Last day on Mayne

We decided on a hike for our last day, and chose St. John Point, on the southwest corner of the island.
The trail was a loop, and we gravitated to the ocean side as a starting point.  The trail to the beach was wide, but finding the start of the loop was a challenge.  Finally we spotted the narrow entrance to the woods path on a hill above the water.  The views were amazing.

We stopped a lot to take photos

We could see Pender Island to the west and further along, Saturna to the south.  We saw seals and huge sea lions - the sound of their breaths when they came up for air carried across the water.

The trail was narrow and rocky, and we went slowly; much to our surprise we rounded a corner and saw two chairs!

A good spot to rest and admire the view

Further on we looked down and saw a heron standing on a mass of kelp, fishing.  We watched and took pictures until he flew away to another bunch of kelp.

What's that we said - is that a heron?

We watched it catch and eat a small fish

It flew to another kelp bed

We reached the end of the ocean portion of the trail and realized it was later than we thought, and we had a ferry to catch!  So after only a few bites of a late lunch we headed into the forest.  Luckily the path through the woods was easy walking and soon it turned onto an old logging road.  We got back to the car with lots of time to get to the ferry terminal.  We'd had a wonderful three days.

We had parked beside Horton Bay and returned to see the late afternoon sun creating shadows and reflections on the water

A long ride on day two

Day two was another beautiful sunny day and we set off on our bikes in the morning, heading west and then north towards Henderson Park.  The road ended at the park, but we thought we could probably cycle through to the road on the other side on the hiking trails marked on our map.

An old barn in a field just before Henderson Park

The road ended, and the trail was like a lane heading uphill, so things were looking good.  But at the top of the hill the lane ended.  There was a picnic table, some signage, and a tiny trail heading down the other side of the hill.  Hmmm... things were about to get difficult!

Captain Henderson was buried on Mayne Island

At first the trail (or goat track) wound through a forested area, but then there was a rocky twisty part - walking my heavy e-bike downhill, alternately braking and letting it roll, moving the pedal back so it wouldn't scape my leg, was rather tricky.  We went through salal, then huge ferns, across a boardwalk, and down some stairs.  We stopped to watch a big red headed woodpecker on a tree.  Finally we reached a lane called Punch's Alley, which took us to the road on the other side of the park.  Whew!

We arrived at Dinner Bay and rode down to the Japanese Garden; it was created by volunteers to commemorate the Japanese families who settled on the island and were an important part of the community between 1900 and 1942, when they were interned.  They had made up a third of the total population, fishing and growing tomatoes and other crops in greenhouses.

The bridge to the island in the Japanese Garden

We headed south, and came to a bucolic farm, with longhorn cattle in the field, and a sign announcing that Fernhollow Farm had fresh farm goods for sale, and was open.  Who could resist?  The narrow lane up to the buildings had deep gravel on each tire track, so I was careful to ride on the strip of grass in the middle.  But about half way up the grass ended, and in the gravel my bike swerved this way and that and soon I toppled over.  Luckily I came away with only scrapes and sore spots.  I knew I'd soon have bruises on my right hip and elbow.  We had a good chat with the farmer, and came away with eggs, blackberry jam and frozen apple juice.

Brad at the entrance to the farm

Ferry to Mayne Island

For our two night getaway to Mayne Island, we loaded the bikes on the car, and headed to the ferry.  We were on the island by noon, parked at Miners Bay, and walked out on the pier to look at the boats, disturbing many seagulls on the railings.  The Springwater Lodge is beside the wharf - it opened in 1892 and back then was full of miners on their way to the goldfields.

The Springwater Lodge

After lunch we got on our bikes and headed to the lighthouse on Georgina Point, on the shores of Active Pass.

Me walking my bike in front of the lighthouse

We carried on, cycling back to the car via Campbell Bay; it was a lovely ride on our first afternoon, on quiet country roads.  We saw three small deer.

The ride out

It was a sunny five hour ride out, with the same river crossings, and a different trail at the end that took us past a trappers cabin.

The wagon and team crossed downstream from us, following the wagon trail

Cutting watermelon with a machete, at our lunch stop

One last mountain photo...

Day four - a rest day in camp

There was rain during the night and we awoke to blue skies and sunshine - on our rest day!
First there was baseball after breakfast, with a driftwood bat, a tinfoil ball, and four trees for bases.

Camp baseball -  one of the dogs caught a fly ball and the batter declared himself out!

The foal and her mom doze in the sunshine

One arm of the Clearwater river

Rockies ride - day three

This was the day of our longest ride - 3 hours up to Lost Guide Lake, an hour there for lunch, and a 3 hour ride back.  The trails were challenging at times - either rocky, or steep, sometimes narrow with a cliff or slope on one side, other times there were big roots, or logs to step over, or jump.

Stopping to look across the valley at caves that are grizzly bear dens

A first look at the lake

One of the young guides went for a quick dip in the freezing cold water

Group shot

Ride in the Rockies, day two

Another hazy, smoky day.  We rode to Harrison Flats, and had lunch beside an old First Nations teepee site - it was easy to see the depression in the ground.  Behind it, over near the trees and behind a hill were wolf dens, used in the Spring, but empty now.

Lunch time on Harrison Flats

Blue, one of the three dogs on the trip.  I think the dogs did way more miles than we did on horseback as they run back and forth and over into the trees and back...

Stopped to see the view of the river through the smoke.  Our guide Chuck is leading Rusty, who carried the satellite phone.

Ride in the Rockies - day one

We were nine guests, all Canadian, on a 5 day ride in the Rocky Mountains northwest of Calgary.  The sun was shining when we set off, though there was smoke from forest fires obscuring the view of the mountains.

This team pulled the wagon, which carried our gear and the food.  Ted, the teamster, built the wagon, and made it high with river crossings in mind.

This young cat came to camp too, and caught mice.  We were told he sometimes catches squirrels, and the occasional wild rabbit!

This was one of the first river crossings, a shallow one - later on we crossed the Clearwater river, which was almost up to the horses' bellies, and very fast flowing.