Gear Sale – Community Centre – 21 April 2019

Posted on March 9, 2019 by qioutdoorclub

Activity	Gear Sale
Location	Community Centre, main hall
Date & time	21 April 2019, Sunday; 12:00 – 2:00
Event Coordinator	Valerie van Veen and Darcy Mitchell
Contact Infomation	if you plan to participate as a seller, please respond to qioutdoorclub@gmail.com
Description	Either as a buyer or seller, come to the gear swap. You don’t have to be a member to participate. “Gear” may include outdoor gear or exercise equipment. If you are a seller you don’t need to pre-register, but an indication of interest would be helpful. A $2 donation to cover costs would be appreciated, but can be flexible relative to the volume of your sales. Set-up will be between 11:00 and noon. Tables will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Sellers are responsible for set-up, selling, and removing all of their unsold items. Clean-up will be from 2:00 to 3:00.

Trip Report – Blenkin Park – 6 March 2019

Posted on March 8, 2019 by qioutdoorclub

Five hikers and two dogs enjoyed a one and a half hour hike through Blenkin Park. Starting on the Homestead Trail, we explored two side trails, one called the Swale Trail, and the other a new trail to Smokey’s place on Heriot Bay Road. At the junction of that new trail with the old trail to Smokey’s, we stopped to wonder at the “trinket” tree. Backtracking to Homestead, we continued to Daisy Trail, then west on the Community Trail to Sheppard Trail. Reconnecting to Homestead Trail for a short distance, we turned off onto Blackjack Trail, ending the hike at the east end of the baseball diamond. The weather was dry and partly sunny. Trail conditions were mainly dry with a few snow patches in open areas, but not icy. Along the route we admired many large Douglas fir and beautiful White Pine, large and small, and thick moss draping parts of the forest as the sun shone through the branches. Despite the good trail condition and weather, we saw no other trail users.

Janis

Hiking – Blenkin Park – 6 March 2019

Posted on March 3, 2019 by qioutdoorclub

Activity	Hiking
Destination	Blenkin Park
Date	6 March 2019, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator	Janis McLean
Contact Info	3614. Please contact the coordinator in advance of the trip.
Description	Starting at the Community Centre, we will hike a loop through the Blenkin Park trails. The walking is easy with some great variety in this forest. This is the first time the Outdoor Club has visited these trails. Including the extension to Smokey’s on the Heriot Bay Road, this will take less than 2 hours.
Meeting Place	Community Centre parking lot
Departure Time	10:00
Difficulty	Easy
Costs	none
Trip limits	none
Dogs?	Okay under owner’s control
Notes:	This trip was re-scheduled from the Deadfish Loop due to icy trails.

Trip Report – Kay Dubois Loop – 27 Feb 2019

Posted on March 1, 2019 by qioutdoorclub

Since the snow on the local trails has compacted into slippery ice, we moved this trip to a low altitude sunny trail. Six of us and two dogs hiked the Kay Dubois trail then came back on the logging road between Sutil Road and Fox Drive. That part still had ice patches. Then we took the trail down the hill to join the Kay Dubois trail at the strange old sitka spruce tree. 5.2 km; 1½ hours.

Norris

(click on photos to enlarge)

: Mt. Van der Est and Estero

: Sitka Spuce

Hiking – Kay Dubois Loop – 27 Feb 2019

Trip Report – Mt. Washington – 25 Feb 2019

Posted on February 27, 2019 by qioutdoorclub

For our third trip to Mt. Washington area in less than two weeks, seven of us went x-country skiing at the nordic area. We had yet another day of beautiful weather and snow. We broke into three groups, with two people skiing the Lake Trail, three skiing out through Paradise Meadows to Far East, and two skiing through the Meadows to Jack Rabbit. Linda was getting her ski legs back after many years and she was amazing. Five of us had lunch on the balcony at Raven Lodge. After lunch, one of the five had a “Merry Monday” (mocha and Baileys), two skied out Jutland and back, and two skied out Jutland and up Legacy View before turning back. The longest day was 20.7 km; about 5 hours.

Debbie

Thanks to Norris and Stephen for the photos

(click on photos to view larger)

: Comox Glacier

: Mainland mountains

: Mt. Albert Edward & Jutland

: Jutland trail & H’Kusam Mt.

