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

Wednesday Hike – Mt. Wells – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:54:04 +0000

OMG, it’s almost August. OMG, I just said OMG. Ok, enough of that. It was Wednesday and we walked, this time at Mt. Wells. As usual with Mt. Wells outings, we started out from the Humpback Reservoir parking lot; no blackberries yet, much to the dismay of some of our group. Despite the lack of berry power, we seemed to make it to the top of the hill faster than usual. Once at the top we did the requisite loitering to enjoy the views, then we headed back down.

GPS Data: 3.0km – 1h18m – GPS route

A 3km hike to and from the top of Mt. Wells near Victoria. Click on the map to see detailed GPS data on the Garmin website.

It's the Humpback Reservoir, except it's not really, it's just a utility building or something at the reservoir.

Looking towards Langford partway up the trail to the top of Mt. Wells.

In the middle of the summer it's pretty dry on Mt. Wells, which seems to enhance the likelihood that one will end up on their ass due to the marble-sized pebbles on the trail. Ahhh, maybe that's why the put in the handrail.

Marbles aside (actually I didn't mind the marbles) the views from the upper reach of Mt. Wells are pretty good.

Looking towards Humpback Reservoir and Mt. Finlayson from Mt. Wells.

Another view from the top of Mt. Wells, this time to the south.

The group, minus one (me), at the top of Mt. Wells. Another great night for a hike.

Hike – Goldstream Park – Victoria, BC

Kris — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 06:54:45 +0000

It’s the weekend and I don’t work on the weekends, so what am I to do, but hike or bike ride. Today it was the former… a hike with Michelle, Corinne, and Sheena. We went out for an exploratory hike at Goldstream, at least it was exploratory for me. Michelle and I have been up and down Mt. Finlayson a bunch (also located in Goldstream), but I have never been over to the west side of the highway. As it turns out, I probably should have done a hike like this a long time ago, since it was pretty fun.

Hike highlights included: nice trails, a couple otters, and Niagara Falls (not quite like the ones in Ontario, but still interesting to look at).

GPS Data: 7.0km – 2h21m – GPS route

A 7km hike at Goldstream Park near Victoria. Click on the map to see detailed GPS information on the Garmin website.

I like the forest, it's good. It was pretty warm today by Victoria standards, which when combined with lots of hills resulted in mega sweatiness.

A log crossing on the Prospector trail at Goldstream Park.

Can't remember the last time I posted a picture of an Arbutus tree. Well, actually, it probably wasnt' that long ago.

Michelle demonstrating parkour au naturel while taking the scenic route under the highway.

Oooh, a cave or tunnel or something. I'm not sure where which trail this was on, probably Arbutus Ridge Trail or Goldminer's Trail.

A note at the cave / tunnel entrance. Apparently, evidence of gold mining activity.

Railway trestle near Niagara Falls. Glad we didn't have to cross it; probably not supposed to anyway.

Heading downhill to the top of Niagara Falls. Slightly shady looking safety railings.

Niagara Falls and some other hikers/admirers.

The pond at the bottom of Niagara Falls in Goldstream Park.

My first underwater photo. You'd think with a waterproof camera that I might have tried something earlier.

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 – John Dean Park – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 06:07:02 +0000

Some Wednesday hikes are different than others. For example, there was the one where an owl almost took our heads off — feathery bastard. Tonight’s excursion to John Dean Park didn’t involve any wildlife encounters, but did take some effort to do since it’s a bit of a drive out and back. I guess that doesn’t really set it apart from other hikes in any truly notable way. I guess what does set it apart though, is the fact that John Dean Park is pretty damn nice, with a great view point at Pickels’ Bluff.

Our journey started at the main parking lot, which is conveniently located near the top of Mt. Newton. I think the trail sequence went something like Lily Pond Trail, View Point Trail, Woodward Trail, Montfort Trail, Slektain Trail, and then Thunderbird Trail and the road up to Pickels’ Bluff. Overall, kind of a counter-clockwise navigation of the park with an extra excursion up to the viewpoint at Pickels’ Bluff, which is well worth checking out at some point in one’s life.

