10 Nov 2025

Trip Report – Beaver Lake and Open Bay Creek – 30 Oct 2025

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We had a small but enthusiastic group for a hike on a lovely autumn day.  We started from Hyacinthe Bay Road and followed a flagged route down to Beaver Lake.  The fungi were amazing.  We crossed the outflow creek without any problem and paused on the bluff above Beaver Lake  before heading east on the open logging road and then into the forest and down the path following the creek to Open Bay Creek. The water was flowing well and when we reached the falls we always visit, we noticed that there were falls higher up, so we bushwhacked to see these other cascades. There were two sets which were more impressive than the falls by the trail.  After lunch on an open, mossy bluff, we bushwhacked back to the trail and down to Open Bay Creek.  From there we meandered upstream along the creek, mostly on high bank, but sometimes at the creek level.  There were no salmon in the creek, but the forest and the views were lovely.   (5.9 km and 3 hours)

Debbie
 
Thanks to Carrie and Norris for the photos
 

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Hiking – Beaver Lake and Open Bay Creek – 30 Oct 2025

Event Report – Winter Planning Meeting – 26 Oct 2025

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We enjoyed the great view from the deck overlooking Drew Harbour and Rebecca Spit.  The planning meeting lasted an hour and was particularly productive for trip suggestions and possible new directions.  We had 19 for the potluck dinner, which was delicious and very social.  Thanks so much to the Squires for hosting.

Debbie
 

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Trip Report – Big Trees and Clear Lake – 22 Oct 2025

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With ten hikers, we approached Main Lake Provincial Park from the west and hiked into a valley with a number of large Douglas firs.  The biggest has a diameter of nearly 8 meters.  We hiked up the dis-used logging road with Alders growing over it and into the dense forest on an already quite dark day.   Following a flagged route we crossed the saddle and descended into the protected valley.  Progress was fairly slow navigating the deadfall even with a path.  After admiring the group of big trees near the small creek, we continued on toward Clear Lake.  With water levels already quite high, some continued on to lake views while others started their lunch on the mossy open bluff above the lake.  Lunch included contributions of muffins from Julie and smoked salmon from Vic which were much appreciated.  As we headed back it began to rain lightly, but it was a gentle day for a forest walk. (4.9 km; 3 hours.)
 
Here is a video of the biggest tree in the group, with views that were not available to us:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MARVLftC-YY    
 
Debbie
 

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Hiking – Big Trees & Clear Lake – 22 Oct 2025

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