: Mt. Alexandra

: Mt. Albert Edward

: The Lake Trail

Snow – Mt. Washington – 25 Feb 2019

Hiking – Snowden Demonstration Forest – 10 April 2019

Posted on February 27, 2019 by qioutdoorclub

Activity	Hiking
Destination	Snowden Forest, Campbell River
Date	10 April 2019, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator	Valerie Van Veen
Contact Info	250 285 2329; vvv@qisland.ca
Description	For those not going on the multi-day Cowichan Valley trip; a ramble/hike through Snowden Forest in Campbell River to explore the trails to the southwest of Riley Lake. We will take the 9 am ferry over and plan on returning on the 2:30 ferry at the latest. Bring lunch. We can arrange carpooling as needed. .
Meeting Place	Q Cove ferry terminal
Departure Time	9:00 am ferry departure
Difficulty	easy to moderate
Costs	ferry
Trip limits	none
Dogs?	Must be under control at all times; this is a popular mountain biking area.
Notes:

Hiking – Kay Dubois Trail – 27 Feb 2019

Posted on February 26, 2019 by qioutdoorclub

Yet another change of destination!

Activity	Hiking
Destination	Kay Dubois Trail
Date	27 Feb 2019, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator	Norris Weimer
Contact Info	norris.weimer@ualberta.ca or 3710.
Description	In our ongoing search for a relatively snow and ice-free walk, we will try Kay Dubois. This is a classic trail along the shore through a mixed forest with great views of Sutil Chanel. A short walk.
Meeting Place	Kay Dubois trailhead at Wa Wa Kie
Departure Time	10:00
Difficulty	Easy
Costs	none
Trip limits	none
Dogs?	Okay if they don’t run through the group.
Notes:	Bring a snack and poles if you use them.

Hiking – Hopespring-Thompson Trail loop – 27 Feb 2019

Posted on February 24, 2019 by qioutdoorclub

Activity	Hiking
Destination	Hopespring-Thompson Trail loop
Date	27 Feb 2019, Wednesday
Trip Coordinator	Norris Weimer
Contact Info	norris.weimer@ualberta.ca or 3710.
Description	Our local source says that this trail is not too slippery. We will give it a try, starting on Thompson Trail and working counter-clockwise. This is a classic loop on official trails, with lots of variety: creeks, old growth Douglas fir, some wetlands and a big ascent. The hike will be about two hours.
Meeting Place	Thompson trailhead
Departure Time	10:00
Difficulty	Fairly short and undulating
Costs	none
Trip limits	none
Dogs?	Okay if they don’t run through the group.
Notes:	Bring a snack and poles if you use them.

Snow – Mt Washington – 25 Feb 2019

Posted on February 24, 2019 by qioutdoorclub

Activity	Snow
Destination	Mt. Washington
Date	25 Feb 2019, Monday
Trip Coordinator	Debbie Quigg
Contact Info	debbie.quigg@ualberta.ca or 3710
Description	Because of the slippery and variable conditions on Quadra, we will take advantage of the snow and sunshine to return to the Mt. Washington area. We will x-country ski and snowshoe from Raven Lodge.
Meeting Place	Quadra ferry terminal to Campbell River. Car pools need to be arranged in advance.
Departure Time	10:00 ferry. Drivers should be in line early, since the 9:00 ferry will be overloaded.
Difficulty	The skiers plan on the Lake Trail, but other options are available.
Costs	Ferry and shared fuel.
Trip limits	Availability of cars going up to Mt. Washington.
Dogs?	No
Notes:	Bring equipment, warm clothing and lunch.

Trip Report – Mt. Washington – 20 Feb 2019

Posted on February 21, 2019 by qioutdoorclub

Six of us had another spectacular snowshoe outing to Rampart Hill. The snow and sunshine have persisted with the arctic high. There was a cool breeze, but it was warm in the sun. We had a few clues about the location of a hut from previous outings, and we thought we would go look for it. We climbed steeply up the open bluffs above the parking area and enjoyed the great views. We followed the broken trail, undulating and meandering through the knolls in the open. We stopped for lunch in a sunny, sheltered spot where we were joined by at least six Canada Jays. We noticed a number of people visiting the next knoll south of us and decided that must be where the hut was. So we found it perhaps by luck. After checking out the hut, we descended to a snow-covered logging road and made a loop back to the vehicles. 4.6 km; 2¼ hours.