Blog: I Think It's This Way » Wednesday Hike – Mt. Doug – Victoria, BC

Wednesday Hike – Mt. Doug – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 06:09:35 +0000

In another of my ongoing series of catch up posts about previous Wednesday night hikes I thought I’d tell you about an excursion to Mt. Doug not long ago. It’s my opinion that Mt. Doug Park is just big enough that even if you go there a lot, you can mix up the routes enough to keep it interesting. There’s clockwise or counter-clockwise, summit or no summit, fields with sheep or not, and even ocean beach or not. Even without the opportunity for variety, it’s hard to say anything bad about cruising around in the forest amongst the big trees and other nature goodies.

On this particular outing, we headed from the Ash Road parking lot along the creek to the east of Mt. Doug, then crossed the road and sort of back-tracked counter-clockwise around the north end of the park. Eventually, we ended up taking a dry creek bed up the north, or northeast side of the mountain up to the summit. Admired the views, then we headed down the Glendenning Trail to the south end of the mountain and wrapped up by heading through the east side of the park back up to the Ash Road parking lot.

GPS Data: 6.2km – 1h44m – Garmin Website – GPX (right click to download)

Interesting looking fungus in the forest at Mt. Doug.

Sheep in a field at the north end of Mt. Doug.

Looking south from the top of Mt. Doug.

Looking north from the top of Mt. Doug towards Salt Spring Island.

Nice night in the Blenkinsop Valley.

Mt. Doug rock with Blenkinsop Valley in the background.

A chunk of rock at the top of Mt. Doug with Metchosin off in the distance.

Sign post near the top of Mt. Doug for the Glendenning Trail.

Rabbit in a field near the Ash Road parking lot for Mt. Doug.

Wednesday Hike – Mt. Doug – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 05 May 2011 06:35:52 +0000

Aspen Extreme! Tonight’s hike at Mt. Doug involved a steeper climb to the top than our usual; nothing wrong with a bit more challenge than usual. The sky was pretty clear tonight so the views of the city and the mountains were pretty damn good. After loitering at the top for a while we headed down the mountain, then we climbed up Little Mt. Doug, and finally finished off with a trip through the muddy spots at the north end of the park.

GPS Data: 6km – 1h49m – GPS route

A 6km hike at Mt. Doug in Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see details on the Garmin website.

A bird in a tree in Oak Bay.

Looking toward Sidney Spit from the top of Mt. Doug.

Hazy Mt. Baker seen from the top of Mt. Doug.

Mt. Doug flowers.

White Fawn Lily at Mt. Doug.

Barbed wire at Mt. Doug.

Field and fence near Mt. Doug.

Wednesday Hike – Mt. Doug – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 06:33:38 +0000

Mud needs love too you know. I say this because I have observed first-hand some notable dislike for the soupy brown stuff over the years. Maybe soupy and brown are mud’s main problem… what if it was soupy and pink and smelled like cotton candy, or what if it was dry, hard and brown, uhhh I guess it would be dirt then. Ok, enough innuendo. Seriously, though mud is just wet dirt, and on the West Coast it’s part of the deal if you do any hiking, trail running, or mountain biking.

Tonight’s excursion at Mt. Doug was a round-the-bottom deal (bottom of the mountain). Despite the fact it didn’t involve the elevation gain associated with a trip to the top, it was still pretty hilly. It was nice to see the forest again thanks to the time change.

GPS Data: 5.5km – 1h35m – GPS route

A 6km hike around the bottom of Mt. Doug. Click on the map to see GPS details on the Garmin website.

Purple flowers at Mt. Doug.

Looking to the west from a high point of sorts at Mt. Doug.

Wednesday Hike – Mt. Doug – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 06:56:05 +0000

We did a pretty fun hike at Mt. Doug tonight. There’s something about more difficult hikes, bike rides, runs, etc. that seem to make them a bit more memorable. Admittedly, there are harder things to do than a 5km hike in the dark, but there is some respectable climbing at Mt. Doug and there’s some mud. There are also the usual Mt. Doug bonus items… the view from the top, the big trees to look at, good foresty smells, and some time at the ocean (if you choose to go down to the beach). I’ll high-five the Doug any day, although this is somewhat difficult since the Doug is an inanimate mountain/hill. I guess I’ll high-five the trees.

