Walk # 270 May 24th 2017 Three small parks in North Saanich
The CAMRAmblers drove out East Saanich Road to the first little park that is just before the turn off to John Dean Park. It is located on the right side of the road and it is called Quarry Park. It is the site of an old rock quarry. There is a trail that goes around the quarry and back to the road. Some of the group saw an owl in the trees in back of the park. Then we drove a little further out East Saanich road to the Gulf View Picnic grounds. This is a big meadow with lots of wild flowers in bloom and a couple of picnic tables. There is parking for about five cars in the lot off of the road. A nice view of James Island and Sidney Island from here. Finally we drove just a bit further out East Saanich Road to the Dominion Brook Park that is located beside the Agricultural Experimental Farm. This park was started in 1913 and contains lots of beautiful Rhodos and other plants, a stream, a couple of ponds and a sunken garden. It was abandoned for several decades and recently was restored by a group of volunteers. This park is a favorite of artists and dog walkers. There is lots of room for large picnics etc. We had plans to include a short trail too but had to cancel that plan because we ran out of time. We went to the Prairie Inn for a very nice lunch.
Here are Linda's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Claudia's photos
And here are more Claudia's photos
Walk # 271 May 31st 2017 Havenwood Park to Lookout Lake & return
The CAMRAmblers met out on the Veterans Memorial Parkway where the side of the road parking is for Havenwood Park. A local resident advised us that there were a lot of stairs on the trail we had decided to use;
so we took another trail that took us up to the residential area beyond the top of the park. It was Desmond Rd. We had a bit of a problem finding the right trail that took us up to Lookout lake trail and even so we found that there was a very long set of stairs anyway. Finally at the top of the mountain we came to Lookout lake. It is a man made lake by the look of the dam at one end. A nice place for a swim on a hot summer day. We took a different route back, and that also was a bit confusing. The down trail in the park also had a lot of stairs, (166, I counted them) but at least it was down this time. The whole walk took about one hour and fifteen minutes with only about ten minutes at the lake. The view was quite spectacular from up on top. We could see all the way to Race Rocks in the distance.
Here are Dave's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Phil's photos
so we took another trail that took us up to the residential area beyond the top of the park. It was Desmond Rd. We had a bit of a problem finding the right trail that took us up to Lookout lake trail and even so we found that there was a very long set of stairs anyway. Finally at the top of the mountain we came to Lookout lake. It is a man made lake by the look of the dam at one end. A nice place for a swim on a hot summer day. We took a different route back, and that also was a bit confusing. The down trail in the park also had a lot of stairs, (166, I counted them) but at least it was down this time. The whole walk took about one hour and fifteen minutes with only about ten minutes at the lake. The view was quite spectacular from up on top. We could see all the way to Race Rocks in the distance.
Here are Dave's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Walk # 272 June 7th 2017 The CAMRAmblers do another beach clean-up
We had a very nice walk along the beach, this would be a good one as a regular walk along to the other end of Ross Bay. The day warmed up noticeably as we went along, no breeze, very pleasant. Rock sculptor(s) seem to have found something to work with, good job too. We also had some 4 legged helpers along the way. Not too much garbage was found, only about six or seven small bags of trash and a child's life vest. We did however retrieve a number of baggies of dog poop. Why do dog owners pick up that stuff and then leave it on the beach in little bags?
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Walk # 273 June 14th 2017 Charlie's Trail at Royal Roads from the GG Trail
We parked at the Galloping Goose lot on Aldeane Ave. opposite the entrance to Royal Roads. Crossing the road at the cross walk we continued on the Galloping Goose trail back towards Victoria until we came to the Gate 1 into the grounds. This leads us right onto the start of the Charlie's trail. We followed this wild and pretty trail all the way down to the Esquimalt Lagoon. There was a lot of movie company equipment set up near the lagoon for the filming of a new Disney movie. We avoided all the movie set up and made our way up through the locked back gate of the gardens to the castle. In front of the castle we were instructed to go up the main stairs to the library building. We saw people putting thousands of dollars worth of plastic flowers into the planters for the next days shooting. We walked back up the main driveway up to the entrance of the grounds and back to our cars. With tired legs that was quite a chore. We had a nice lunch at the Six Mile which wasn't very busy.
