Blog: I Think It's This Way » Wednesday Hike – Swan Lake / Christmas Hill – Victoria, BC

Wednesday Hike – Swan Lake / Christmas Hill – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:19:29 +0000

Pretty sure I saw some mosquitoes hatching tonight at Swan Lake. They may have also instantly become full grown mosquitoes, or maybe that’s how the mosquito life cycle works… more research I could do if I felt more inclined to do so. Aside from the mosquito stuff, tonight’s hike at Swan Lake and Christmas Hill was good as usual. Early evening light up at Christmas Hill never seems to result in great photos for me, which is a bit disappointing, but oh well. There were some good opportunities down at the lake including a grumpy looking cat.

GPS Data: 6.0km – 1h26m – Garmin Website | GPX (right click to download)

View over part of Victoria from the top of Christmas Hill.

Mr. Grumpy did not appreciate our interruption of his alone time at Swan Lake.

Watch out for Mr. Grumpy, Ms. Duck.

You've got something on your leg.

Tuesday Hike – Swan Lake / Christmas Hill – Victoria, BC

Kris — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 06:07:20 +0000

Instead of the usual Wednesday hike it was Tuesday this week. The route was one we’ve done quite a few times in the past at Swan Lake and Christmas Hill. It was a nice quiet night aside from the nearby urban sounds, which are kind of hard to avoid given that these two spots are surrounded by the city. Didn’t see much in the way of wildlife tonight except for a hummingbird up near Christmas Hill; the lake was surprisingly devoid of bird activity, but maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough. The views from the top of the hill were good as usual and there were some pretty cool clouds floating about. I was glad I took some Claritin today, the stupid allergies would have been off the charts had I not.

GPS Data: 6.0km – 1h59m – GPS route

A 6km hike at Swan Lake and Christmas Hill in Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see details on the Garmin website.

Looking toward Mt. Doug from the top of Christmas Hill.

Some grass on the top of Christmas Hill.

Christmas Hill Dandelion.

Funky clouds to the north.

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Swan Lake and Victoria viewed from the top of Christmas Hill.

Thorny stuff on Christmas Hill.

Christmas Hill ecosystem restoration fence.

Little white flowers at Christmas Hill.

One of the trails at Swan Lake.

Swan Lake floating bridge.

Uptown construction crane.

Wednesday Hike – Swan Lake / Christmas Hill – Victoria, BC

Kris — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 01:49:57 +0000

Here it is almost a week after the last Wednesday night hike and I’m just now getting around to posting something about it. I bad. The destination for last week’s hike was Swan Lake and Christmas Hill; a couple nice spots surrounded by the city. One, I’ll let you figure out which, is a little lake mostly obscured from view by tall grass etc.; the other is about 100m high viewpoint over Victoria.

GPS Data: 5.7km – 1h18m – GPS route

A 6km hike at Swan Lake and Christmas Hill in Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see GPS details on the Garmin website.

Looking across Swan Lake from the viewing platform on the south side.

Close to the top of Christmas Hill just before sunset.

Heading across the floating bridge over Swan Lake at the end of the hike.

Wednesday Hike – Swan Lake / Christmas Hill – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 06:20:18 +0000

You’d think I’d get sick of blabbing about how it sure feels like Spring/Summer. Well I guess not, tonight was a great night for a hike with abundant Springish greenery on display. Starting from the Dorfmart (aka Walmart) parking lot we did a short stint on the Lochside Trail (former rail bed multi-use trail) and then headed onto the Swan Lake perimeter trail. Over the floating bridge we went and on through the thicket to the bottom of Christmas Hill. While not particularly challenging terrain-wise the hike up the hill requires some effort, with the reward being the view from the top. After hanging about at the summit, we headed back down to Swan Lake to finish our clockwise loop around the perimeter.

GPS Data: 6.2km – 1h40m – GPS Route

A 6km Wednesday hike at Swan Lake and Christmas Hill near Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see detailed GPS information on the Garmin website.

The Swan Lake floating bridge on a damn fine evening.

Mmmm, green stuff. Taken from the Swan Lake perimeter trail, north end.

Wednesday Hike – Swan Lake / Christmas Hill – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:35:04 +0000

My Wednesday hike with co-workers this week had a few more people than in the previous couple weeks, despite the rather cool temperatures. While none of us were scantily-clad, some, including myself, could have used another layer of clothing. For some strange reason, the air near Swan Lake at the beginning and end of the hike was cooler than the air higher up on Christmas Hill. A ‘temperature inversion’, I believe, is what we experienced. The lake appeared to be fully frozen from what I could see with my headlight. Aside from temperature, it was good to be out, and as usual the view from Christmas Hill was pretty good, even in the dark.

It’s still the dark season, so no photos again, but below is a map of the hike route (click the image to see GPS data on the Garmin website).

GPS Data: (Distance: 6.2 km / Time: 1h27m / GPS Route)

Hike route around Swan Lake and Christmas Hill in Victoria, BC. Click the image to see GPS data on the Garmin website.