I was looking for an easy hike for the day, one I could do solo without much exposure to potential problems. Dewdney came to mind early in the process and I got my gear organized for the drive to the summit ridge and the final push on foot. I got the truck ready along with my pack and set off for the Norrish Forestry Road. The drive went quickly and I was soon in sight of the start of the logging road but I got stopped by road construction! Now that seemed very strange way out here but here it was and I was stopped waiting for the flagger to let me on through.

Once past the paving project the FSR started and I got the truck switched into 4x4 mode and started up the mainline. Soon I reached the entrance to the Dewdney branch, today the gate that was closed last time was wide open and I just sailed on past. The initial road is quite steep and rough but it proved no challenge for the truck. As I headed up the old road, it looked more and more like I would have it to myself. Following the map of my previous drive kept me from following the wrong spurs at a couple of points which kept the drive time down. I did start up the wrong branch at one point but backed out after 200m thanks to the map track.

There was a bit of snow in places on the road along the top ridge but nothing to slow the truck down. As I approached the spur where we parked last time I was stopped by a tree, the other spur looked just as nice and so I drove to its end and parked. The location however was in the sun and though early it was already getting fairly warm. I took my time getting ready and loaded up with the backpack. By now I had learned that I had forgotten my DSLR at home so today’s photos would rely on my iPhone. Not as good but it should still document the day fine.

I started into the bush and picked out a path up the slope, soon I stumbled upon the hiking trail that makes its way from the Norrish mainline below to the summit. I knew it passed right next to my destination so I followed it the rest of the way up. It made life much easier and the walk much faster. I did gather a couple of scenery photos along the trail but soon I was at the summit and there I picked a small knob and laid out my gear. A short rest and then I was putting the antenna together.

Aperfect day for hiking so I couldn’t let the day pass in the office. The forecast showed that Thursday would be a nice one, so I organized my life to get out there and activate the summit in the Summits-on-the-Air program. Being mid-week my choice of companions was limited and those who could be available were already busy, so I decided that the trail is easy enough and there are people around so a solo adventure was not risking too much.

The drive to the trailhead was not long, so a later start to the day was going to be just fine. I had the truck and gear prepared last night and so this morning saw me getting some food organized and then a double check on the gear and I was off at the leisurly time of 9:50AM. I made the regular stops  - coffee and fuel and then a fast drive to Batt Road and then on to gravel at Taggart Road. Traffic was moderate along the highways and Sumas was light but road work stalled me out for 10 minutes or so! Once on Taggart I saw no more moving vehicles, so nice.

Once I arrived at the gate I parked the truck and got my gear on and started for the summit. I made good time on the road. If felt good not needing to wait for another nor feeling you are the one holding up someone. Perhaps the lack of conversation is a negative but the silence and serenity makes up for it. On the last bit of the trek the hike leaves the road for a short trail, it had a bit of snow on it in places and I followed a short-cut by accident at one point which led to a steeper than needed area. But soon I was at the viewpoint and unloading my pack. I had a breather and then I gathered a few photos – the valley was already hazed over! So early in the season, it will be really bad later.

On my last trip to the park we started along the eastern trails and enjoyed lunch at Eagle point and then rushed along the western trails on our return to the car. This time I wanted to spend a bit more time along the western shoreline and so we planned to walk the Shore Pine trail, but I am head of myself.

Our day began with a pleasant lunch at home and then we set out for the park. Now the day was a Friday and a stat. holiday, so I was very concerned about finding a parking spot in the park with our late arrival. But no point borrowing trouble so we drove the highways to West Vancouver and the descended the slope to Marine Drive. As we approached the park exit I noticed a number of vehicles parking along the road out here, an ominous sign! Sure enough we were in a short line of cars looking for a parking spot. As we drove in there were none to be found but as we started out a couple was walking down the road and we slowly made our way beside them, sure enough they stopped to load into their car and we patiently waited for them to pull out. So we did find a spot in the lot much to the annoyance of the cars behind us.

Once parked, we quickly got ourselves ready and we set out for Juniper Point. I hadn’t gotten there in a while and I really wanted to see how things were doing. As we made our way down the trail a few groups passed us on their way out. The rock face was just ahead and there were three small groups flaked out on the rocks in various places. Right on the top in the centre one spotted a blue doggie bag that got left behind, not the sight one wants to see on arrival. Well I was able to ignore it and gather a number of photos, the old tree growing on the cliff was still there looking much the same. I noticed that some of the arbutus trees had died which was unfortunate but the place still looked scenic. I spotted a cable structure strung across the next ravine south of us. Another visitor said it was a zip line that had just been stretched across and a few had tried it. Unfortunately no one was on it while we watched. As we started on our way back to the trails a woman with a larger brown dog came up on to the rock. The dog got ahead of its owner and spotted the doggie bag. It made for it and grabbed it. The owner was busy yelling at him to come but he was determined to eat that bag. As we left she still hadn’t stopped her dog and the bag was pretty well consumed with her cursing the person who had left it behind! A funny story for the day.

