Trip Photos – Kayak Rebecca Spit to Moulds Bay 15 Sept 2013

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By Terry Hale

Group: Terry Hale (coordinator), Debbie, Norris, Darcy, Lynn.

Due to marine weather reports (estimated 15 – 20 knots SE winds) the planned destination of Dunsterville Island/Village Bay was left for next year and the meeting place was changed from Valdez Drive beach access to Rebecca Spit boat launch. The group met at 10:30 am, loaded boats and paddled towards Breton Islands on smooth water enshrouded by fog (apparently the Cortes ferry Captain said that the 11:05 run to Cortes was the most dense fog he had ever been in on that route).  Deck compass and handheld GPS proved quite useful for this crossing. We weaved amongst islands to Moulds Bay for a quick lunch, and then crossed Open Bay as wind and waves picked up. Averting a planned stop at Turtle Island, we ferried from Hyacinthe Point to Heriot Island accompanied by rain, thunder and occasional lightening strikes. Everyone remained cheerful and paddled at a steady pace during the trip. We returned to the boat launch at 3:30 pm – close to high tide.

This was a successful trip considering adverse weather conditions. The group stayed together during crossings, wore wet weather clothing and carried navigational and safety equipment. The route plan was changed due to group safety, tracking marine weather, and keeping escape routes in mind.

Kayak Valdez Rd to Village Bay 15 Sept 2013

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Planning Meeting 3 November 2013

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Activity Planning Meeting
Location Quadra Community Center
Date Sunday, 3 November 2013
Event Coordinator Debbie Quigg
Contact Info qioutdoorclub@gmail.com or at (250) 285-3710
Description Share your feedback on the summer trips and your suggestions for fall and winter trips and other activities.  In addition to skiing and snow shoeing, we plan to have naturalist outings and evening talks.
Place Quadra Community Center, room 3.
Time 2:00 pm
Costs none; non-members are welcome
Notes:

Wild Mushroom Foray 2 November 2013

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Activity Wild Mushroom Foray (field trip)
Location Local trails
Date Saturday, 2 November 2013
Event Coordinator Maureen McDowell
Contact Info mcboas@gicable.com or at (250) 285-2221
Description Local mushroom enthusiasts will lead field trips to collect and identify Island fungi (to the extent possible with local expertise).  Emphasis is on identifying safe edible mushrooms.
Meeting Place Meet in the parking lot of the Quadra Community Centre for a 10 a.m. departure (car pooling)
Departure Time Please arrive by 9:30 a.m. so that we leave by 10.
Difficulty Easy
Costs Cost: $10/person.  Special Package price for Workshop and 2 forays: $45/person.  Members of either Club get an additional Package discount of $5.00/person to $40/person. To obtain the discount on either package, you must submit your paid registration by September 30, 2013.
Limits none
Notes: To obtain a registration form, or for information, contact Maureen McDowell at mcboas@gicable.com or at (250) 285-2221.Cancellation Policy: Fees are refundable up to 48 hours before an event if you call/email to cancel.
For more info, click here.

Wild Mushroom Foray 19 October 2013

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Activity Wild Mushroom Foray (field trip)
Location Local trails
Date Saturday, 19 October 2013
Event Coordinator Maureen McDowell
Contact Info mcboas@gicable.com or at (250) 285-2221
Description Local mushroom enthusiasts will lead field trips to collect and identify Island fungi (to the extent possible with local expertise).  Emphasis is on identifying safe edible mushrooms.
Meeting Place Meet in the parking lot of the Quadra Community Centre for a 10 a.m. departure (car pooling)
Departure Time Please arrive by 9:30 a.m. so that we leave by 10.
Difficulty Easy
Costs Cost: $10/person.  Special Package price for Workshop and 2 forays: $45/person.  Members of either Club get an additional Package discount of $5.00/person to $40/person. To obtain the discount on either package, you must submit your paid registration by September 30, 2013.
Limits none
Notes: To obtain a registration form, or for information, contact Maureen McDowell at mcboas@gicable.com or at (250) 285-2221.Cancellation Policy: Fees are refundable up to 48 hours before an event if you call/email to cancel.
For more info, click here.

Wild Mushroom Workshop 12-13 October 2013

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Activity Wild Mushroom workshop
Location Quadra Community Center
Date Saturday-Sunday, 12-13 October 2013
Event Coordinator Maureen McDowell
Contact Info mcboas@gicable.com or at (250) 285-2221
Description Dr. Shannon Berch presents a workshop on Identifying Quadra’s Wild Mushrooms.  This workshop will teach you basic identification skills, including the use of binomial keys and the program “Matchmaker”.
Place Quadra Community Center, room 3.
Time 12pm-5pm Saturday, 9am-5pm Sunday
Costs Cost: $30/person.  Special Package price for Workshop and 2 forays: $45/person.  Members of either Club get an additional Package discount of $5.00/person to $40/person. To obtain the discount on either package, you must submit your paid registration by September 30, 2013.
Limits Maximum 20 participants
Notes: To obtain a registration form, or for information, contact Maureen McDowell at mcboas@gicable.com or at (250) 285-2221.Cancellation Policy: Fees are refundable up to 48 hrs. before an event if you call/email to cancel.  Mushroom ID Workshop will have a wait-list.

