Author: arcturus

Gibsons Landing – March 19, 2011

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Happy Spring! It may not be official just yet, but today was a lovely spring afternoon to stroll Gibsons Landing. Nothing better than taking a short rest in Winegarden Park gazing out at the marina and the snowcapped North Shore Mountains in the distance.

New this week in the Landing is Feastro the Rolling Bistro. Delicious fresh food from the purple truck. Today I had my favourite treat…halibut tacos which feature organic greens from Henry Reed Farm just down the road. There is a full menu of yummy treats…plenty of seafood options including bonzai prawns, pulled pork, and chicken. My partner tried out the poutine today and thoroughly enjoyed. I think my next trip will be to sample the sockeye salmon taco.


Winegarden Park…the perfect spot to walk the dog, pull up a seat on a bench, and in summer…the place to be on weekends for Music in the Landing. A scoop of locally made gelato from Mike’s Place, an organic smoothie from Liquid Living Room, and a treat from Feastro’s purple truck. So many sweet treats.

Catch Feastro and the Sunshine Coast featured on the Food Network’s “Eat Street” on April 27.

Langdale Falls – Feb 25, 2011

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How could anyone get tired of this view? It is my favourite part of Arcturus Retreat B&B…just gazing out the window at Howe Sound and the Coast Mountains with Gambier Island on the left and Bowen Island on the right.

You just have to love a completely clear blue sky on a winter day. Anyone who lives through a rainy grey Vancouver area November & December knows just how good a day of winter sunshine makes you feel. Today was abnormally cold here in lotusland. We rarely dip below freezing here and just barely. Today’s highs were below zero, but with this much sunshine…who cares? You just have to be outside.

Back to the forest trails on Mount Elphinstone for an afternoon hike. The trees here are majestic, and I am learning my way around the trails. While I usually take a one hour hike focused on a bit of cardio, you could hike here for hours and never cross where you’ve already been. It really is an amazing network of hiking and mountain bike trails.

Today we headed for Langdale Falls. With the cold temperatures, we were very curious what the condition of the falls would be.

What a treat! Some water was still flowing, but the ice formations were amazing. If you look at the very bottom of the picture, you can see the greenish/brownish colour where the ice must be many inches thick.

As I said, this is a sight not seen often as it just isn’t cold enough, even in the heart of winter. This is after about 24 hours of sub-freezing temperatures. Don’t let the cold weather keep you inside. Afterall, most Canadians would tell you that it’s not really cold until you get to -30 or -40. Just bundle up and get your heart going with a good hike.

Selma Park Road – Feb 20, 2011

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Another sunny Sunday afternoon. A friend invited me to come along for a hike in an area I’ve never been, so I jumped at the opportunity. Selma Park Road is just outside of Sechelt near Davis Bay. We went to the very end of the road at the top of the hill and headed into the forest.

A few minutes of easy hiking and we could soon hear rushing water. Chapman Creek is one of the most important watersheds on the Sunshine Coast. It provides drinking water to about half of the population. It is also the site of the Chapman Creek Hatchery which releases millions of salmon and trout each year.

This trail spends most of its time in very young forest only meeting up with the creek in a few places. Soon we could really hear the water and came upon a wonderful opening with huge boulders and a waterfall. Apparently this is the site where steelhead salmon come to spawn.

Looking straight across from here, we could see the back of the Sechlet Airport. What a wonderful area to walk to navigate around Davis Bay…all the way from the edge of Sechelt to Wilson Creek. This stretch is one of our most dangerous sections of highway for walkers and bikers. There just isn’t much space on the shoulder. This trail could be a great connection…if only there was a bridge to cross Chapman Creek.

Maybe someday…..

Snow Day – Dakota Ridge, Feb 12, 2011

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Today is the 1 year anniversary of the opening ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in nearby Vancouver. I decided it was a day to find some snow. As you can see from my previous posts, we’ve had a very mild winter. Plenty of days to hike and enjoy the sun. I was ready for my snow and ski fix.

Boy did I find snow! At sea level, it was 8C, gray and raining all day. At 1,200 meters it was just below 0 and snowing like crazy! 13cm of fresh snow by this morning and it snowed all day long with huge wet snowflakes. Dakota Ridge Winter Recreation Area is our easily accessible snowpark at this end of the Sunshine Coast. Less than an hour from the house 13km of groomed cross country trails and 8km of marked snowshoe trails await.

Today my good friends at Alpha Adventures held their annual Demo Day where you can try out all the newest equipment for free. After a quick ride up to Dakota Ridge in their 4×4 van, I checked into some cross country skis and had a 30 minute introductory lesson. 30 minutes of cardio…let me tell you. It was fun…I was gliding (a little)…but its a workout. I then got to go and explore a trail for a bit to try out my new skills.

Time for a little lunch and drying off in the warming hut. Picnic tables, changing rooms and a cozy wood burning stove make this a great place for hanging out and a short rest. I always meet the most interesting people.

