Peden Lake

Peden Lake is located above the Sooke potholes and googling will reveal several pages that indicate how to get there.  We parked at the upper most parking lot for Sooke Potholes and directly across from the lot is trail with several small boulders in front.  It's a relatively easy hike and took us 45 minutes to get to the lake.  I think we gained about 1000 feet in elevation along our trek.  

 

There is a research cabin at the lake and when we arrived a couple were encamped.  There was also another couple in the canoe that is located at the lake.  The first sunny and warm weekend with temperatures at 18C had me figuring we probably wouldn't be alone up there.

 

The lake is slowly filling in with sediments and detris.  From our perch on a rocky outcrop we could clearly see that silty shallows were encroaching on the deeper parts of the lake.  We couldnt' see any fish from our rock but we could see them leaping about out in the deeper parts of the lake.

 

This old tree had a lot of holes burrowed into it.  I'm assuming it's woodpeckers who've been doing the renovations.

 

Across the lake, above this rocky bit on the mountain there were several vultures circling in thermals.  One or two landed on the rocks while we watched.  There was also a Bald Eagle in the group.

 

A small clump of ferns on the rock where we ate our lunch.

 

The Gibbled leg.  For some reason the tissue around the incision from my ankle refit never healt to former capacity. It's constantly dry and papery.  You can also see the screw bulges just above my ankle bone.  Bone apetit!

 

Oranges are great at the worst of times.  Eaten on top of a rock at a pristine lake they are truly wonderful!  Add chocolate granola bars and cold water to the mix and there's a feast to be had.

 

The people inhabiting the cabin had strung a line for their dainties.

 

Several trees had fallen across the path in many locations.  We noticed this log had been cut right at the pint where branches where emerging from the trunk.  I've always thought trees are more or less round.  This shot clearly indicates that radial symetry is at play in this species and that the trunk isn't round at all.

 

 

One of three waterfalls we passed on the way up.

 

The path windes down to the left past this huge boulder.  It was taller than me and I'm 6'2"

 

This Arbutus tree leave had fallen to the ground and something in its makeup maintained a metallic irridescense.

 

Amongst the many millipedes and ants along the route I spotted this beetle.  I have no idea what species it is but it was trying to take off and not doing a good job of it.

 

Very close to the Galloping Goose Trail you cross the old pipeline from Sooke Lake to Humpback resevoir.  You walk alonge it for about 50 yards before heading back up the mountain.

The hike was fairly easy and the reward of having a lake at the end of it was wonderful.  Even with the steep incline in places there were ample spots to stop and rest, catch your breath and then continue on.

Mount Prevost, Duncan, BC

Mount Prevost is just north of Duncan, BC.  We have some friends that live just south of Duncan and it being a lovely spring day they invited us to haul our asses up island and go for a hike.

Sounds good to me!

Wait a minute... It's supposed to be a lovely spring day!

The car definately isn't getting up that road.

And just after the 'parking lot' that we couldn't reach there are two huge stumps in the middle of the path.  I can only guess they are up there to prevent the ATV fanatics from ripping up the area.  Of course they fail.  There is a rough beaten ATV trail just on the other side of these stumps that cuts down through to the parking lot.

There is a cairn at the top of the mountain commemorating the local soldiers that died in the first world war.  It was built in 1929 and what a lot of work it must have been to haul all the materials up there.  At later dates plaques for WWII and the Korean War were also added.

The Cairn can be seen from the foot of the mountain as a thin, white, vertical line.

It looks like there used to be a door on the cairn, but some yahoos have ripped it off and probably used it for firewood.  As a whole the cairn really could use some TLC.  Hopefully some enterprising locals will realize this and mounta  restoration effort.

 

Someone's also commemorated the life of G. Bowie who lived from 1945 until 2002.  Respectfully this isn't scraped into the side of the cairn, but is incised into a rock sitting opposite.

April 6th and the snow is quite deep in some places... I stepped into a drift that gave me a very chilled shin.  Not that perfect day to decide to hike in shorts.  Still... it wasn't cold enough so that I was ready to put on the cycling pants I'd brought with me in case of foul weather.

I suppose we should have expected to have other people sharing the trail with us on a blue sky day.  It seems like there were dozens of cars parked along the road on the last passable stretch.  A group of 2 other cars was parking just after us and they must have run up the trail behind us because they arrived only about 3 minutes after we did.

Of course the view is what people climb up here for and boy is it worth the trek!

A small lake at the foot of the mountain.

Cow bay with it's associated mud flats.

Looking toward Salt Spring Island and Mount Maxwell's distinctive drop off.

Is this a hydro right of way?  It's gotta be.

Despite some rather heavy atmospheric clutter we could see Vancouver from the top of the mountain.
I've traced distance with Google Earth and it appears Vancouver is about 67km from the top of Mount Prevost.

April 4th and we have sun!

Spring seems to be trying to take hold here in Victoria.  I went riding last week and had to take off my log pants due to it being warmer than I'd thought when I started out.  Thankfully I wear my riding shorts underneath or I would have turned a few heads even if only from horror!

Today looks like another fine day in the offing as there is sun and it's still very early.  Hopefully later I can hop on the bike and get a ride in, on this, my extra day off during Easter week.

 

The sun's really bright and it's only 7.30 am.  Last night we had some frost!

 

For some reason this particular racoon has chosen the large pear tree next door as an overnight spot.  Quite often we see it clamoring around up there.  This annoys all the birds in the neighborhood who squawk and flap about so I suppose they've been pestered by egg thieves in the past.  You can tell by the nonchalant visage that my being about 100 feet away presents no problems or concerns.

All the cats are absolutely insistant that they need feeding as soon as one of the humans is awake.  It doesn't matter if it's 3am, if a human gets out of bed it must be breakfast time.  Having 4 cats milling about under one's feet when one isn't fully awake is annoying and dangerous so out they all go until coffee and toast have been had.  Here Kira sits where she can see in the back window and protest her untimely evicition from warm house to frosty out of doors.

The Bare Esentials

Working in a grocery store, I notice the leavings of the customers.  Some arent' so pleasant.  From lost articles of clothing to post chewed chewing gum, I've pretty much seen it all.  Believe me.  It DOES get worse than a fifty dollar roast stuffed in behind slow moving dry goods.  Worse I tell you!!

However, being the eternal optimist I've chosen to focus on a particular set of leavings.  Ones I can take with me at the end of the day and not feel I need a delousing.  Ones that I won't be apprehended by store security for having on my person without a receipt.

A great many people carry small lists of essential items.  I suppose they carry them for the same reason I do... the fact that if I don't write things down these days they leak out my ear, slide down my neck and get lost on the floor in all the dust and less savory things lurking under shelves and fixtures.

I've decided to collect these little bits of memory and periodically photograph them to include here in this post.

 

Marble Goat Cheese?  I've never heard of the like.  Where can I find it?

 

Who the hell can afford to buy such basic stuff at such an expensive store?

 

This is one of mine.  Notice how everything is entirely reasonable and mostly healthy.  Notice how Dessert is listed last in the attempt that I'll realize I don't need it and skip buying it.  God I hope I didn't end up coming home with a pie that day!

 

Who the hell buys ice and why is it so important as to warrant capitals?

 

Clean ears, a happy dog and no headaches!

 

Some people even use the back of their list even if they are blithering idiots and don't realize it's not 'au jus' it's just 'jus'.  The 'au' bit means 'with'. And who the heck puts Jus on their roast when the sensible people use horse radish?