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Hiking has now restarted, but with some COVID-19 restrictions. The main ones being a maximum of 12 hikers and no car pooling, as well as social distancing and careful hygiene. On 7 July we went into the Cumberland forest and made a loop out to and around the Fuji Jim ridge on the bike trails. On 14 July we started at the Comox Lake dam, did a loop on the river trails and then headed out to the Comox Lake bluffs. Below are some photos from the trips.   Finally after a year of no Probus paddling we hit the water today with perfect conditions. It was sunny and warm with almost no wind so we launched at Astra Bay on the Salish Sea and paddled North to the Little River Estuary. We had a group of ten paddlers which was the maximum number approved by our Probus 'Re-start Committee'. It was easy to practice social distancing on the water so for future paddles we will expand the maximum to 12. Everyone enjoyed themselves (even the nameless person who went for an unscheduled swim). Many comments were made about how great it was to be out on the water again. There will be more paddling events planned now that summer seems to have finally arrived. Cheers, Craig Snowshoeing is now over. It was a enjoyable season with good snow conditions despite the lower than usual snowfall this year. Here are some photos from our trips. The group meets every Thursday, rain or shine at the Air-Park Walkway. We meet for a 9:00 a.m. start in the paved parking lot off Mansfield Crescent. Mansfield connects to Cliffe Avenue, opposite the Driftwood Mall. The group, usually numbering between 12 and 18, breaks into smaller groups walking at a variety of paces for exactly one hour. At 10:00am.we gather for coffee and conversation on the mezzanine level of the Bayside Cafe which is close to the parking lot. Please note that until there is a problem with ice or snow the “Summer Route” is still in effect i.e. walking around the Air-Park then East to Millard before heading back. New participants are always welcome. If you are planning to come, wear layers, proper footwear and bring an umbrella in your trunk.  We ended 2019 with our usual hike and lunch on 10 December, and then our first snowshoe hike of the season on 17 December. For the first time we did a 5 km circuit of the Courtenay Airpark/Millard Creek and then went to the White Spot restaurant for lunch. This replaced our normal Oyster River - Salmon Point walk. Sadly the Salmon Point restaurant burned down last January. It was lightly snowing and breezy for our first snowshoe. Snow conditions were good though on the summer trail out to Lake Helen Mackenzie and back. It felt good to get a taste of winter conditions before the Christmas season.  01 Oct - Snowden Forest, 08 Oct - Cumberland - Fuji Jim, 15 Oct - Puntledge River - Nymph Falls, 22 Oct - Bevan - Comox Lake, 29 Oct - Cumberland - Lily Pad Lake. The season commenced with a taste of Turkish cuisine - interesting spices and loads of yogurt but generally dishes weren't too peppy to taste. Hosted by Nina Goodman. Below is a list of the dishes prepared Kabak mucver - zucchini and feta patties Kofte -carrot and apricot rolls Manti - chickpea parcels karides guvec - baked prawns with tomatoes Fesinjan - chicken stew with walnuts and pomegranate juice Yogurt tatlisi - yogurt cake in orange syrup We were 13 hikers including two guests visiting form Utah. We headed up to Croteau Lake and the new yurt and dock and tent pads and food cashes and ... There has been a lot of work at Croteau and it was fun that we had it mostly to ourselves as we ate lunch on the very nicely provided chairs or the edge of a tent pad. It took two hours to get to the lake in near perfect weather for hiking. Native plants were spotted in new locations and we were all pleased at the water in the the creeks. We lounged for awhile at Croteau before heading back to the parking lot. On the way back we saw two fishers in floaters trying their casting skills on Battleship Lake. Going up and back we met a number of back packers enjoying the park. The dock at Battleship is still broken but we did spend time at the table area. It was a great group , thank you all! We were gone about 4 1/2 hours and covered about 13 km. Elevation we were not so sure of however seems to be about 300 m. A fun day |
