WTD#14 - Island Adventure - Part 1

We spent a few weeks on the Sunshine Coast and the north end of Vancouver Island this September.  It was a lovely time - great weather and lots of good hikes and walks and drives on the backroads to some of the remoter communities on the West Coast inlets.

Sorry pup, no dawgs on this trip :(

Here we go!  On the ferry from Horshoe Bay to Gibson's Landing.

Just as we were getting back into our cars at the Langdale terminal, I looked down and saw this Harbour Seal (the first of many) checking out the ferry.

We had some time to kill waiting for the ferry at Earl's Cove, so we nipped in to the tiny burg of Egmont and checked out their museum.  One display there was a collection of all the old canned salmon labels.  This photo represents only about a tenth of what was there.

Back at the ferry landing, a Great Blue Heron was enjoying the sun on one of the pilings.

The view from our cabin at Kent's Beach, about 20 minutes south of Powell River.  We stayed three nights here and did some exploring in the area.

These Bonaparte's Gulls were foraging along the shore in front of our cottage.

We spent an afternoon hiking on one of the many trails in the Powell River/Lund area.  It was a lovely walk through a lush second-growth forest.

The trail passed by some small lakes and ponds, like this one.

The first of many magical forest walks.

Next day, we are off to Savary Island via water-taxi from Lund.  Savary is a small island, only seven km long, with no regular car ferry.  There are some full-time residents, but mostly summer homes, and a large undeveloped area in the middle of the island.  Apparently the south side has the warmest water for swimming in the area.

We started walking along the beach on the north side of the island and came upon another heron (they seem to be everywhere on the coast).

But they will only let you get so close.

We found a trail that cuts across the undeveloped middle of the island from north to south, and spotted these Pileated Woodpeckers attacking a tree.  Note the size of the woodchip flying past the head of the one on the left.

Taking a little preening break.

On the south side of the island, what else but another heron, this time dining on some kind of fish - perch maybe?

Lots of shorebirds, including this Killdeer, blending in quite nicely with the detritus on the beach.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and got quite hot with the sun already fairly low on the horizon, so it was nice to find some shade in a little driftwood shelter someone had made.

Just a glorious day - we had the whole beach to ourselves and spent some time soaking up the beauty and sunlight and colour.  Even went for a (very brief and refreshing) dip.

Some gulls also enjoying the day.

These are Black Turnstones, of which there were many along the shore.

And, to end the day the way it began, another heron - this one posing regally among it's acolytes.  Tune in next time for Gold River and beyond ...

WTD#13 - Old Glory Mountain

I climbed Old Glory way back in the 70's with some friends, but have never been back, so I thought it might be time to check it out again.

The trail starts on the highway between Nancy Green Lake and Rossland, about 10 km from Rossland.  For the first kilometer or two the trail traverses a lovely stand of old-growth Western Red Cedar and Western Hemlock.

This Varied Thrush was very accommodating - posing in a shaft of sunlight in the otherwise shady woods.

The first few km of the trail is forested, but with little openings that provide light for herbacious plants such as Hooker's Fairybells.

This is the fruit of the Baneberry plant.  It is highly poisonous - as few as two berries can cause severe symptoms and even death.

Black Gooseberry fruit, on the other hand, is edible but not overly palatable (imho)

This Great Horned Owl was out and about in broad daylight.  We spooked it up out of one tree and it flew into another before deciding to vamoose.

As the trail climbs it goes through open sub-alpine forest with lovely meadows full of wildflowers.

Some kind of fly pretending to be a bee or wasp, feeding on flowers of a plant from the carrot family that I wasn't able to positively identify.

I think this might be a Satyr Comma aka Satyr Anglewing butterfly.  There are a number of species in the Comma family that are very similar.

Sub-alpine Daisies (I think)

Meadow Arnica (maybe)

After several kilometers of hiking we reach the first ridge and Old Glory comes into view to the southwest.  The trail continues down into the saddle and then wraps around the south side of the mountain where the terrain is a bit gentler.

Only 3 km and 325 metres in elevation to go!

One of the "Blues" family of butterflies, perhaps the Silvery Blue - I'm not sure, perched on some Pearly Everlasting.

A welcome little spring and meadow - the only source of water on the upper part of the trail.

There was a lot of Columbian Monkshood growing in the meadow.

A good cooling off and rehydrating spot for Dawg.

Very lovely alpine meadows.

Pretty flower, and they were all along the upper part of the trail, but I don't know what they are.

We noticed a few little Juncos in the scrubby Subalpine Firs along the way, and then...

This hawk swooped down on to a dead tree right in front of us.  I think it may be an immature Cooper's Hawk.  Checking out the Juncos maybe, but then it noticed us and took off.

There was a lot of smoke from fires in the US, so the views weren't so great.  This is looking south (into the States)

Near the top of the mountain the trail crosses a large, dry grassy meadow.

There used to be a forestry fire lookout station on the mountain - this is what is left of the lookout house.  It looks like it was quite a nice cabin and even had power.  We noticed bits of the old power cable along the trail.  I wonder if they used horses to pack the cement for the foundation way up here (along with everything else)?

The actual lookout building is still intact and maintained, on the very peak of the mountain.

View from the top looking back toward Rossland and Trail.

Ladybugs again!!  WTF?  Does every mountain have hundreds of ladybugs clustered on the peak?  Maybe some kind of alien invasion??

The inside of the lookout.  It is open for hikers and skiers to use, but I imagine one would have to pack one's own propane for the stove :)

I was surprised to learn that this was still a semi-active fire watch site.

I hear ya brother!

Whew! Nine hours, some 16 km and 1000 metres in elevation today.  Not bad for a couple of old farts - right, Dawg?  Dawg?

G'Night buddy.