Three of us caught the 9:00 am ferry to Campbell River and when we reached the parking lot at the trailhead only one other car was there.The weather was typical west coast Spring with patchy clouds, sunshine and rain in the distance.

On the way to Seymour Narrows there are several viewpoints with excellent views of Menzies Bay with log booms and other watercraft. With the recent rain all the new growth was spectacular with thimbleberries in bloom, salmonberries ripening and all the variety of ferns and other plants we are learning to identify. There are several bridges over rushing creeks with many wire covered wooden structures over wet areas. The trail overall is easy walking with some uphill stretches that require careful stepping due to rock outcroppings. One set of stairs had a broken step, which hopefully will get repaired soon, as we did meet a maintenance crew trimming the new growth along sides of the trail.

The view at Seymour Narrows overlooking where Ripple Rock was blasted is striking as you can see up and down the Narrows for quite a distance with good views of Quadra Island. At the bluff viewpoint a large group of school age kids where just finishing their lunches before heading back on the trail before us. On the return hike it started to sprinkle so jackets went back on. With the rain and the group ahead of us the trail seemed more muddy from when we came out. By the time we reached the parking lot the sun came out with blue skies as we headed back and caught the 3:00 pm boat to Quadra. All and all a very enjoyable hike.  (8.8 km 4 hours with lunch stop)

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Hiking – Ripple Rock Trail – 29 June 2024

Ten of us took the ferry to Vancouver Island to hike some of the trails on the east side of the Quinsam River. With recent commercial and industrial development, we had to park quite far from the the Boneyard Bypass trail head and walk some roads to start the hike. It was a great day, mostly sunny and a good hiking temperature.  We followed the labyrinth of mountain bike trails through the forest and ravines.  This is a lovely and varied walk, made more beautiful by the amazing display of spring flowers: trillium, pink fawn lilies, wild bleeding heart, wild current, and yellow violets. We stopped briefly at a viewpoint of some Strathcona Park mountains before descending to the river.  We followed the river upstream to a bend with a view and a bench in the sunshine where we stopped for lunch.  After the lunch break, we climbed back up to the high bank and meandered through the forest on bluffs and around ravines before completing the loop and heading back to the vehicles.  It was a beautiful day and many on the trip had not explored this area before.  (10.9 km; 4 hours)

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Hiking – Quinsam River Trails – 15 April 2024

Seven hikers set out on a frosty but bright and sunny day to see the massive amount of water that is coming over Elk Falls due to the atmospheric river and the huge snow melt last week. There is a lot of work still going on at the dam, upgrading it for the possibility of an earthquake. They are now filling in the old trench, where the three huge aqueducts were, with dirt and gravel from work on the dam.

After walking across this area, we turned right and hiked down the long hill to the old powerhouse. There is a nice viewing spot there with totem poles. This did make for quite a few stairs and a long hike back up the hill though. We then walked down the multiple stairs to the suspension bridge. The amount of water coming over Elk Falls is phenomenal.  We were the only ones there so we ate lunch on the far side of the suspension bridge in the nice warm sunshine. Afterwards we went back across and down to the viewing platform right in front of the falls. There was a huge amount of mist being churned up by all the water coming over the falls.

We then proceeded to do a loop through Elk Falls park. We went through the old growth and then down to Moose Falls and followed the trail around to the old viewing platform. There were a few trees down on the trail that we had to crawl over and under. The view from this platform was very good as well. After this we proceeded back to the vehicles.  5.8 km; 2½ hours.

Les 

Thanks to Les, Bonnie and Norris for the photos

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Hiking – Elk Falls Loop – 5 Feb 2024