GPS Data: 6.5km – 1h59m – GPS route

A 6.5km hike at John Dean Park near Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see detailed GPS information on the Garmin website.

Kind of shady in the forest today, literally. Consequently, not many trail photos except for this one taken near the end of the hike while heading down to Pickels' Bluff.

Meh, nice view, but not a great photo. I think that's the West Saanich Road observatory hill in the distance. Definitely looking south.

A view to the east from Pickels' Bluff towards Mt. Baker.

Looking east towards James Island and Sidney Island from Pickels' Bluff at John Dean Park.

Not sure if Trevor owns any running shoes or hiking boots, but he seemed content hiking in the Crocs, although he did mention that he should have perhaps brought the ones with the strap on the back.

Wednesday Hike – Partridge Hills – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 06:35:34 +0000

Back in May I did a mountain bike ride that included some of the Partridge Hills near Durrance Lake and thought to myself: “I should do a hike here.” Apparently, it takes me about a month to act on thoughts I have while bike riding – I guess this doesn’t apply to all thoughts while riding, otherwise I probably would have ended up in a ditch through inaction by now. Tonight, exactly one month after thinking about doing it, I did a Partridge Hills hike.

Nice trails, nice forest, nice water views… not much else to say.

GPS Data: 6.1km – 1h43m – GPS route

A 6km hike at Partridge Hills near Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see detailed GPS information on the Garmin website.

I'm not usually a fan of out-and-back hikes, but in this case it was all good because I do like winding, rolling, interesting trails.

Nice view north towards Bamberton from the top of Partridge Hills. I think pretty much any outing, hike, bike, or whatever, is better when you get a viewpoint like this.

Arbutus trees were fairly plentiful on the way up to the top of the hill. I won't complain, because I like Arbutus trees.

Oops, another Arbutus.

The rest of the Wednesday hikers on the way back down the hill from the summit.

It's like an Arbutus attack. Actually, I think I stuck this in because I liked how blue the sky was.

Sunlight through trees in the forest is pretty much alway cool looking to me.

Back at Durrance Lake at the end of the hike. There were a few Bald Eagles flying around making a bunch of noise, but I failed miserably in my attempts to take a picture of them.

Wednesday Hike – Francis King Park – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 06:40:19 +0000

The Wednesday hike this week was an outing at Francis King Park. After some recent urban-oriented hikes it was nice to get back to some forest action and all the trappings associated with the non-urban action (dirt, rock, ferns, creeks, slugs, deer, etc.) Hmmm, next week, who know where we’ll end up.

GPS Data: 5.2km – 1h15m – GPS route

A 5.2km hike at Francis King Park near Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see GPS details on the Garmin website.

Most trails in Francis King are pretty smooth like this section near the Elsie King loop.

Wednesday Hike – Rithet’s Bog – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 06:37:37 +0000

It’s been almost a year since I took the plunge and committed to doing/organizing a hike every Wednesday night. Given what I would describe as a short attention span and sometimes fleeting interest in things, I’m kind of proud that, with the exception of maybe three or four, I have been able to get something together for almost 50 weeks out of the past year. I guess it’s the variety… we don’t do the same hike every week, and with varying conditions, it’s almost always interesting some way or another.

This week was a short, clockwise loop of Rithet’s Bog. The outing was devoid of the cloud and rain of the previous weeks, but it was surprisingly windy.

GPS Data: 4.1km – 0h49m – GPS route

A 4.1km hike around Rithet's Bog in Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see detailed GPS information on the Garmin website.

We did a clockwise loop around the bog. This is the view towards the middle of Rithet's Bog from the east side.

The trail around Rithet's Bog is of the hard-packed gravel variety. There are a few relatively small hills along the way, but overall it's a pretty easy loop.

A bog and bulrushes, who knew...

The last part of the loop around Rithet's Bog (on the west side). Looks nice, but it was definitely a night to tie down anything that might blow away.

