It felt long overdue for us to be getting out into the hills, the wet fall has kept us behind closed doors, so when a decent day came along we immediately set out for an adventure. This was also the first trip since the truck was fixed up and given a lift. So a good check out for that expensive bit of work. It was a dull morning when we set out but the day slowly improved as we drove east. After the first few stops including buying some lunch, we were soon driving to Mission on our way to the start of the FSR. Traffic was light and we made good time.

When we first started on the gravel and approached the first bridge the road turned to a field of potholes. As we weren’t expecting that road had deteriorated so much,  we were a bit fast and shook ourselves quite seriously, Ben was wearing his hot chocolate by the end of the rough patch. The truck did far better than before so the new suspension was working well. We stopped at the side of the road not much past the first lake campsites to show the boys a van that was on its side below the road. They seemed quite amazed to see a vehicle abandoned down there. It has been there for years, but to them it looked very current. We continued in not sure where we would end up so we just took our time, the truck was handling well and we were enjoying the sights.

As we came by the side road to Camp Cove we noticed that the gate was open, so we decided to head down to the lake and enjoy one of the nicest beaches. When we arrived, a pair of guys were  on the beach flying a small drone. We parked and took a walk along the beach and I headed for the mossy rise that forms the outer point of the cove. It was a lovely romp through the mossy trees. Liam was with me and he exclaimed that it was his favourite spot! Soon Geoff and Ben followed and we enjoyed the views for a few minutes before heading back. On the return Geoff spotted some Buck scat on the ground that would have been from a huge buck. It had survived the hunt season and Geoff figures he was a big one. We made our way back to the truck and started up the road, Geoff needed to turn around and in doing so managed to back right into a large tree – bang and we stopped moving. Now I know the canopy blocks ones view but to miss a huge tree really is funny. He hit it square in the middle of the rear bumper which now sports a serious curve.

It had been a few weeks since my last hike and as the season was getting late I really wanted to get in another summit before the snow arrived. My son Nick was off this week so it was a good time to head up with him. Checking the forecast showed that Friday would likely be a decent day and so I booked the day off and hoped for the best. The ski weather reports were still showing only rain on the hills so I was hopeful we would still be early enough to avoid the white stuff. Though with all the rain the trail may be quite muddy.

Friday morning soon arrived, it was a dull cool morning with low cloud hanging around. It looked like the hike might be a bit cold and damp with no view at the top. Despite the poor start we loaded up the car and set off for the first stop – Starbucks. Then it was back to the highway and north to highway 1. As we made our way north the clouds in the distance seemed to be clearing and we saw some blue sky in the distance.  We made good time on the drive and soon we were ascending the road into Cypress Bowl and the spot we would be parking at.

We were still under dim skies as we geared up and got ourselves ready for the hike. It was here that I realized I had left my hiking boots at home! I had gotten them out and ready to load but somehow they had been missed during the final loading. So I was hiking in my runners. On this trail that wouldn’t be a problem as the trail is well maintained, it may even have been easier. We started up the powerline road and were making good progress. To the top of the first stretch. Once there I stopped to admire the view, the sun was starting to make its way out from the clouds and the day was getting much brighter.

We continued along the road to the turn off to the main trail. Not far into it we came across the first people we saw. They were making their way along the Baden Powell, heading for Capilano. We continued up the trail encountering a couple more doing the same trip. So far none were on the trail to the summit. So far, the trail was wet and there were some streamlets running along it but the mud was quite manageable and we were able to pick a path around it fairly easily. We made decent time in the cool air despite the work to avoid the mud and soon we were nearing the high ponds. It was here where we encountered the first people on the trail, a pair of women coming down. They cautioned us about some slippery rocks with frost on them.

Both Ralph and I were feeling the need to activate another summit. As the season was progressing, finding a Saturday with decent weather was becoming more of a challenge. When we first planned for this hike, the weather looked like it would be dry but as each day passed the outlooks kept changing from rainy to chance of showers to cloudy and back. It wasn’t until the morning we were leaving that we made the final call.

Ralph arrived at 8:30 and we left in the truck for the start of the trail. The drive along the forestry road could be done in a car until the last kilometer. But as both Ralph and I feel, the further you can drive the better, so we needed the truck for that last bit of road. When we arrived at the end of the road we found two other trucks parked there. We found a spot a bit further from the end and there were geared up and started off for the trail. It was cool and no rain in sight so we started over the big diversion across the road placed there to keep all non-foot users away.

The hike along the road and then the trail was very pleasant and the cool air allowed us old guys to make good time. We encountered a few others on the path but for the most part we had it to ourselves. We took a brief stop at the north viewpoint where I gathered a few photos of the clouds hugging the top of Sumas Peak. We didn’t feel tired out yet so our stay was short and we were off to the next viewpoint. On the south looking viewpoint, we stopped to get a rest for a few minutes, here we noticed just how much the wind had picked up.

