May 11 – Galloping Goose Rail Trail

Even though we had a long day yesterday, it is hard to wake up and see yet another gorgeous clear blue sky day and not do something.

We had biked some of the Galloping Goose Trail when we were in Victoria. It runs all the way from downtown Victoria to the Sooke Potholes. It crosses a road less than a kilometer from our RV park. We rode west towards Sooke through the countryside. Once the scenery started to get urban we turned around and headed back home the way we came. Just a short ride at about 25 km, to get outside on a nice day.

The map shows some of the other close by hikes we have done.

As with all rail trails there was not a huge amount of scenery, just a mostly flat and smooth path through the trees and rock cuts.

We have got to stop trying to take pictures as we are moving, especially in the dark places. Everything just ends up a blur.

After the first few km we did pass beside Matheson Lake and Roche Cove but only got a few glimpses, mainly through the trees.

There were only a few people on the trail, bikers and walkers but one large group of bikers went by.

Off into the distance.

There were a few very steep dips down and back up to go across some creeks.

Going down the brakes would barely hold to keep us going slow and under control . On the way back up we walked and even that was tough, pushing the bike. I didn’t feel to bad though because that large group had passed us at one of the bridges and almost all of the them walked up. (They were mostly middle aged or older.)

Once we started to skirt the ocean we got a few more views.

I didn’t take any pictures as we got closer to town. There was nothing memorable. Eventually we turned around and decided to have lunch at one of the nicer ocean viewpoints.

The Olympic Mountains always seem to be off in the distance, even here.

Some poppies on the hill behind us.

Once we got back to the road crossing near the RV park, I had originally thought we might continue on for a while towards Victoria but we decided that we had had enough for today and headed home.

Once again we have crossed off all the must do things I had researched. When planning I didn’t want to count on so many days of perfect weather. We will probably take tomorrow off and catch up on some chores  but mainly relax.