Walk # 280 August 2nd 2017 A walk around Sidney BC
The CAMRAmblers went out to Sidney for a walk around that charming town. The heat and smoky air bothered some of them so they took it easy. It looks like they really covered all the key points of the town though despite the heat and smokey air.
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Linda's photos
Walk # 281 August 9th 2017 A walk in the trees of Mt. Douglas park
When it's too hot to walk in the blazing sun we head for the cool dark forest. Starting at the Glendening Rd. end of the park we walked up the service road until we came to the junction of the other service road that goes down to Cedar Hill Rd. Just before coming out on Cedar hill Rd. we turned right and walked along the trail that goes along the edge of the park and leads back to our starting point at Glendening Rd. This walk takes just under one hour. That's enough for a hot summer day.
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Walk # 282 August 16th 2017 A day trip to Sandcut Beach and French Beach
The CAMRAmblers went out to Sandcut Creek and French Beach for a day trip to this beautiful "West Coast Wild" part of Vancouver Island. It's only just over an hour's drive from Victoria, and about 23 kilometers past the Town of Sooke. The trail down to Sandcut Beach is rugged! Lots of roots and steep stairs that are carved out of the hillside. A hiking pole for balance is highly recommended for going down this trail. There are no handrails on the steep steps. Many roots are there to climb over too, and that requires balance at times. If you are going to this beach do some research to find out the tides so you won't be faced with a high tide, because that will make the walking on the beach much more difficult. The waterfalls are about a kilometer down the beach to the left when you come out of the trail. In winter there is much more water than we saw this year after such a dry summer. We stopped at French Beach and ate our lunches at the picnic tables in the sun. For some reason nobody wanted to explore the trails at this beach park.
Here are Linda's photos
Here are Dave's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Linda's photos
Here are Dave's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Walk #283 August 23rd 2017 A stroll around Macaulay Point picking blackberries
The CAMRAmblers went out to Esquimalt and walked the paths of Macaulay Point picking blackberries as we found them. It was a nice day and the sea breeze kept us from getting too warm. Most of the berries are still red, so for the rest of you..wait a week or so and go out and fill your buckets. We went to the Gorge Point Pub for a nice lunch afterwards.
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Linda & Larry's photos
Here are Laura's photos
Here are Claudia's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Linda & Larry's photos
Here are Laura's photos
Here are Claudia's photos
Walk # 285 August 30th 2017 More Ten Mile Point trails with Martin
Twelve of the CAMRAmblers met near Martin’s house in 10 Mile Point, and set off walking through Konuksun Park where a volunteer group was hard at work removing ivy and other invasive species. We reached Arbutus Road in Wedgewood Point, and walked along Arbutus through the “newer” part of 10 Mile Point. The group then turned off into Benson Park, another natural area, and followed a greenway down the hill and through a Garry Oak meadow to Cadboro Bay. Unfortunately the view across to the Olympics was obscured by fog and smoke. We strolled along Sea View Road admiring the gardens on these lovely properties, then turned onto a pathway that took us to Bedford Road, and turned onto Woodhaven Terrace which also has lovely gardens. We used another pathway to reach Sea Point Drive, then crossed back into Konuksun Park and walked through the park’s dried-up wetlands back to our starting point. Lunch was at the Smuggler’s Cove
Here are Linda's photos
Here are Linda's photos
Walk # 286 September 6th 2017 Around the Cedar Hill (Golf) Park
A large group of us walked around half of the Cedar Hill Park this day. The forest fire smoke made the sun sort of yellow as you can see in some of the photos. We did a side trip to find the "Nut House" a whimsical creation that's just up Tracksell Avenue. It's located about three houses from the park on the left. It's set back from the road, look for the unique mailbox. The half of the park that we walked took us just about an hour. We opted to go to the 5th Street Bar and Grill for lunch. We almost had the patio to ourselves.
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Claudia's photos
Here are Larry's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Claudia's photos
Here are Larry's photos
Walk # 287 September 13th 2017 A hike around Killarney Lake
For those of you you don't know of Killarney Lake; it's in the Mt. Work Regional Park and is located near the Hartland landfill. Parking for mountain biking and hiking is located just beside the entrance to the Hartland site and a cross walk takes you to the start of the trail. About 300+ feet down the powerline road you will find a smaller trail named Shock Treatment, that goes to the left. This trail leads down some rather steep and smooth places until you get near to the lake. You should be able to see a glimpse of the lake from this trail. The trail around the lake is mostly quite flat and easy. At the south end of the lake the trail gets rocky and is up and down. Stick to the right hand trail at every intersection. You will get back to the part near the powerline road. It's quite a beautiful lake. Well worth a hike to see it. Allow at least 90 minutes to walk all the way around and back to your car. "The lake was as warm as bath water," Peter said.
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Linda's photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Linda's photos
Walk # 288 September 20th 2017 A Historical Walking tour of Royal Oak
The CAMRAmblers met at the Royal Oak Shopping Center and walked down to the pedestrian tunnel that goes under the Patricia Bay Highway to talk about the history of this part of Victoria. Everything from the V&S railway to the Thatch, the Royal Oak Hotel, the Municipal Hall and the Community Hall that still exist and the old grocery store where the lawyer's office now is. Lots of history to see in this area of Victoria.
Here are Claudia's Photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Claudia's Photos
Here are Phil's photos
Here are Terry's photos
Walk # 289 September 27th 2017 The little known trails in Broadmead
Indian Summer?, is that what they call it? It's officially fall but the temperatures were warm enough to be summer. The CAMRAmblers walked to Lohburnner lake, a pretty little pond that can be found at the end of Copsewood Place in Broadmead. From there we walked up Pheasantwood Terrace and found the path that leads down behind two long blocks of houses and comes back out at Donwood. We walked back to our cars where we left them at the top of the trail on Donwood that leads down to the Lochside trail. A nice 50 minute walk.
Here's Dave's photos
Here's Claudia's photos
Here's Terry's photos
Here's Linda's photos
Here's Dave's photos
Here's Claudia's photos
Here's Terry's photos
Here's Linda's photos
Walk # 290 October 4th 2017 Rolston trail- Another nice walk in Broadmead
The CAMRAmblers came out in force for this walk through Broadmead along the Rolston Trail that leads from Rithetwood through several sections, (look for the brown trail posts on the streets) and ends up at Rithet's Bog. A nice stroll through the tall trees to do any time of the year.
Don't do this trail in a heavy wind storm though as trees shed branches and some of them come down in high winds. It will take you about 30 minutes to walk one way along all the sections of this trail.
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Linda's photos
Here are Claudia's photos
Don't do this trail in a heavy wind storm though as trees shed branches and some of them come down in high winds. It will take you about 30 minutes to walk one way along all the sections of this trail.
Here are Terry's photos
Here are Linda's photos
Here are Claudia's photos