Ohhh, isn't that cute... duckies in Rithet's Bog. It's actually pretty difficult to see the water in the bog from the trail except for this one spot along the west side.

Hike – Mt. Finlayson – Victoria, BC – and Some Bike Race Spectating

Kris — Mon, 31 May 2010 03:45:47 +0000

Another weekend has come and gone… I guess that’s what they do. Shockingly, I did not ride a bike this weekend, yet I don’t feel particularly guilty about it. I did do some work today, at a cost of 40 in-my-mind lashings. A hike at Mt. Finlayson also materialized. According to my blog archives the last outing to Mt. Finlayson was last year around salmon-run time. Not much evidence of fish today, although it was nice and green in the forest, which is partly the result of said fish. The afternoon involved a short stint of bike race watching (Bastion Square Criterium – part of the Victoria Cycling Classic), coffee, and a tad more work.

GPS Data: 4.3km – 1h58m – GPS route

A 4.3km hike to and from the top of Mt. Finlayson near Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see detailed GPS information on the Garmin website.

Uphill is what Mt. Finlayson is; it's steep too. Lots of stuff to look at though if you like greenery and other nature things.

Not sure how many people read the warning signs on the way up Mt. Finlayson, but some really should. Remember the matching/association exercises we did when we were kids? The kind where pictures of loafers, heels, little kiddies, house cats, etc. do not associate with pictures of mountains. I'm just saying, and I guess the sign is saying it too; use your head. Humourous addendum to point #2 regarding finishing before dark: 'lest there be vampires in the area.'

More uphill at Mt. Finlayson, but with a serving of roots.

Shauna and Michelle getting close to the treeless alpine (just kidding, there's no alpine just some non-treed steepness).

Looks like Scottish Broom might be the official plant of Bear Mountain.

Michelle failing to pull off the Sears catalog pose on the steepest part of Mt. Finlayson.

That's me ascending the mountain (mini-mountain perhaps). I felt really out-of-sorts since I forgot my loafers. I also missed not having Mr. Cuddles (my cat) with me... ahhh, this is not the truth, I don't have any loafers and most definitely don't have a cat named Mr. Cuddles.

Wall flowers near the top of Mt. Finlayson.

Impressive mountain climbing skills were on display during our ascent of Mt. Finlayson today. Ok, perhaps I'm exaggerating.

Unfortunately, I forgot the neccessary implements for scratching my name into this plate at the top of Mt. Finlayson.

The view to the south from the top of Mt. Finlayson.

The summit party starts its descent from the top of Mt. Finlayson.

Orange route markers mark the suggested way up and down Mt. Finlayson. Bear Mountain development in the background.

Not really evident in this photo, but there quite a few people at Mt. Finlayson today. Thankfully, we only saw one person in loafers who looked like they had gone beyond their comfort zone.

More roots on the way down from the top of Mt. Finlayson.

Molto greenness on the lower reaches of Mt. Finlayson. I was somewhat disappointed at the lack of slugs today, but there will be other opportunities.

Apparently, there are no wizards allowed on Mt. Finlayson.

Road bike racing action at the Bastion Square Criterium. The weather held out this year so the racing was pretty much full sauce instead of the wet road tip-toeing action of last year.

The bunch heading up the slight, but probably annoying, hill from Wharf Street to Government Street on Broughton. This was about 10 laps to go in the Bastion Square Criterium.

Some expensive Wilier Imperiale road bikes hanging around in the Total Restoration team pit area.

The Total Restoration team vehicle at the Bastion Square Criterium. I think they're based out of Kelowna still.

Getting close to the end of the Bastion Square Criterium in favourable weather conditions. I think the guy in fifth position here ended up winning.

