Rod's Grand Hike:
Monday, March 26, 2012
East Sooke Park and Mychosen cafe breaky
The hike for Sunday April 15th is East Sooke Park, western section.This trail starts at the Pike Road parking area and accesses Mt Maguire (official park elevation 268m) via the Anderson Cove Trail, then loop down to the coast via the Coppermine Trail returning to the parking area via the Coast and Pike Road trails. 8km and about 5 hours.
We plan on meeting at the mychosen cafe for breaky at 8:30 and then head to the Pike Rd entrance at 9:30. Hope you all can make it.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Club Mud March 17th, 2012 - Rod Mitchell knows the way.....
I have attached a couple of screen shots taken from Google Earth and a kmz file that hope others can open all by way of showing folks the area we will be hiking in on the 17th. (north is roughly up in both views) The plan would be to meet as usual at Serious Coffee at Westshore at 0830 and proceed to my place where we will start and end. We will walk Southwest through private property to Blinkhorn Lake, around the lake and up through private property to the top of Mt. Blinkhorn. We will then return to my place where we will climb to the top of the bluffs on that side of the valley and enjoy a another nice view. (weather permitting - puh-leez) There we will sit for a bit then walk down our house for (I hope) a bowl of chili and a cup of tea or coffee. BYOB if desired.
I have cleared passage with the property owners concerned. We must remember to not pick up anything along the way (not even an old bone....) and to try to be aware of trail degradation. That is, try not to go off trail where the moss can be scuffed trying to negotiate a rock outcropping or some such. Please make sure to let me know if you are coming so we have a head count to tell people.
On my own land I have some rare plants that the Gary Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team (GOERT) has been working with me to protect. For instance, GOERT thinks that the population of Purple Sanicle between my property and my neighbour's is probably the largest left in Canada. Many plants will be sprouting at the time of our hike and are vulnerable to trampling at that stage. I will indicate areas of special concern while we are there.
I encourage you to look up GOERT's website and check out some of the info there. Here is a quote:
--------------------------- snip ----------------------------------------
"Collectively, Garry oak and associated ecosystems are among the most endangered in Canada. Once common in coastal areas of Southwest British Columbia, less than 5% of these ecosystems remain in near-natural condition. Most of the remnants are in isolated, fragmented communities that have no connection to other Garry oak communities, thereby reducing migration of populations or mixing of genetic material of species from one area to another."
--------------------------- snip ----------------------------------------
If the weather is good we will have some truly lovely views but either way it will be a good outing.
Looking forward to seeing you folks again, ...........................//Rod.
I have cleared passage with the property owners concerned. We must remember to not pick up anything along the way (not even an old bone....) and to try to be aware of trail degradation. That is, try not to go off trail where the moss can be scuffed trying to negotiate a rock outcropping or some such. Please make sure to let me know if you are coming so we have a head count to tell people.
On my own land I have some rare plants that the Gary Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team (GOERT) has been working with me to protect. For instance, GOERT thinks that the population of Purple Sanicle between my property and my neighbour's is probably the largest left in Canada. Many plants will be sprouting at the time of our hike and are vulnerable to trampling at that stage. I will indicate areas of special concern while we are there.
I encourage you to look up GOERT's website and check out some of the info there. Here is a quote:
--------------------------- snip ----------------------------------------
"Collectively, Garry oak and associated ecosystems are among the most endangered in Canada. Once common in coastal areas of Southwest British Columbia, less than 5% of these ecosystems remain in near-natural condition. Most of the remnants are in isolated, fragmented communities that have no connection to other Garry oak communities, thereby reducing migration of populations or mixing of genetic material of species from one area to another."
--------------------------- snip ----------------------------------------
If the weather is good we will have some truly lovely views but either way it will be a good outing.
Looking forward to seeing you folks again, ...........................//Rod.
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