The Victoria area has lots to offer a visitor, from the historical and museums to the outdoors. I prefer the outdoors and so on this trip I took time to enjoy a number of locations. This trip we skipped past the Island View Park, almost a heresy, and made straight to a restaurant for lunch. Later in the day we set out for a walk through Beacon Hill Park and enjoy some of the early flowers that had been planted. Most of the trees were still bare but in that state they have a gnarly look to them which can be quite lovely. We walked to the lookout area and there we rested while enjoying the light breeze and the sights to the south across the strait. On the return to the hotel I managed to capture a few more photos, mostly of trees. The park offers amazing sights in all of the seasons.

Wednesday morning found me driving to Observatory Hill to do a SOTA activation. The drive was fairly quick and the final ascent to the top was fun as it opened up a widening view of the region with each turn. At the summit is a large 100 year old telescope dome. There were a few people arriving and heading on inside it, so I guess they had some activity still ongoing after all these years. I, meanwhile, parked and started scouting for the point marked as the summit for SOTA. It wasn’t far off the parking area. The day was very windy and rain was threatening, so I didn’t want to delay getting started on the radio. I selected a dry spot to operate from and setup the yagi and started calling. It wasn’t long before I had a contact but most of the time all I was hearing was static. Later I was to learn that that static was actually people responding to me! Getting frustrated I moved numerous times trying various locations thinking it was the area not my equipment. In the end I had 3 contacts, one short of a point but at least I had it activated.

It being Tuesday afternoon, the crowds were absent during our visit to the Spit. Normally when one comes on a week-end the parking lot can be quite full and the place crowded with people everywhere. Today, the lot had only a few cars and the beach mainly left to the wild birds. It was a nice time to visit even though the sky was overcast and the light a bit dull for photos.

Upon our arrival to the spit area and just past the last of the parking area the first sight I found were some one legged gulls standing on the ground watching me very closely. Here they actually let one get fairly close before they move on. I saw a few of these funny one-legged birds but then when one of them did decide to move another leg popped out of nowhere and the bird wandered off just to turn back facing me and tuck the same leg out of sight.

Continuing past the first gulls we wandered to the end of the spit and enjoyed some of the fresh air. Then we followed a secondary trail back to the lot. Here we noticed a fair number of orange flags marking clumps of grasses scattered throughout the area. I assume they marked nests though none were occupied at the time. Nick and I continued along the edge of the lot to the far eastern section of the spit area, here we stopped to gather photos of more birds and trees as we made a leisurely stroll along the trails. We noticed that several of the larger brass plaques were missing from the rocks to which they had been attached. It is so annoying that copper thieves even steal brass plaques from parks.

My last trip to the hills was back on Boxing Day last year. So I was getting quite anxious to get back out there. This long week-end offered us the opportunity to get the regular jobs done on the Saturday and then go have fun on the Monday! So that we did. The weather proved to be very cooperative and though it was cool, the warm sunshine made for a very pleasant time while we were climbing over rocks and things in the hills.

On this trip Geoff brought his son Liam along again and we decided to explore the east Harrison again even though that was where we went last time Liam was with us. The area is big enough that everything was quite a new adventure for him. The drive to the start of the forestry road was uneventful and we made good time until highway nine where a short bridge was undergoing construction and the road was down to alternating use of a single lane. A slight annoyance but once past we soon found ourselves on gravel.

Not much beyond the start we stopped to explore a depression to the side of the road, there Geoff noticed some new target practice sites. It hasn’t taken the shooters long to relocate to this area having been banned from all the regions to the west. I guess we will be seeing a lot more of these pretend hunters out here.   Once back in the truck we continued until we reached the bridge over Slollicum Creek. The view of the waterfall was quite spectacular with the ice on the side of the water. It was a beautiful sight and Liam was quite interested in it. Just before it, water seeping through the rock face along the road formed a sheet of icicles which were very pretty in their own right. Liam and I gathered a few photos and then we moved on.

As we approached the Cascade Peninsula turn-off I thought it might be nice to visit the area and possibly walk down to Cook’s Cove or drive to the end of the road to where there are some lovely rock formations one can climb. So down we drove and when we arrived at the entrance to the Cook’s Cove rec site we met another vehicle unloading, that ended our current interest and we continued on. We passed the locked gate that leads down the peninsula and to the cabins – not unexpected but annoying. So we continued along the road, it having narrowed considerably only to be stopped by a row of rocks. They weren’t overly large so we hauled them aside so we could continue along the road to the end.

We parked at the end of the road and got organized to head into the bush to reach the rock face just in behind the trees that surround the road. Soon Liam was standing next to the rock face and we encouraged him by saying we would be climbing that ‘mountain’. We continued along the face until we reached the spot where one can easily walk to the top. It was a lovely spot, covered in deep moss and soft ferns that were already quite dry. Settling down on them allowed us to rest and look across at Harrison Lake and just reflect on the relaxing spot. After a time we dropped down and climbed a couple more of the rocks next to the first one. We debated walking down to the lake but decided the walk back up was less inviting so once we had our fill of the scene we returned to the truck and set off. The vehicle by Cook’s Cove was gone but we skipped past it anyways. Another fork brought us to a washout that was recently opened up for smaller vehicles. This road continued past the creek and looked like it might lead down to the lake. It was tempting but not really possible in our truck. We did explore a noisy waterfall just upstream from where we were stopped at the creek.