~submitted by Karen Armitage
May 5, 2018
Five hikers converged at 9:00 am at the Crofton trailhead, and were quickly underway along the blue trail. We worked our way along the well-marked trail, enjoying the ferns, arbutus and oak trees along the way. Camas lily were blooming on the rocky headlands. Throughout the day, we encountered several other hikers, with and without dogs. We passed the first pink trail junction and continued to the second, gradually gaining some elevation. Once we started up the pink trail, we climbed more steadily, motivated by the thought of enjoying lunch at the top.
We rested for about 30 minutes at the top, looking out at Samsun Narrows and ignoring the power station (?) at our backs. Descending by the northern-most pink trail, we encountered considerable windfall and had to pick our way through downed trees and branches. At the blue trail junction, we conferred and agreed to drop down to the yellow trail. Along the yellow trail, we encountered some beautiful large arbutus trees and more oaks. After stopping for another quick break along a rocky knoll, we made our way back up the blue trail, where some of us stopped for a cold face-splashing at the waterfall.
We were back at the vehicles by 4:20 pm, tired and sweaty, having logged about 14 km (according to my step-counting app). A nice day-hike with interesting company.