Once rested, we continued to the summit making reasonable time as we descended to the small lake and then back up the steep final climb to the summit. On the top we were faced with a constant wind which in the cool air was chilling us quite quickly. We ate a quick lunch and then started making calls to complete the radio activation. Ralph got his simple wire antenna strung up in the tree and I went to set up my Yagi only to discover a connecting cable was missing, I hadn’t loaded it after my vacation to Ontario! So, I was forced to make calls with the simple antenna on the hand-held. My first contact was with another chap activating Hollyburn Mountain in West Vancouver. I managed to get 3 more but it was quite tough. Meanwhile Ralph was making Morse contacts with people on the east coast! Once he had made enough I tried calling on my KX2 on the 20m band. I ran into a crowded band due to a contest, but I was able to work one more station. By now I was getting way too chilled to be able to write well so I decided to pack it in.

Today was the best day weather wise of the whole trip. Yet there still is very little colour down here. So I decided to head to John Pearce Park and play with my KX2 HF radio. I recently built a wire antenna for it with a reflector component and wanted to try it out. It is a triangle and requires 3 trees spaced about a triangle and the park offered many to pick from. So a bit before noon I set out, first to refuel and then to drive straight to the park.

I arrived at the park, and there being no one else there, I walked to the grassy area. There I started laying out the pieces of the antenna, it got quite knotted up while unravelling it so that caused some irritation as did its propensity to snag twigs and leaves from the ground. Eventually I had it stretched out and I was listening to a strong station out of Italy! I worked the band up and down listening to various stations looking for opening but they were far between. I tried calling the Italy station but didn’t really expect anything, especially sense my antenna was not oriented right for that direction. I did manage to be barely heard by one station but they couldn’t make out my words. 8 watts just doesn’t seem to do it. I may just need to settle for a commercial antenna. A station from California was particularly strong as well, but they had a pile-up and I couldn’t get in a call before they closed down.

Today the sun was mostly hiding behind clouds though it peeked out for brief periods teasing me with its brightness. Unfortunately the colours just aren’t out yet and with dull light they are even worse. So today I started with a visit to the new elevated park that is being developed in St. Thomas. An old railway bridge has been repurposed into a park. The current state is only about a third done but it is looking promising and even this small bit that is open was a pleasant walk. The place is designed more for summer use with lots of colourful flowers which this time of year are dead and brown. Still, I enjoyed the saunter across the bridge and back while imagining what it will be like when done.

It was a lovely sunny morning though quite windy. I set out with Carolyn for a drive on the west side, hoping to take in John Pearce Park and Duttona Beach. Once on the back roads I found a small bit of colour, some individual trees looked quite nice but they were far between and the groves of trees were pretty much solid tones of green. I did find a few spots to stop and grab a few photos but mostly it was just driving in the sun enjoying the day.

I arrived at the John Pearce Park and we set off to walk to the grassy area. I noticed that they had fenced off most of the park, claiming it was unsafe. By the grass area they had cut almost half of it off with a new fence that it seems most just pushed down and went over. I think the bureaucracy that put it up for some misguided sense of safety quite over did it. There needs to be a balance between real safety concerns and just trying to cover ones ass. The fence really damages the splendid value this park has to offer. They really just need to shore up the actual dangerous areas not take the easy way out. By over doing it people will be more inclined to ignore the whole fencing effort rather than take it seriously and if they think that will absolve them of anything, well think again.

We next pushed on to the Duttona Beach area, here we met a similar sign on the lower property which has communal access to the beach. It seems that some estate left the property to the province who now want to keep people off of it. Still, they have garbage cans on it to accept trash should people want to be there! Talk about a confused message, again I suspect they put up the signs simply to protect themselves rather than provide useful services to the community. The beach area was quite beat up with trees fallen and the high wind was pushing the waves high-up on the shore. The place seemed quite run-down from two years ago, though the foot path remained well-worn and in obvious use.

Done with the beach, I back tracked to a small cemetery we had passed and there I explored, looking for the oldest stone I could read. There were many quite recent additions so this area is obviously still being used. I found one stone dating back to 1848 and there were many I couldn’t read that may be older. The one sad thing about looking over the stones is finding those of children, one was only 2 days old when they died. We have much to be thankful for.

The morning began in a lazy way as one is want to do on a holiday with the wind blowing and the rain falling. It was a dull morning and not one to inspire me to leave a nice warm bed. But my back can take only so much of a good thing and I was on my feet getting ready for the day. With the rain outside I didn’t have much planned for the day, only a radio chat with Ralph at 2:30.  After breakfast, Carolyn wanted me to drive her to the wool store in St. Thomas so she could pick up some wool for Christmas presents. We set out in some light rain and made good time to the store where she was able to find the wool for the task. Done with shopping, we returned to the room to make ourselves some lunch.

