Dust off your hiking boots

Hi everybody,

Hikes for the next few months:

September 21 (Sunday) - Maple Mountain

October 19 (Sunday) - Rod's Hike - Roche Cove and Pedder Bay

November 30 (Sunday) - Devon & Ian's Hike - Parkinson Beach on the JdF

More details to come.
Marion

Solstice plus Seven

Let's celebrate the summer solstice (one week late).

Where: On Mars
When: June 28th (Saturday) at 7 pm
What: Bring an appetizer to share, something to drink, and your hiking ideas for fall.

Hi Everyone,

Nathaniel and Tracy have found a great hike for us and the date has been set for June 8, Sunday.

We hope you can all make it!

We will meet between 8:00 and 8:30AM at the Serious Coffee at the Westshore Mall.

We will try to leave by 8:30AM to get up to Cowichan when the morning air is still enhancing the forest smells.

Here are the directions from Nathaniel:
Mesachie Mountain
Follow signs from Town of Lake Cowichan to Mesachie Lake Village, about 6 km (4 miles). Turn right onto Forest Road (signposted). Go through village, turn right, drive slow (30k posted and the locals mean it). Continue along Forest Road, and cross bridge. The trail to Mesachie Mountain is to the right, past the gate and following the wire fence; then swinging NE through second-growth timber along an old skidder road. There's a loop through old growth on your left. Follow this until you come to a T junction, then turn right onto the mountain trail. The upper part is just one mossy hill. It is about 1.5 hour’s hike from the gate to the top and the view is excellent.

We can do some other exploring while we are up there and maybe stop for an afternoon lunch somewhere after. Cowichan and Duncan are favourite spots for a few of us so we can try to spend some good time up there.

Look forward to seeing all of you.

Devon

Cowichan River Trail

                                                                    

For those who did not make it we had a great walk on the weekend along the Cowichan River Trail. Parking along Riverbottom Road at Mile 66 Trestle we walked over the river where we had some incredible views. Once over the trestle we then  went off the Trans-Canada Trail and took a trail going downstream along the Cowichan River through some second growth forest. The trail was fairly easy with very little change in elevation as it meandered through the mixed forest.

Thanks to our hosts Devon and Ian we had some great discussions concerning the evidence of bear scant on the trail the last time they walked here. It was during the salmon run in the fall and there were lots of half-eaten carcasses of fish littering the forest floor and riverfront.

At the end of our hike we all agreed that it was well worth the trip up to the Cowichan Valley and this great hike.

The weather proved to be perfect with temperatures at around18 degrees Celsius. Lunch was along a long stretch of the Cowichan River, although we did not see any bears this trip we did happen to encounter some ducks swimming playfully in the river.

It was suggested by Ian that the next time we come to the Cowichan River rather than go downstream that we go on the upstream section of the trail. That sounded like a fantastic idea and I hope Club Mud can do it in the near future

Hike - Sunday April 13

 Ian and I were up in North Cowichan (Chemainus) this weekend and it just convinced us even more that the Cowichan River is the right place to go this coming Sunday. Cowichan is blooming with spring and the warm valley is calling us. The trail is really scenic, relatively flat (rail grade on the return part of the loop) and the drive there is not long (shorter than out by Port Renfrew for sure).

Time: 8:30AM meet and leave by 9:00AM
Place: Serious Coffee - Can West/Westshore Mall in Langford

Carpooling: let's be sure to carpool from the Westshore to keep fuel (and carbon) consumption tight.

I will bring some birding books and the plant identification book. These will be fun to play with along the river. Last time Ian and I were there was with Nathaniel and another friend and it was during the salmon spawn. It was fantastic!

Send me an email if you have any questions!!

Sunday, Feb 23 - A note from Gary

Just a reminder about the hike on Sunday. I guess we are meeting at Serious Coffee about 8:30 am for coffee and a chat, plan to leave there at 9 am.

We all might want pack something to snack on as well as rain gear, it could be ugly. Also some good boots for a  possible snowy trail.

All the usual stuff that Club Mud prepares for.

Feb Hike: Sunday the 23rd

Gary has a great hike planned for us. To quote:

" I was thinking that exploring up the Terra Nova trail then going towards Mount Braden would be interesting.

Researching the trail on the web mostly deals with the trail being used for mountain biking, but I have seen lots of hikers going up it and then going towards Mount Braden.

Good description of hike:

http://www.trailpeak.com/trail-Mt-Braden-Loop-near-Victoria-BC-6709

http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=42661

http://www.rollingonward.com/blogs/ititw/2011/06/19/hike-mt-braden-metchosin-bc/

This link has a track in it for Dave and GPS

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM9RY9_Mt_Braden_Sooke_Hills_Sooke_BC

Here are a few links regarding mountain bike for information:

http://mountainbikingbc.ca/trail/terra-nova

http://thelazyrando.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/terra-nova-trail-sooke-bc/

Looks like the return hike could take between 4 to 5 hours.

Gary"

Let's meet at our normal Serious at 8:00, head out at 9:00 am.