Saturday, May 7, 2016

May 7 – East Sooke Regional Park

We have had such a long string of sunny days. It’s great for us but I worry about that lack of rain and the forest fires of last summer and now.

Today we headed about 10 minutes west of us to the Alyard Farms entrance of East Sooke Regional Park.

The Coast Trail runs along the entire coast of the park and takes about 6 hours to do one way. We did a small portion of it and then looped back to the car through the forest. Altogether we did about 6 km.

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Starting at the car, at the top, we went clockwise. On looking at the map I guess we didn’t quite make it to Beechey Head. The online description I found said that the Head was very close to the loop point but I guess we should have gone a bit farther. We got some great views anyway.

Off we go.

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This group each had so much stuff that they must be going to spend the night on the trail.

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We first went out to Creyke Point.

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Just can’t get enough of that view across the Strait.

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The trail went up this wall. At first we couldn’t see the trail.

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We sat for a while to enjoy the morning.

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Onwards.

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The view to Becher Bay and the beach we are heading towards.

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Carefully working our way down.

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Checking out the tide pools as the tide comes slowly in.

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Love the wild roses.

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This section was more for rock collecting.

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The Coast Trail starts at the point.

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Up we go.

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At Alldridge point there were some petroglyphs. We could only find two.

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This one was really faint.

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Always checking out the flowers.

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The Arbutus trees are always interesting.

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It almost seems like they ooze around the spots where branches have broken off.

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I took another photosphere at this spot as Jennie checked out the large Arbutus tree.

Coast Trail Photosphere

On to our lunch spot. We can stare at those mountains a long time.

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Looking onwards.

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Some hikers at the top of the cliff.

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Looking back.

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From this point on it got much rockier with more ups and downs.

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The wind was picking up but it didn’t slow this guy down.

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Here I am at what I thought was Beechey Head.

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I love these photospheres. Try and find Jennie.

Beechey Head Photosphere

Here is some help.  1/3 in and 1/3 down from the top right.

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Now we headed into the woods. The trail started steep and narrow.

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Then it got wide and smooth for most of the way. There was one long up hill and a longer downhill but it was much easier than climbing over rocks.

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This is a busy place on a Saturday afternoon although the trail did not seem that busy. A lot of families just go to the beach.

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The wind really started to pick up after we got back. Environment Canada has issued a wind warning with gusts up to 80 kph. It is much darker as well. The clouds are just flying across the sky.

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The bike and chair did not fair so well.

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1 comment:

  1. Beautiful coastal trail! Love those Photosphere pictures!

    ReplyDelete