Now it was time to try out the snowshoes. I headed out into the forest with my 2 new friends, Annie & Jenny. I am so sorry not to have pictures, but it was REALLY snowing. I just didn’t want to get the camera wet. If you haven’t tried snowshoes, I highly recommend. It is just like going for a hike in the forest. Anyone who can walk can snowshoe.
It is so quiet when you get into the forest. So many stately huge trees and today they were all covered with a white blanket of snow. We were walking through areas with multiple feet of snow, but we usually only sank in about 3 inches. The trail is very well marked. I was in the lead and had no trouble following the trail…even though the fresh snow was filling in the footsteps of whoever had been through last. You cross over a few alpine streams, and you realize just how much snow is on the mountains. Annie was telling us about her favourite viewpoints. On a clear sunny day you can see the North Shore Mountains, Mount Baker in Washington, and Vancouver Island. I’ll definitely be back this season to try it out.
How to treat yourself after a great day of playing in the snow? On our return to Wilson Creek (access point to Dakota Ridge), I stopped in at Strait Coffee for a delicious cup of ginger carrot soup with homemade bread and a big cup of hot chocolate. Yum! When I got home, I jumped in the Arcturus Retreat B&B hot tub to relax those well excercised muscles.

Mt Elphinstone – Feb 9, 2011

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Another gorgeous warm winter day! I have been hiking these trails on Mt Elphinstone about twice a week for the last few weeks. I am starting to know my way around, but there is so much more to explore. It is a fabulous way to spend an afternoon with the sun streaming in.

It is hard to convey just how green the forest is. Moss, ferns, groundcover and so many trees. It is just green and full of life. How can you feel anything but hopeful and inspired in this landscape?

When my friend emailed this morning to suggest the hike, I looked outside at the sunny day and said “How can I not go?” It was just the two of us today (three counting Kono, her dog). We had been climbing a decently steep section for a while, when my friend said “look how far you’ve come! You’ve been talking the whole time!” Now those of you that know me aren’t suprised at all that I can talk a lot. What is special is that I could talk while climbing this terrain and not be completely out of breath. That is truly the accomplishment. This is infinitely better than any treadmill or road running workout you can ever have.

This wooden bridge on Sidewinder Trail is an example of a mountain bike feature in the trails. It makes the sharp corner much more fun.

This waterfall doesn’t look very big in the photo. However it is probably about 15 feet high and is in a series of falls that is quite loud. I am standing on the bridge that crosses Gibsons Creek. It is a nice turnaround point for a 1 hour hike.

Can’t wait for the next opportunity to explore more of these trails.

Langdale Trail – Feb 1, 2011

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Welcome to February and welcome to more sunshine! I watched my first sunrise in a while today…now just before 8am. Not a cloud in the sky and a warm orange glow building above the Coast Mountains. I quickly decided a hike was in order today.


I decided to try the trail above Langdale…our street ends and the trail heads off into the forest. This tree is amazing. It has to be hundreds of years old. For comparison, the tree on the left is 2-3 feet in diameter. The dark patch in the center is like a small cave that I can completely sit inside. I just can’t imagine what this area looked like just 125 years ago before European settlers started logging.

I haven’t hiked this trail for a few months. With all the rain we’ve had lately, the upper part of the trail has become a stream. Nevertheless, I was inspired by the great weather so I hiked all the way to the powerlines. This was a first for me. Roundtrip was 2 hours and a good workout. Not steep, but enough to get the heart pumping. It was fun to see how the water works its way around all the rocks, branches and leaves…constantly flowing…constantly searching for the ocean.

I’ll be back, but maybe later this spring when the trail is dry.

Langdale Falls – Jan 26, 2011

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Today was absolutely beautiful with sunny skies that demanded I go outside. We’ve had a bit of rain and gray the past few days, so the sun is always refreshing.

I decided to hike on Mt. Elphinstone again. Lucky for me, I ran into my good friend Tony at the trailhead. He was excited to have a hiking buddy, and I was looking forward to what he would teach me about the forest. So we headed in for my first (of I’m sure will be many) trip to Langdale Falls.

I’ve seen the sign before, but had been told there were some steep sections on the way. Follow the pink and blue trail symbols and they lead you right to the waterfall.

This is a very good time of year to visit. We have had 200mm of rain this month and temps are warm this week so there is snowmelt feeding the streams as well. It is about a 40 minute hike in to the falls. Not too hard, but there are some good climbs and some narrow paths where you really don’t want to fall.

The waterfall is impressive. You can hear it well before you arrive. It must be at least a 50m drop. Tony says it is a great place for a swim & shower in the summer. Great to cool off after a day’s hike.

The forest on Mt Elphinstone is amazing. Tony taught me to identify a Douglas fir, a red cedar, and a hemlock. Having grown up in the prairies, I don’t know my west coast trees. He also pointed out salmonberry and different kinds of ferns. The ecosystem is amazing and I hope to learn much more on many more walks through the forest. All this within 2km of my house.