Trip Photos – Kayaking Granite Bay to Small Inlet 7 Sept 2013

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Four paddlers departed from the Granite Bay dock in quite dense fog, complete calm and quiet.  The fog lifted after about half an hour and conditions were idyllic.  We paddled to the end of Small Inlet, stopped for a snack on the largest island and then continued on to Orchard Bay.  The group explored, basked in the sun and tried out the apples.  Still wanting to paddle more, we went around the eastern island of the Chained Islands in Kanish Bay on the return to Granite Bay.

Kayaking Granite Bay to Small Inlet 7 Sept 2013

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Trip Photos – Backpacking Mt Albert Edward 31Aug – 2Sept 2013

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by Will LaVigne  (willlavigne@hotmail.com)

Berries, berries, berries!
They were everywhere but tasted the best at high elevation.
There were berries on the trail up and down, there were berries at the camp site and there were berries part way up and down to the summit.
The hike was fantastic.
The weather was super.
The company, friends and fellow hikers were awesome.
There were lots of berries!

Cheers,
Will

Lots of delicious, juicy, purple and blue berries.

Will has an album of photos from this trip.  E-mail him and he will send you the link to it.

Backpacking Mt Albert Edward 31Aug – 2Sept 2013

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Trip Photos – Backpacking Landslide Lake – Elk River Trail 24-25 Aug 2013

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We began the hike in the early afternoon after a few morning showers.  The trail roughly follows the Elk River through varied forest with some old growth trees, interesting fungi and lichen, many creeks and waterfalls.  And there were also wasps for about a kilometer after Elkhorn.  The sign at the trailhead said “turn back now”.  Fortunately we did not encounter the wasps in either direction, but many parties did.

We arrived at the second campsite, which is 9 kilometers from the trailhead on the gravel bar just before Landslide Lake, in under 4 hours.  We camped there with only two other small parties.  Sunday morning dawned completely clear, so we were up early and off to Landslide Lake, about 2 kilometers further on.  Mt. Colonel Foster and the Lake were both very lovely and the evidence of the 1946 earthquake and landslide very interesting.

Backpacking Landslide Lake – Elk River Trail 24-25 Aug 2013

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Town Hall meeting regarding proposed communication tower

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Notes from the Sunday 18 August 2013 Town Hall meeting regarding the
proposed public safety communications tower on Heriot Ridge, Quadra
Island.

For more background on events leading up to this meeting, see
Proposed Communication Tower on Heriot Ridge

These notes are arranged in Q&A format in order to distinguish between comments made by the presenters and the audience, even if the Q is not strictly a question.
The attempt here is to report the ideas and issues discussed and not to try to do a transcript. Wordings are paraphrases, not exact; it has organized by topic.
The identities of audience speakers have been left out.

Dave Emery, North Island Communications, the applicant for the land tenure for the tower site, the “landlord” for the proposed tower.
Brian Fentiman, Mgr. RCMP Communication Sys. Vancouver Island District, one of the “tenants” of the proposed tower.

Dave opened by expressing his regrets and an apology that he did not call this public meeting 8 months ago, before he applied for the land use tenure.
Dave is withdrawing his current application for the site (letting it fail) because of community concerns. Dave plans to reapply for a tower site in a different location. This meeting is to get all issues out in the open before going to the expense of submitting a new application. The existing application cannot be amended because it is a change of site.

Conclusion of Meeting

  • Due to concerns expressed about the health effects of microwave radiation, Dave agreed that all microwave transmission from the tower will be done using very narrow beam antennas and that they will be aimed at Campbell River and away from Quadra, and also that
  • No cell phone antennas will be installed on this site. If a cell phone company expresses interest in the tower, they will be referred to Quadra Island.
  • The proposed internet service for Open Bay and Hyacinthe Bay (WiFi AP) will be dropped.
  • Dave and Brian will work with residents who have concerns about radiation to predict, measure, and ensure that they will have no measurable microwave radiation from this tower.
  • Aesthetic issues are important
  • A legal covenant covering community issues including the above is to be included in the land title from Ministry of Forests and NIComm will sign off on this.

Next Steps

  • hire a local biologist to investigate whether there are rare plants in this site
  • survey the new site
  • draw up legal covenant regarding agreements, working with Quadra and the SRD
  • hold another public meeting on the new site when there is a firm proposal
  • reapply for the site from Lands and Forests.

Meeting Notes

Continue reading →

Trip Photos – Kayaking Main Lake 21 August 2013

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Nine club members enjoyed a beautiful, sunny, calm day at the Lakes.  Leaving from the Mine Lake boat launch, we paddled to the northeast corner of Main Lake, landed on the sandy beach and hiked across to Yeatman Bay.  Several of us walked out to the tidal island at the south end of the bay to have a look at the channel.   The paddle took about 55 minutes.  The trail, which is 1.6 kilometres long and in good condition apart from some muddy bits, takes just under half an hour one way. After lunch, about half the group went for a short swim (very welcome as it was hot!), then we headed back to the parking lot, arriving at 2:30.  The lakes seemed busy (at least busy for Quadra!), but it was a very pleasant and relaxed outing. Perhaps on a future trip, we’ll paddle right round Main Lake and possibly venture into Clear Lake or Little Main.

Darcy Mitchell

Kayaking Main Lake 21 August 2013

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