Mount Hayes, Christie Falls, Camas Ridge

March 30, 2024

~ submitted by John Robertson

Seven Ramblers connected at the trailhead. Some were old hands and some were new to the club. We started out on time, gradually making our way up the mountain in the near-perfect conditions. We paused for views as we encountered them, benefiting from the excellent visibility.

Conversations waxed and waned as the path became more moderate or more steep. A snack at the summit, then the descent to Christie Falls (approached from the “other” side), and another snack.

Then more descent, and a climb up onto Camas ridge. The Camas were out, but not yet blooming. Another snack (one can’t have too many) then off the ridge, and a bit of a wander in the woods below.

Back to the cars on time, and satisfied with he morning, we bid each other goodbye until the next adventure.

Christie Falls, Thistle Mine, Camas Ridge

—submitted John Robertson
February 6, we opted for a circuitous route to Christie Falls, via the old railway, and Arroyo Road. Conversation made the kilometres pass quickly, and we were at the old cabin  in three quarters of an hour. From there we continued to the falls. Several of the hikers had never seen them, and were suitably impressed.
We then continued to the abandoned Thistle mine. Those that wished to, entered and explored the mine. We had a snack, while idly searching the tailing pile for stray pieces of copper ore.
Next, we headed to the North end of Camas Ridge. The green of the moss was brilliant beyond words. As we continued along the ridge,the sun finally joined us, giving us bright warm sunbeams through the Arbutus trees.
On the way back to the cars, we diverted slightly, to the site of the old Regan resort, to explore what ruins remain.
Then we were back at the cars. We said our goodbyes and carried on with our Sunday.

Christie Falls – Thistle Mine – Camas Ridge

~submitted by Bil Derby

May 27, 2018

Eight of us gathered at the end of Arroyo Road just south of Ladysmith to make introductions and swap out flip-flops for boots before starting up the logging road at 09:00, right on time.  The grind of logging road walking was offset by laughter and stories as we wandered along to the trail that leads up to the old cabin and on to Christie Falls, or in Mike’s words it’s “Christie Hill” for lack of water.

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Thistle Mine Christy Falls Ramble

–submitted by Ken Warren

Well the weather forecast was accurate, but six of us zipped up our rain gear for our ramble north of Ladysmith. There was a bit of snow on the ground so we missed the trail into Camas Ridges but had no trouble finding the Old Thistle mine. We had a good look through the 1904 mine workings, but couldn’t see the ore seam as it was too wet. Bush Creek was in full flow and both lower and upper Christie Falls were quite impressive. A great day for this hike and thanks to all for your company.

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Triple Feature, Mines, waterfalls, ridges

–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.

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