Cliff Gilker Park – Jan 14, 2011

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Today was supposed to be my long awaited ladies snowshoe day on Dakota Ridge. Mother Nature thought otherwise. Temperatures of 10C/50F and rain do not fit with snowshoes…it was 3C already at 10am on the mountain and raining. So, we postponed our snowshoe plans and went for coffee.

By the time we finished chatting, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Fully dressed in outdoor gear, we decided we might as well get a workout, so we headed for nearby Cliff Gilker Park. What a great decision!

All the recent rain and warm temperatures have created amazing waterfall conditions. Unfortunately, I passed up the photo op at the large waterfall but these are pretty good. I have never seen so much water in the stream here.


The forest is lush and full and green everywhere you look. The sun was just peeking in through the trees with a few lingering drops falling onto our heads. This is one of many bridges in the park. I am always amazed at the work that goes into creating such wonderful trails.

Cliff Gilker park is part of the Sunshine Coast Regional District Park System. As such, the trails are wide and well maintained with good signage. You can’t get lost in this park. There were muddy spots, but we have had a lot of rain lately.


With more experienced hikers than myself in the group, I got to see a whole new area of the park. We hiked for over an hour with fairly small elevation changes. We peeked into the neighboring Sunshine Coast Golf & Country Club course a few times, but no players due to the heavy early morning rain. This is a hike that any mobile person can handle. The best feature of the park is that the front large waterfall is wheelchair accessible, too. A short wide trail leads to a wooden viewing deck that literally everyone can enjoy.

Fingers crossed that my next post will be photos of Dakota Ridge and our snowshoe trek.

Soames Hill – Jan 8, 2011

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Another gorgeous sunny day on BC’s Sunshine Coast. I just had to get outside to make up for missing yesterday’s group hike. So I headed to one of my favourite sunny day spots…Soames Hill.

Now if you came across these stairs in the middle of the forest, wouldn’t you head upward? Of course! 65 steps to the first bridge and rest point gets you ready. A little heavy breathing and your heart starts beating. 206 total winding stairs in addition to a bit of natural slope gets you to the first mini-summit. It’s those last 35 steps that really get the heart rate up.

But so worth it! The views here are just amazing. Soames Hill is the highest point around Gibsons without climbing Mt Elphinstone. It is 200m to the first viewpoint and 250m to the highest viewpoint.

This shot is looking eastnortheast over Howe Sound to the Coast Mountains. The edge of Keats Island is on the right.


This is the second viewpoint…standing on solid rock. Keats Island is in the front and the Paisley Islands on the far side. There was a single sailboat out in the harbour today…gorgeous day for a sail.


It is hard to see from the picture, but there is a solid rockface behind these trees. This is the otherside of the hilltop…south of the stairs. I was just standing up on top of those rocks a few minutes earlier. Taking this shot, I am on fairly level ground in thick forest.

If you follow this particular trail, you decend all the way down to Marine Drive. Someday I’ll make that part of the hike. The trick is…not wanting to hike up from there. It’s a serious uphill climb. So you park at Shirley Macy to access the main trails and stairs to the summit. If you hike down to Marine Drive and the water….how do you get your car back? Some day…

Hiking on Mt Elphinstone – Jan 2, 2011

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A bright sunny wintery day is the perfect time to explore the forest. This is one of the lower trails on Mt Elphinstone, which is the dominating landscape feature as you arrive on the Langdale ferry from West Vancouver. Lucky for me, the trailheads are only 2km from Arcturus Retreat B&B.

Most of these lower trails are built by avid mountain bikers and neighbor Sprockids Mountain Bike Park. It’s not an official park, so signage isn’t much more than a few reflectors and an occasional arrow for riders.

Nevertheless, there are some amazing trees in this forest. Note the vibrant colour on this tree…like none of its neighbours. That is Stan in front to show you just how large this tree is. So happy to have Stan join me for this hike! I don’t know this area well enough yet to head in alone.
A tree with character like this just makes you wonder at what it has been witness to over the years. It has clearly seen all of the 20th century and I wonder how much more. This forest was logged in the early 1900’s when Europeans first arrived. Port Mellon is only 10km away and was home to the first paper mill in the area.
We came across a trail called “Technical Ecstacy” which we just had to follow. Clearly a mountain bikers dream…lots of cutbacks, bridges, jumps, ramps, twists and turns. It is an easy walk, but you need to pay attention as this was clearly not built with the hiker in mind. A rider could come up quickly and definitely deserves the right of way.

It is hard to see in this picture, but you can see out to the Georgia Straight. It can be a bit dark in the forest, but light flows in at the top of the trees and is really quite a view when you come to an opening.
After travelling over the Christmas holiday, I am very aware of how green the forest is here. Other parts of North America are so brown this time of year with every plant in hibernation waiting for spring. Here on the Sunshine Coast, we are very luck to have green life everywhere all year long. Not only the trees, but the ferns and groundcover and moss all bring life to the forest floor.