My Favorite Links
- WebCams (BC)
- TWP TW Paterson
- Kinsol Webcam
- Oregon Highway Cams
- WJI's YouTube VIDEOS
- CPO MESS
- Bigwave Dave Cams
- Flickr Photos
- History Cedar Hill Golf Course
Archives ON
my walking weBlog
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Elk/Beaver Lake Park
Our main interest in being here this day was to checkout the construction of the new weir at southern outlet of Beaver Lake. For years the lake level and Colquitz River waterflow have been controled by a weir at this location. For whatever reason the Capital Regional District (CRD) is building a replacement weir while the older weir remains fully functional. The entire construction site is fenced off so it impossible to get close enough to take any descent photographs of the operation but we did our best.
What a beautiful place to walk. On a hot day like this day, we chose the better part and confined our walking to the shady, forested trail on the western side of Beaver and Elk Lakes. We could have done the ten kilometre loop but fully half of it is in the bright sunshine. It's a no brainer.
V&S Plaque
Labels: elk/beaver lake regional park, walked
Monday, August 25, 2014
Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre
Monday we drove to Sooke but not to cycle nor walk. Kind of refreshing in a way.
Elida Peers, curator at Charters Salmon Hatchery and Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre, and her volunteers did a wonderful of job of putting together a first-class exhibit at the marvelous venue she and her team were so pivotal in completing on the banks of Charters Creek at 2895 Sooke River Road. Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre opened its doors to the public September 28, 2011.
Water Pipeline Exhibit at the Charter River Salmon Centre Sooke Lake Water's Incredible Journey To Victoria
The mammoth undertaking of constructing a water pipe flowline to carry water from Sooke Lake to supply Victoria has to be one of the most remarkable feats of engineering ever to take place on Vancouver Island. 37,000 concrete sections, 4 ft diameter by 4 ft length were manufactured on the shore of Sooke Basin and transported by narrow gauge railway northwest as far as Sooke Lake and east as far as Goldstream, where the Humpback Reservoir was built to facilitate the distribution of water throughout Victoria. Visitors are invited to view the fascinating pictorial history of the challenges and the people who made it all happen, during the years 1911 to 1915.
Co-sponsored by the Sooke Region Museum, the show will take place daily, August 1st through September 28th, from 10am to 4pm, at the Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre, 2895 Sooke River Road; Phone 250-642-6351 or 4200.
Elida Peers, curator at Charters Salmon Hatchery and Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre, and her volunteers did a wonderful of job of putting together a first-class exhibit at the marvelous venue she and her team were so pivotal in completing on the banks of Charters Creek at 2895 Sooke River Road. Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre opened its doors to the public September 28, 2011.
Water Pipeline Exhibit at the Charter River Salmon Centre Sooke Lake Water's Incredible Journey To Victoria
The mammoth undertaking of constructing a water pipe flowline to carry water from Sooke Lake to supply Victoria has to be one of the most remarkable feats of engineering ever to take place on Vancouver Island. 37,000 concrete sections, 4 ft diameter by 4 ft length were manufactured on the shore of Sooke Basin and transported by narrow gauge railway northwest as far as Sooke Lake and east as far as Goldstream, where the Humpback Reservoir was built to facilitate the distribution of water throughout Victoria. Visitors are invited to view the fascinating pictorial history of the challenges and the people who made it all happen, during the years 1911 to 1915.
Co-sponsored by the Sooke Region Museum, the show will take place daily, August 1st through September 28th, from 10am to 4pm, at the Charters River Salmon Interpretive Centre, 2895 Sooke River Road; Phone 250-642-6351 or 4200.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Up The Grind
Thursday we walked 3.8km roundtrip up The Grind and over Mt. Tolmie under sunny skies. The temp was a balmy 21°C. (70°F.). We followed our usual counterclockwise route back through Finnerty Gardens.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Leechtown Exploratory Expedition 2014
Our son, C. was up here last month and said the security fence at the watershed gate had been beefed-up so we went to take a look. All the land between the GGT and the Sooke River is within the Kapoor Regional Park (KRP) boundaries. We walked along the fence and took a look at the fence extension and the access into the KRP. It looks about the same as it always did with the exception of one length of fencing.
On our way outbound, we first stopped in at the Canadian National Railway (CNR) former railway spur to access the Sooke River. What a beautiful spot along this river. After leaving there, we took the old trail toward the east and visited the old, derelict, logging artifacts hidden in the bush. The broom-bush has sure taken over in there!
From there, we stopped at the Vancouver Island Placer Miners Association (VIPMA), the 150th anniversary, commemorative monument located at the northern end of Kapoor Station clearing. We followed the trail down behind the monument to Wolf Creek. The Sooke Regional Historical Society (SRHS) has erected a sign along this trail since the last time we were there (2011). It's titled Leechtown and includes some relevant information regarding the 1864 gold strike in the area. To the SRHS's credit, this sign does not state this is where the goldmining town of Leechtown was located. That's just what this area needs: Another sign stating where Leechtown WAS NOT.
Perhaps the CRD plans to designate this trail as the main route to accessing the Deep Pool at the confluence of the Sooke and Leech Rivers. This seems to be the place everyone want to go when they are in this area. The only way to get here is either to walk or cycle. if this is the CRD's plan, they are going to have to build a footbridge over Wolf Creek where this trail presently ends up at. That's always an option.
We didn't want to navigate the gully down-and-over wolf Creek so we backtracked and came out at Wolf Creek bridge on the GGT. This is also, logically, another way to access this trail to Wolf Creek.