Here are Linda's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Linda's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Walk # 274 June 21st 2017 The Heritage Walking Tour at Prospect lake (Route A)
We parked at Whitehead Park, which is the main park with lake access at the end of Prospect Lake. Our route took us along Prospect lake Road to just the far side of the elementary school. An opening in the chain link fence allowed us to get onto the playing field, (Adam Kerr field) where we stayed to the left hand edge of the field and walked all the way to the back corner where a trail leads into the forest. Along an old fence line we soon came to the trail that was laid out in 1904. The trail goes through tall timber and native plants and all the way back to Goward Road. We turned right and followed Goward back to our starting place. Along the way we admired some lovely homes and waterfront cottages that are set down so low they are almost below the road. Near where we parked we found a recently made chip trail that goes towards the lake front and that has native plant identification markers along the path. At the park we took a few minutes to walk out onto the float to see the water lilies and other water plants. This walk took one hour.
Here are Dave's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Dave's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Walk # 275 June 28th 2017 The Westsong Walkway - A walk through time.
The Westsong Walkway is always a nice place for a walk regardless of the weather. This walk was on part of the walkway and then we went up to a few of the streets that have historic homes and buildings near the waterfront. There's always lots of interesting things to see on this walk.
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Walk # 276 July 5th 2017 The E&N Rail Trail in View Royal - revisited
It's been about four years since the CAMRAmblers walked out the E&N tracks from Portage park to the Thetis lake overpass at the junction of the Island Highway and the Old Island Highway. There has been a lot of work done to this route and now a wide bike path goes all the way to that junction. However, since the new path is below the level of the old train tracks you can't see the portage inlet from the path any more. This walk was about 5.5 kilometers round trip. We parked at the View Royal Municipal hall while we were walking. We went to the 4 Mile Pub for a nice lunch.
Here are Dave's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Dave's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Walk # 277 July 12th 2017 A walk down Oak Bay Avenue to see the Arts Alive
We parked on Elgin Rd. and walked along Oak Bay Avenue to try and see all of the art pieces that are part of this years ArtsAlive display. All of the pieces are on display for one year. A public voting will choose one piece that may be purchased by the Oak Bay council to add to the municipalities art collection. We went to Willows park to have lunch this time. Some of the group brought a picnic while others bought food at the Kinsmen Tea House at the park.
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Dave's photos
Here are Claudia's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Dave's photos
Here are Claudia's photos
July 16th 2017 The Summer party and pot-luck dinner
The CAMRAmblers like to party now and then. This summer was no exception, and we had a back yard party with loads of terrific food and even a bonfire to sit around in the evening. As always we had a good time, and lots of good socializing.
Here are Claudia's photos
Here are Claudia's photos
Walk # 278 July 19th 2017 A Mount Douglas Park beach walk
Although we had planned to walk the beach and some of the trails, we found enough to do on the beach that took up a whole hour. It was then time to gather at a big picnic table and enjoy our lunches and each other's company. The sun, the shade, the ocean salt air, the scenery, the companionship; what could be better?
Here are Claudia's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Walk # 279 July 26th 2017 A visit to the Woodwynn Farm & St. Stephens
The CAMRAmblers visited the Woodwynn Farm out in Central Saanich on this warm summer day. A lot of international students were doing a work project at the Peace Garden and were busy watering and weeding the labyrinth that is made out of Sage and Lavender plants. We toured the many art objects that are made out of driftwood, stainless steel and stone. A lot of work has been done in the past few years since it was started. This farm society helps a number of homeless people by giving them a place to live and giving them meaningful work on the farm. After a nice visit to the farm and it's market building we made our way over to the nearby St. Stephens Anglican church. This historic church is 152 years old and claims to be the oldest church in the Anglican Diocese of BC that is still in it's original location.
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Claudia's photos
Here are Linda's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Claudia's photos
Here are Linda's photos