–submitted by Phil Dol
Eight hikers showed up on an overcast day to wander through the forest in Ladysmith. Our hike started from the gate at the end of Oyster Sto’Lo road just outside Ladysmith around 9:30am. The hike along Camus Ridge was spectacular, once we dropped down the ridge and through the alder slash we came upon an area of freshly cut timber alongside the road. We continued along the logging road until we reached the trail up to Thistle Mine.There were a considerable number of trees that had fallen across the path up to the mine which made for a few trail detours.
At the mine several of the group ventured into the mine shaft, two of the more adventurist members scaled up a small air shaft to pop out above the entrance of the mine. After taking a lunch break at the mine we continued on our way to Christie Falls. With the recent rain and snow fall the water levels in Bush Creek were quite high providing a spectacular amount of water flowing over the the various falls. On the way back from the falls we made a detour to the cabin for a quick look around. We returned to the cars by 3:00pm having traveled approximately 12km.