Next on our adventure list was a ride down to the Deep Pool from Kapoors' red gate. The red gate is where the former Leechtown Station was located when the CNR operated the Galloping Goose, passenger train service starting in 1922.
Once down the hill, we hung a right and crossed the Sooke River on our secret, cedar deadfall which lays across the river. Once across we. came out at the Leechtown, replica cairn on Cragg Main logging road. From where we proceeded 40m to the Grizzly. The grizzly is the remains of a monolith by that name used to screen gravel (aggregates) for building logging roads. It was probably actively used up to the 1970s
Once back in KRP we were not done yet. We crossed the Sooke River again from the gravel bar near the Deep Pool. This crossing has only recently been accessible due to the heavy brush that used to engulf it. Someone hacked it out and there is now a well-defined trail leading from here -- through the heart of what was the townsite of Leechtown -- up to Cragg Main logging road. This, basically, brought us right back to where we were when at the replica cairn. We could see the cairn from where stood on the road. So that was pretty much it. We had a snack beside the Deep Pool and meditated in the shade on this hot, summer's day. An unbelievable day, really. What a privilege
to get into the outdoors and enjoy such wonders!
Once back in Victoria, we had lunch at our favourite Chinese buffet (all you can eat).
Picasa Photo Album
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Walked Cedar Hill Golf Course
Monday, August 11, 2014
Cycle to Kapoor Station
Today I cycled 15km roundtrip on the Galloping Goose Trail (GGT) from Sooke Potholes to Kapoor Regional Park (KRP). It was a bit of a cooker out there at over 30°C. but I was able to maintain my usual cycling pace at 35-minutes outbound and 30-minutes inbound on the DH. But who's counting?
My objective for this outing was to sleuth out the old railway spur (long since gone) that used to branch off the CNR mainline at the southern entrance to where Cameron Lumber Co. operated their sawmill from 1934-50. D.O. Cameron built a steam sawmill in 1934 at The Clearing. D.O's brother, Jamie (J.O. Cameron) and Bart Westbrook were the logging contractors.
D.O.'s son, Newton Cameron and his daughter, Loula Mearns, started Sooke Lake Lumber here in 1947 and named it their "Leechtown Operations". This operation closed at Leechtown Operations in 1950 when they devoted their time to Victoria Plywood plant.
Even after Cameron closed their mill in 1950 this spur-line was still in use by other operators who used The Clearing as a log sort. All the mills along the CNR north of here in the Cowichan Valley shipped their logs south through this location and due to the expanded railway facilities here at the former Sooke Lake Lumber site, this area saw lots of railway freight sorted and shipped from here. By 1955 logs were being trucked through the watershed (Goldstream) to Cameron's Victoria Plywood operations.
The old spur today is just a level right-of-way: no tracks or ties (except for one railway tie laying in the bush). Jamie Masters has a photo of this spur in use with loaded log-train cars on it. The best part of the spur today is, it leads down to a reasonably good swimming area on the Sooke River. What more can one ask for on a hot, summer's day in Kapoor Regional Park?
My objective for this outing was to sleuth out the old railway spur (long since gone) that used to branch off the CNR mainline at the southern entrance to where Cameron Lumber Co. operated their sawmill from 1934-50. D.O. Cameron built a steam sawmill in 1934 at The Clearing. D.O's brother, Jamie (J.O. Cameron) and Bart Westbrook were the logging contractors.
D.O.'s son, Newton Cameron and his daughter, Loula Mearns, started Sooke Lake Lumber here in 1947 and named it their "Leechtown Operations". This operation closed at Leechtown Operations in 1950 when they devoted their time to Victoria Plywood plant.
Even after Cameron closed their mill in 1950 this spur-line was still in use by other operators who used The Clearing as a log sort. All the mills along the CNR north of here in the Cowichan Valley shipped their logs south through this location and due to the expanded railway facilities here at the former Sooke Lake Lumber site, this area saw lots of railway freight sorted and shipped from here. By 1955 logs were being trucked through the watershed (Goldstream) to Cameron's Victoria Plywood operations.
The old spur today is just a level right-of-way: no tracks or ties (except for one railway tie laying in the bush). Jamie Masters has a photo of this spur in use with loaded log-train cars on it. The best part of the spur today is, it leads down to a reasonably good swimming area on the Sooke River. What more can one ask for on a hot, summer's day in Kapoor Regional Park?
Thursday, August 07, 2014
Cadboro Bay Bicycle
Thursday morning I cycled 7.5km (4½sm) roundtrip from home to Cadboro Bay. I took the UVic route outbound and inbound.
Cadboro Bay GPS Coordinates: 48°27'32.18"N 123°17'39.70"W
Cadboro/Gyro Park upgrades Here's what Saanich Municipality has to say about it:
"The big red Octopus was successfully moved in June 2014 into its new home at the Cadboro-Gyro Park.
The 15 tonne iconic structure was moved 17m to cluster the play equipment as part of the repair/replacement plans that include accessibility upgrades.
Thanks to the Parks planning/design & construction staff plus the good folks from Built-Rite/Level Lift for helping to move the Big Red Octopus safely & successfully."
Wednesday, August 06, 2014
The Grind over Mt. Tolmie
This morning we walked 3800m up The Grind and over Mt. Tolmie returning home thru Finnerty Gardens.
This photo is geotagged in my Android LG phone and uploaded directly by using the Flickr App. Cool.
FlickR automatically puts it on its map. Cool.
This photo is geotagged in my Android LG phone and uploaded directly by using the Flickr App. Cool.
FlickR automatically puts it on its map. Cool.
Monday, August 04, 2014
CHGC Walk