On the way home I stopped at Mt. Tolmie and tried to take some photos of the stars and the city. I need to do some work on my skills, as I had a mixed bag in terms of results. I wasn’t overly impressed with some I took at Mt. Doug either… sorry fellow hikers, the group pics didn’t work out.

GPS Data: 5.5km – 1h42m – GPS route

A 5.5km hike at Mt. Doug in Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see GPS details on the Garmin website.

Looking towards UVic from the top of Mt. Doug. Kind of clear skies tonight, but fog and cloud were hanging around here and there.

Post-hike photo from the top of Mt. Tolmie, looking towards Cedar Hill golf course.

Car and street lights near the intersection of Shelbourne and Cedar Hill Cross Road as seen from the top of Mt. Tolmie. Yes, this is well out of focus... I was wanted to see some bokeh (photo term referring to blur).

Wednesday Hike – Mt. Doug – Victoria, BC – Fog-O-Rama

Kris — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 06:54:02 +0000

It was just Michelle and I for the Wednesday hike this week. I guess the less than spectacular weather scared off some of the other regulars:) Our route through the Doug was a bit different than usual and included one of the steeper routes to the top as well as back down to the bottom. We finished off our hike by checking out a trail we hadn’t been on before; it starts near the east side of bridge on Ash Road and heads towards the beach at Mt. Douglas. That makes two ways to get to the beach; variety is good. As we were walking along the beach we saw a flock of about 30-40 geese fly in and touch down in the water not far from where we were standing, it was cool.

GPS Data: 4.3km – 1h24m – GPS route

A 4.3km hike at Mt. Doug. Click on the map to see details on the Garmin website.

Hmmm, green. The first half of our hike at Mt. Doug was pretty much all uphill, which resulted in notable sweat generation. Maybe it was the humidity.

Not the easiest way up to the top of Mt. Doug, but pretty interesting and fun.

Lots of these little fern-like things were visible along the way through Mt. Doug.

Mt. Douglas fern-like thing up close.

Yeah, it was pretty cloudy/foggy today, especially at the top of Mt. Doug.

Mt. Doug has some great trees within its boundaries. I guess the big ones are more impressive, but they're all pretty good.

A bit of a grainy/noisy photo taken at the beach near Mt. Douglas.

We happened to be downtown after the hike with a few minutes to burn... time for a few more long exposure night photos.

Squiggley lights along Fort Street on the way home from our Mt. Doug hike.

Wednesday Hike – Mt. Doug – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:51:14 +0000

Well it’s now looking and feeling like summer here in Victoria. Temperature is a fairly good indicator, but what I notice the most are the conditions on the trails. When you’re in the middle of summer or early fall, it’s pretty dry here, and the trails will show it… kind of dusty, with some fallen, yellowed leaves from various deciduous trees. This is opposed to the way things seem during the rest of the year… kind of damp. Tonight’s hike at Mt. Douglas (Doug for the locals) was, as usual, pretty damn good.

Six of us did some loopy, around-the-mountain type hiking and then headed up to the top where we spent some time taking in the views. It was clear enough again this week that we could see both Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier on the horizon in Washington State.

GPS data: 5.1km – 1h39m – GPS route

A 5.1km hike at Mt. Douglas (Doug) near Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see detailed GPS information on the Garmin website.

Michelle, Christine, and Sheena heading starting the final ascent to the summit of Mt. Doug. Maybe that's overdoing it on the mountaineering lingo, I'll be more conservative in the future.

I think Bill forgot his hiking poles , but he seemed to manage fine without them.

One of the steeper parts of the trail on the last stretch up to the top of Mt. Doug.

Looking in a southerly direction close to the top of Mt. Doug. That's part of the Blenkinsop Valley down below.

A view to the north near the top of the Doug (Mt. Douglas). I'm pretty sure that's James Island and Sidney Island off in the distance.

Christine, Irina, and Bill at the top of Mt. Doug. Yeah, it's usually worth celebrating in whatever way you see fit.

Mt. Baker viewed from the top of Mt. Doug (looking to the east).

The view to the north or northeast from the top of Mt. Doug. What an awesome night for a hike.

Part of the distance/direction guide to other locales in the turret at the top of Mt. Douglas.

Looking south towards Victoria from the top of Mt. Doug. The Olympic Mountain Range is visible in the distance.

Midsummer dustiness on the trails at Mt. Doug.

