TWO LOCAL SUMMER EXCURSIONS

My friend A is a perfect match for me. We both love to hike, neither of us are very speedy and we both enjoy taking multiple breaks to eat. Our conversations are always interesting and enjoyable. I am very grateful to have her as a friend and grateful that she is full of ideas of fun places to hike to. Oh and we met about 3 or 4 years ago through the Camino Association. 

We have spent most of CoVid hiking and biking close to home. As per CoVid distancing rules we did not choose to travel together in her car and since I dislike driving we kind of had no choice. But it is amazing how many great hikes there are within biking &/or walking distance.

Now however we are venturing out in her car. One of our first destinations was  

                                                                    SATURNA ISLAND

It was only $24 for 2 seniors to travel to Saturna on the ferry. Well we were free, it was $24 for the vehicle.

We immediately took a wrong turn but turned the navigation error, to our advantage.

Monarch Head was pretty and a great place for our first meal stop ~ Elevenses.

We pretty much had this gorgeous place to ourselves.

The water was a pretty turquoise colour.

Next stop was East Point ~ really close to the previous stop as the crow flies but one has to drive almost back to the ferry to access this area. 

There is a swift current here, in which sea life, including whales, thrives. The food supply is plentiful. We did not see any whales but we did see seals and a sea lion.

The hazy land in the distance are the San Juan Islands in the USA.

It was the perfect place for lunch. We could have stayed here much much longer but we had places to go and we had to be back to catch a 4pm ish ferry back to Swartz Bay.

The above shots were taken just to the left of this shot. 

One can see how dry it is, there has been no rain for about 45 days.

Still at East Point.

We decided that we will be coming back to Saturna Island for an overnight visit so we will have more time to spend on this lovely Gulf Island.

Next stop, which we meant to hike first in the cooler morning, is the exposed Brown Ridge. There was no breeze and it was very hot. One can barely discern the path. With the fabulous views from here, it was worth the heat. 

This is looking toward South Pender Island.

Beautiful BC INDEED!!!

We easily make the ferry and had a delicious dinner in Sidney at Sabhai Thai restaurant ~ outside on their patio of course. Even at 7pm the temperature was perfect. It has been that kind of summer!

NEXT ADVENTURE

MYSTIC BEACH

This may possibly be my first visit to Mystic Beach just a 2 hour drive from Victoria (I believe I have been to China Beach).

One parks at China Beach which is a few kilometers west of Jordan River. This is the start of the Juan de Fuca trail which both A and I would love to tackle but unfortunately age has caught up with us, we are no longer able to carry tent, cooking supplies and food enough for 47 kms and for 5 days. We spoke to several parties that were hiking the full distance to Botanical Beach and both felt quite envious. 

The hike to Mystic Beach is only 2 kilometers through typical BC rain forest. That short distance underlined how difficult it would be to have added another 5 pounds onto our backs. We already had 1 tent each, sleeping mat and sleeping bag plus food for 24 hours and A also carried the cooking supplies.

 

The first glimpse of the beach.

A heatwave had settled in at home, turns out that Mystic Beach is the perfect place to be with clear skies and a comfortable temperature.

Looking out over The Salish Sea towards the USA Olympic Peninsula.

This is Bear Territory so it is compulsory to store one's food in the Food Cache.

After setting up our tents we set out to explore a bit more of the Juan de Fuca Trail ... which is nicely maintained as shown in this photo.

Most of the trail was thankfully in the nicely shaded forest but there were a few viewpoints.

There are many areas of blown down trees, many of those over the path. This one became the path. 

OK this was weird .... as we were nearing Mystic Beach from the JdF Trail we encountered what appeared to be 2 young girls with a goat! On the Trail! The eldest appeared to be about 12 years of age, the youngest, who appeared quite gypsy-like, was perhaps about 3. We initiated a conversation as we were curious about the goat. The "12 year old" mentioned that her husband (!) was ahead with the other goats. The 3 year old was apparently her daughter. They travel with the goats in their vehicle. I would have loved to have heard more of her story but it seemed rude to pry. As we arrived at the beach we indeed found the husband who was struggling to maintain control of  all 3 goats.

Back to the beach, we huddled in the shade behind my tent. 

There were many young families that had also made the trek down to camp on the beach. Getting a camping spot in BC is no longer easy. One has to reserve 3 months ahead and even then one has to hit the website first thing in the morning. Here we had to purchase a $10 each parking pass. Since we arrived early there were many camping spots available. 

After strolling down the beach to gather water from the trickle of a waterfall (by now we have had 1 day of rain in 55 days)

we enjoyed a delicious dinner of "Himalayan lentils and rice" (purchased from MEC). I had also purchased water treatment pills at MEC which seemed to work very well with no bad taste.

Then a leisurely chat while watching the waves ...

... and then the sunset.

There was just a sliver of a moon which set early around 10:30pm leaving a dark dark sky ....

perfect for viewing the Perseid Meteor Shower. 

Our timing was perfect!

It was a very noisy night, sounding as if a freight train was nearby.

In the morning I could see why, the beach was completely rearranged! What I had heard were the beach boulders being tossed around by the waves, also it was obvious that the tide had risen to about 3 feet from my tent!

Later we talked to a young mom that had camped at a lower area, they had to move their tent and all their children (!) in the middle of the night as the tide had come right to their door. Other hikers were not so fortunate having the tide soak all of their gear.

My morning view.

After an oatmeal breakfast and a cup of tea we packed up.

There are many stairs to mount to begin the trail back to the parking lot but I am up for it.

A sample of the well marked trail.

We stashed our packs in A's car then down the path to China Beach. It had been many years since I had been here. I had forgotten just what a beautiful beach it is.

As at Mystic Beach there were many families enjoying the perfect weather and pristine beach.

We stashed our boots and walked barefoot in the shallows along the length of the beach.

Some cool marks in the sand made by seaweed.

The sandpipers were a joy. Just before this photo they were flying in a large flock, at one point right towards us, the flock suddenly split in two around us. Magical!

What a pleasure to actually go somewhere again!

It is seldom that my feet enjoy our cold cold ocean!

Saying goodbye to China Beach.  We had great plans for the rest of the day like picking blackberries, walking Whiffen Spit, checking out the new quilt store in Sooke, dinner at 17 Mile Pub. It all came to a screeching halt when we got out of the car at Sooke and discovered just how hot it was. Too hot to do any of above... except for the quilt store. So I arrived home in time to go out for dinner with Keith in much cooler James Bay. 

What a great couple of days!