Men's walking group

The weather is always good on Monday's you know that Dennis.Ha Ha. Tkanks for the picturs especially of the ospray making a nest.Great turnout today 14, I prefer to walk more on trails then on the road but some times it can't be helped. Next week Ed will lead us on a trail on west side Shawnigan, then we plan on walking around the Victoia Airport and having lunch at Mary's. More detailes next week. Tks

Men's Walking Group

My take on another great outing. Lots of good company and perfect walking weather. Hope these pics do it justice.  -  DeNNis.

Parked the cars at Maple Grove Park across from the Lawn Tennis Courts and meandered down the Cow Bay Estuary as far as we could go.  Then headed back and walked up to the Sawmill where we inquired about tours and learned that they had to be pre-arranged.  Not much in the line of wildlife - until we looked up where we were standing - in front of the office.  Lo and behold - there was an Osprey nest. (The RED asterisk at the end of the green trace.)

The white coils on the lines are "Heron helpers".  They help the large birds to better
see the wires and avoid hitting them.

Older style "Heron helpers".

You guessed it - Red Winged Blackbird.

Light and dark.

Reflections.

"Estuary-scape" - quite attractive in its own way.

Easy to tell who was at the back of the line.

"HEAVY METAL" - literally! Old railroad rails -

- Used to stack the lumber piles on.

The Osprey -

- made several circles and false stops before he/she decided it was safe to land in the nest.

Men's walking group

Hey Ed You beat me to it, thanks for the pictures. That was a good short walk but we need them every once and awhile. Thanks to the drivers. Next week we can try the Cowichan River delta and maybe we can find a place in Cow Bay for coffee and also don't forget 15 dollars if you want take part in the Shawnigan Lake walk Jun 1st for the Cowichan Valley Care Givers. See you next week.

Men's Walking Group

Our leader was easy on us today and led us on a fairly easy hike today of between 5 and 6 km. We re-explored the Bright Angel Park and were surprised at the construction going on. There are 2 new parking lots, the beginnings of a modern washroom and a very interesting playground. The following pictures should get your curiosity up enouph to go visit it
Ed.

There were 11 of us enjoying the great Spring day!

This old Cedar is still hanging in there!

The beginnings of a very unusual play area and maybe an open air arena?

The wild life was out enjoying the day.

If anyone knows what this interesting big building is all about, please let us know.

Men's walking group

The weather sure helps to make our out of area hikes, We had just a great walk in Cable Bay [near Naniamo] yesterday, We did 6k and then topped up our calories at the Crow & Gate where the food is always good.We did see some wild life as the pictures indicate. Thanks for the pictures Dennis and thanks for driving Dennis, Ken,& Denis. Next week we can have a look at Bright Angel Park. 8:30 at the Legion each Monday. Tks

Men's Walking Group

Great walk today to Cable Bay.  Weather, company and lunch also very good.  Quite a few photos - had to pick and choose.  Hope they are okay, too.

Neither of my maps showed much detail. Used this Google Earth map as it shows the whole area. Our walk consisted only of the small blue trace from the Yellow Pin, where we parked (Trail Start) to the Green Pin where the trail ended at Dodds Narrows, looking over to the north end of Mudge Island. Duke Point Ferry Terminal is shown by the Green Pin in the top right corner, and the Crow and Gate Pub you see on the left.  The Red Pins I left in from a previous trip to Morden Colliery and Hemer Park. All of the little Blue Boxes are from other peoples comments and photos which people have posted on the Google Earth maps 

Near the beginning of the trail. There are two or three of these large old trees with "see throughs".

This guy stopped by to have a look at us. I think he is a "Barred Owl".

From a slightly different angle.

The good ship, "Orient Transit", waiting to go in somewhere to load. The BC Ferry sailed out of the Duke
Point Terminal  as we watched.  One of the new ones - couldn't determine which.

A lone Star Lily(?) - although there were others in the area.  I chose this one as
there was room to lay down underneath it to get the shot below.

It helps to be skinny sometimes.

Looking north from along the Cable Bay Trail.

A lot of Nature along the trail.

Lots of  seals (or Sea Lions -they were a pretty good size) in and near Dodds Narrows.  Must have been good fishing.

A sail boat exits the north end of the Narrows.

One of just a few Trilliums we spotted.

Another "peek-a-boo" tree - they make good photo frames.

Oops!!  What's that lookin' through the other side??

Womens Walking Group

Great weather and a good turnout. Welcome back to the people who returned to join us this Monday.
Twelve walked part of the Cowichan Valley Trail, which in total is 120 K. It is a multi use trail for people, horses, and bicycles. We saw some nice large farmlands along the way. We walked through a Chinese cemetery and saw some gravestones dated many years ago. When returning we stopped at the Mongrillian for our lunch. Thank you to all the drivers. Next Monday the 14th. we will be at Bright Angel Park. We are back to the usual time, meeting at 10am. at the Legion.    V.M.

The Walkers



We met these people on the trail-we are quite sure we have seen them before

A horse poses for Margaret

The entrance to the cemetery

The Chinese Cemetery

The much photographed Trilliums

A lonely Daffodil

men's walking group

WoW We had a great turnout Monday. 14 I think that' s the most we have had in our group.In 2002 when we started our group we had 9 walkers. Another good walk, I think it worked out to 9k we did and the weather was great. Thanks for the pictures DeNNis,and thanks to all the drivers. Next week is our big day out for a hike at Cable Bay having lunch out at the Crow & Gate. We leave the Legion normal time 8:30 but we won't be back to the Legion until 2 pm. Okay we will see you all monday morning. Tks

Men's Walking Group

Map and photos from todays Cowichan Valley Trail walk. Weather and company great as usual. - DeNNis.

Parked the cars at Agira Rd near Cowichan District Hospital (Red box - top right) and walked about 5 Km before turning back (Red box - bottom left) and retracing our path.

Google Earth view of our walk.  CDH is Green pin. Agira Rd parking is yellow. Turned around at Red pin.

Bings Creek Bridge.

A cluster of Trilliums. Quite unusual, I thought.

Wild life!!

It's a small world!

Bings Creek Bridge from the other end.

"The gangs' all here" - except the photographer.

More wild life - "Vancouver Island Rain Coast Dragon."

The squarish, yellowish flowers are "Endangered Roadside" species.

Photography group

Last Tuesday, April 1, 2014 the YSAGS Photography group made a field trip to the Cowichan River Estuary with the hope of seeing many birds. Well the tide was very low and instead of water we had mud flats and the birds were way out of range for us. But it was a gorgeous day to be out in the sun and photographers can always find things to shoot(with the camera).
To end our walk we had lunch at the Junction Cafe at the Whippletree Junction.
On April 15, we will compare photos, so bring your pictures to the session on a memory stick.

The old and the new.

Budding leaves in the sun.

This snake had been sunning itself  for a while and was very quick to hide.

A bird, I don't know the name.

Another bird - he was playing hide and seek with me.

Blossoms on an apple tree.