Timberline Tales

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A Flower Feast on the East Sooke Trail

–submitted by John Young

An Island Mountain Ramblers’ Trip

We had two groups, and after meeting at Roche Cove and swapping vehicles, my group drove to Aylard Farm, where we started off at about 9 a.m. A hot day! Even along the ocean, but much cooler in the shade of the trees. We didn’t hurry, and our total time was 7 1/2 hours, but according to my Gaia appears the moving time was only 5 hours 39 minutes. So we revelled in the sights along this beautiful trail for almost two hours!

Starting off from Aylard Farm

Untitled photo

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–submitted by Brian Fleming
Jack’s Peak – 15.7km, 1345m elevation gain, 7.5 hours.
On May 13th, We started around 7:30am at the trailhead, a yellow gate at 300m elevation.  From there it was a pretty steady climb up the service road.  There was plenty of bear scat and we eventually saw one run across the road.

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Little Mountain from Top Bridge Park

March 11, 2023

~ submitted by Dorothy Benneke

4 of us met at Top Bridge Park while Arrowsmith Search and Rescue were setting up for some training exercises. They joked that they were close by if we needed them. One of the members quizzed me……did I have the 10 essentials? (yes) and did I leave a trip plan? (yes). Hope never to contact SAR, but grateful for all that they do.

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Mount Richards

–submitted by Mary Hof

Well it was to be the Sooke Hills with 10 people plus 3 others from Cowichan. The day of the hike it was Mt. Richards with 2 Ramblers and 3 other friends. I don’t blame anyone for canceling in the wet forecasted weather report for sure, I myself do not like hiking in rain. I must say 50 emails later of either people canceling or adding their name is a bit of a comedy. I changed it to Mt. Richards as Duncan was mid way between Victoria and Nanaimo. I want to thank Danial for braving the weather and coming out from Nanaimo. As it turned out we got no rain, and we had a wonderful hike. I did a different route from what Danial did before and he was very pleased. 

Mary Hof

 

 

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East Sooke Park – Coast Trail, return inland route (Lifetime Hiking Objective)

April 2, 2023

~ submitted by Matthew Lettington

What a perfect day on the trail! When I scheduled the trip, I had high hopes for great weather. But, as the day approached, the forecast took a turn for the worst. We all expected a cold, drizzly day, with wet brush and slippery rock. We were in for a treat!

Seven club members met at Alyard Farm for a car shuffle that allowed some participants the luxury of doing the coast trail without the commitment of following the inland route back to the cars. We started our hike shortly after 8 AM. In the dim light of the morning and in the tall trees, we had no idea what would await us when we got to the coast. 

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