A tasty dinner courtesy of Michelle. Noodoos (rice noodles), spinach, cilantro cream pesto, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, and pine nuts. I have been advised to advertise that this was a 'delicious gluten free dinner' by the cook. I didn't notice the missing glutens:)

Wednesday Hike – UVic / Henderson Park – Victoria, BC

Kris — Thu, 27 May 2010 03:35:51 +0000

Summer is coming right? Apparently it’s hot elsewhere in the country; I guess maybe it’s a balance thing, i.e. it needs to be cool here if it’s hot somewhere else. Oh well, enough moaning about the weather – hiking is good in pretty much anything.

As I am the planning dictator for my Wednesday hikes I decided to opt for a short outing to the University of Victoria (UVic) grounds and Henderson Park. This general area is great for Michelle and I since it’s pretty close to home, not to mention the fact that it’s interesting on a variety of levels. I mean there’s rabbits, slugs, crazy flowers, students, and other stuff. This week we basically covered some Alumni Trail, Finnerty Gardens, and then headed off campus for a lap of Henderson Park. Goodly, despite the rain dampened enthusiasm.

GPS Data: 2.8km – 0h42m – GPS route

A 3km hike at UVic and Henderson Park in Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see GPS details on the Garmin website.

There isn't any real shortage of colourful flowers around Victoria.

One of the trails on the UVic campus and some evidence of rain.

Lots of slugs and snails (I think that's what this is) on the trails at UVic.

Part of the UVic Alumni Trail I believe. Uhhh, I feel green... how's that for cheese.

Hee hee, elevator ride to view of the campus, hee hee...

It's UVic, so there will be rabbits. Rabbits don't seem to mind going about their business in the rain.

Mo rabbits fo yo. This is in the vicinity of the medical building on the UVic campus.

Bamboo and pond in Finnerty Gardens on the UVic campus.

Purple thing-a-majigs in Finnerty Gardens at UVic.

The wood chip trail around Henderson Park was surprisingly free of slimy invertebrates, aka slugs.

Mountain Bike Ride – Hartland / Partridge Hills – Victoria, BC – I’m a Masochist

Kris — Mon, 24 May 2010 06:17:57 +0000

It’s settled, at least in my mind it is… I’m a masochist. The reason is this… I like mountain biking, but for all of the last five years or so I have chosen to ride a hardtail cross-country bike contrary to what seems like a general trend towards squishy, comfortable, suspension bikes. Basically, every time I go trail riding around here (Hartland mostly) it’s pretty much a good old beating. I really need to get current sometime in the not-too-distant future; I could do without the beatings.

On the positive side, I did manage to get into Partridge Hills for some exploring. I’ve been in P Hills once before, but may have been close to bonking at the time so my memory of it is a bit hazy. I wasn’t feeling so peppy today either, but I was going slow enough that I was able to enjoy the new-to-me trails. I guess I’ll probably subject myself to another beating sometime soon and head back up for some more exploring. Hopefully, next time won’t involve a rather defeating, post-beating, headwind back into town, and maybe the beating won’t seem quite as bad.

GPS Data: 60.9km – 3h44m – 16.3km/h – GPS route

A 60km mountain bike ride to and from Hartland / Partridge Hills near Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see details on the Garmin website.

On the way out to Hartland on the Interurban Trail near Prospect Lake. I could drive, but I prefer to ride.

Part of the Mindbender Trail in Hartland. Doesn't look too rough here, but as already mentioned, Hartland works this cross-country rider over pretty good.

Crappy photo, but someone has built a couple nice dirt jumps in the woods in a locaiton I shall leave unnamed. Reminds me of the good old days when I might have been capable of riding such things. Ahhh, the good old days.

Sweat covered GPS device says... you're going slow and there's still some more climing to the top of Partridge Hills.

My Kona Kula hardtail has served me well over the years, but I'm thinking it's time for some squishiness (a suspension bike). This was taken in a nice little meadow near the top of the Partridge Hills area.

At the top of Partridge Hills during an overcast portion of the day. Looking to the west towards Finlayson Arm.

Another view from the top of Partridge Hills looking west'ish towards Bamberton.

Sunny skies for the ride home into a decent headwind. This was taken from the Interurban bike trail near the Red Barn Market on West Saanich Road.