Wednesday Hike – Mt. Douglas – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 05:53:47 +0000

We had a nice sunny day here in Victoria, which led to a nice sunny Wednesday night hike. Well not entirely, as part of the hike was spent on the dark side of Mt. Doug where tall trees and the hill itself makes for a darker, cooler experience. We saw some evidence of the high winds earlier in the week in the form of tree sheddings (pretty sure that’s not going to get me any scrabble points) and actual broken trees. Other than that the hike was a pretty normal Doug outing with some ups and downs and a bit of mud. Purple flowers were out in abundance in the pseudo-alpine meadows, or what I generally refer to as the Wastelands part of Mt. Doug. Wastelands is just some stupid moniker I came up with for the exposed area just south of Little Mt. Doug.

GPS Data: 5.4km – 1h25m – GPS route

A 5km hike at Mt. Douglas in Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see detailed GPS information on the Garmin website.

Heading into purple flower land near Little Mt. Doug.

View to the north from what I affectionately refer to as the Wastelands (exposed area south of Little Mt. Doug).

Hike – St. Charles / Moss Street / Mt. Doug – Dog Sitting Weekend

Kris — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:33:03 +0000

This weekend was a weekend of dog-sitting for me. The beast in question, who shall remain nameless, and I did some walking/hiking and some lounging around, nothing too exciting. This particular beast is now a senior citizen in terms of dog years, so she is a bit less energetic than she was in her youth, none-the-less it was fun to hang out with her for a weekend.

On Friday night we did a walk down St. Charles Street to the waterfront at Ross Bay and then headed back up Moss Street. Today, Michelle and I went out for a hike around Mt. Doug with the beast. Both outings were good in different ways: walking along the waterfront in the dark is always kind of cool; and Mt. Doug is becoming greener as it always does in the Spring.

GPS Data:
Outing #1 – 6.3km – 1h08m – GPS Route – St. Charles / Dallas Road / Moss Street
Outing #2 – 5.0km – 1h14m – GPS Route – Mt. Doug

Dog/beast hike on March 12. She's an old beast, but she still walks faster than most humans, save the professional speed walkers. Click on the map to see more detailed GPS data on the Garmin website.

Beast outing #2 at Mt. Douglas. Click on the map to see more detailed GPS data on the Garmin website.

Looking towards Victoria from what I call the Wastelands at Mt. Doug. In truth, there is no such name for the slightly barren, lower elevation, south end of Mt. Doug.

Look into our eyes, if you can see them. The beast and I taking a break while descending from the Wastelands at Mt. Doug park.

Wednesday Hike – Mt. Douglas – Victoria, BC – The Trees Seem Bigger In The Dark

Kris — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:29:15 +0000

Wednesday night hiking is good. This week I did a loop around the base of Mt. Doug(las) with my work friends and some non-work friends. Hiking at night lacks the kind of sensory input associated with hiking in the daylight, but regardless, it is still pretty interesting — the quiet seems quieter, the dark seems darker, and blah, blah, blah. There are some pretty big trees in Mt. Doug and they seemed even bigger than during the day, at least this was my observation when my headlight was illuminating said big trees.

GPS Data: 5.4km – 1h25m – GPS Route

A hike around the bottom of Mt. Doug near Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see detailed GPS information on the Garmin website.

Wednesday Hike – Victoria, BC – Mt. Doug

Kris — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:32:39 +0000

Fullish moon tonight for the Wednesday hike. This fact would be some what irrelevant if the sky was not clear, but it was. The destination this week was Mt. Doug, or Douglas if you prefer. The “Doug” as I know it is a good spot for a quick nature getaway thanks to its significant elevation gain offering great views of the Georgia and Juan de Fuca Straits. Beyond the view, there are lots of pretty big trees to meander through while traveling the lower trails.

Hiking, or doing anything outdoors, in the dark seems to be an unusual thing for us humans to do. I’m no different, since I can’t say that I have been out in the dark that much in my life, but with these recent night hike outings I’m getting more comfortable with the idea of this becoming a regular occurrence. Lights of some sort are of course a requirement for this sort of activity.

I was hoping to get some interesting night photos of the moon over the water, but couldn’t coax the camera into capturing anything worthwhile. I do have a map of our route though; see below (you can click on it to see more detailed GPS data on the Garmin website).

A map of my Wednesday night hike at Mt. Douglas in Victoria BC. Click to see GPS data on the Garmin website.