As time approached 2:10 I got my gear in order to head out for my radio contact with ralph, the sky was still overcast but the rain had stopped. It did look a bit brighter so I took my camera along. I set out for a decent spot to set up and found myself on the side of Roberts Line. Here I tried two repeaters with the second working for me. It was located in London. I was able to have a good chat with Ralph back in Richmond. In trying to bring down the link I was unable to get a clear enough tone, a local ham joined in and offered to close the link for me. We then had a short chat, he was surprised I got into the repeater from the Port Stanley area. He said I had been the only one on the repeater so far today. Like so many they seem to be getting less used.

Today we finished our stay in Grimsby and visits with the family by attending the church that Mike pastor’s. It was nice to see the other family members and report on our on family’s situation. Mike gave a good message on faith and after the service we were able to spend some last moments chatting with various family members. Soon we were on our way to the west.

As we had planned to stay a bit longer to visit and since the sky was overcast we decided to travel the fast way to Post Stanley, via the main highways. So in some ways it was unfortunate that the sun came out and it was a nice warm sunny day. Normally that would be great news but I was committed to driving the fast roads and so I missed a good day to be gathering some photos along the slower back roads route. I noticed that the colours were mostly greens as we closed in on the port, so perhaps I didn’t miss much.

While taking photos earlier I noticed that the clock in the camera was not working, I figured the small clock battery had died and so one of my first tasks was to find a replacement battery. Upon arriving in St. Thomas we made for a mall and dropped into the Source store and was able to find the small source of power.  Once I got to our room I installed it and the clock is now working well. Leaving the mall we made quick time to the port and the hotel.

My day began at little past 10am when my cousin-in-law Mike arrived and we set out for our day of photo taking. Today we planned to visit the part of the escarpment on the far side of the valley from Rattlesnake point where we were yesterday. So we got some coffee and set off for Mount Nemo. Our drive went quickly and we were soon arriving at the parking area and paying for our admission. We asked about which spots were covered by the day pass and then drove in to find a parking spot.

Once parked we checked the map and made for the main viewpoint at the far end of the main trail. The day was mostly overcast with a few bright spots appearing occasionally. The main trail was busy with people, kids and dogs but it was a wide route and had room for all even when we stopped to take photos. It was a pleasant easy walk to the viewpoint; there we encountered a group chatting quite lively about something. The overcast sky muted the colours but we still found enough colour to keep things interesting. After checking out a few spots along the cliff edge we had collected a number of photos and so we decided to follow the trail towards Rattlesnake point. It was a pleasant walk through the trees and it turned to the cliff in a number of places offering varying views of the valley below.

We finally reached the end of the section of trail that followed the cliff, here we had a nice broad viewpoint where we could spread out to enjoy the scenery. It would make a lovely spot to relax in the summer sun while soaking in nature, today we stopped only long enough to gather a few photos. The trail now turned away from the cliff and towards the parking area. We still had a ways to go and we were able to enjoy the colours of the trees as we wandered through them. We eventually circled back to the main trail and then along it to the car. The trails were quite lovely and the scenes from the cliff were still very enjoyable despite the muted colours. Well it was a bit before 1pm so we decided to go find a spot for lunch.

As we drove into Lowville, we spotted a bistro that had its parking area packed with cars. We thought it must be good to have so many there. So we found a spot to park and headed into the restaurant. The place was packed full and we got the last open table. It stayed full with people coming and going as we sat there. The food was really quit good and the decor of the place quite lovely. We both were quite pleased with our find and hope to return at some point. It was now 2:30, we had stayed quite long enough and so we set off for our next adventure.

After what to me was an early start, Carolyn and I made our way to the restaurant for breakfast, we had a pleasant meal, and then back in the room I got my gear ready to set out with Mike. It was 10:15 when we left for the hills. Our first stop was to be an electronics store to buy a 12 volt connector for my ham radio as I forgot to bring one. Mike suggested the Source so we drove to Burlington and parked at the major mall to visit the store. They were no longer stocking that sort of item but had some clearance items. Mike spotted something that would work and after a quick purchase and some adjustments to the item it was ready to use. It actually worked out quite well.

Done with the shopping, we started north along Appleby Line. We came by Bronte Creek where we sought out some access to the creek and tried a few roads but all seemed to be private with no access to the public. We then spotted Rattlesnake Point Conservation area on the map and decided to head there. It was a short drive and we soon arrived, paid our entrance fee and made our way to the lower parking area. From there we wandered over to the first viewpoint and started gathering some photos. The sun was peeking out from the clouds on and off so we had some time as we waited for the best light. The colours were quite lovely in this area and it was well worth the few dollars to be here. We walked along the cliff edge to each viewpoint in turn, gathering more photos at each stop.