Tuesday, September 12 to Wednesday, September 20, 2023 (Puntledge RV Park, Courtenay, BC)

It was a rather drizzly, gloomy day Tuesday (Sept. 12) when we picked up Don and Rhonda (my brother and sister-in-law) at Kal Tire. They are getting new tires and asked if we were available to go out for a hike and lunch while the work was being done. We picked them up at 10:30 and headed to Nypmph Falls for a hike. 

As you know, we have been to this park many times...it's one of our favourites! Don and Rhonda had never been, so it was nice to show them this park and take them on the hike we really enjoy. 

We hiked the Long Loop Trail that we often do (rather than just to the falls), a beautiful hike that is just shy of 5 kms...and the rain held off for us!

After lunch at the Whistle Stop Pub, we dropped them off back at Kal Tire. A wonderful way to spend the day!

Wednesday (Sept. 13) we were back to our normal routine. I had just gotten home from shopping when friends from Peace Arch RV Park in Surrey stopped by. Don and Judith are visiting the island and stopped to see the park we had  "settled" in.

Great seeing them and getting caught up with what's going on at Peace Arch...a park we have spent so much time at!

We decided on Thursday (Sept. 14) morning to change up our walk...it was a beautiful sunny day, so lets check out a new hiking trail! We had passed an area on our way to Nymph Falls where there was always a lot of cars parked along the side of the road, so we thought we'd see what the attraction was. It was the trailhead to K'omoks Treaty Lands and Tribal Park and Wildwood Interpretive Forest...actually, there are five access points to the Wildwood Forest and it has multi-use trails.

Although a sunny day, unfortunately some smoke from the wildfires nearby had drifted in again, so we kept our hike to a relatively short one. We noticed that there are a number of geocaches located in the park...we managed to find 2 but we will definitely be back to hike the rest of the trails and hunt for more! 

Definitely smokey...very noticeable if you look back down the trail...

Beautiful trails...

Our first geocache...

Venturing off the main trail in search of another geocache. We later discovered that this one no longer existed after checking log attempts...

Our last find of the day was very unique...

A tiny micro cache hidden in the bottom...

That afternoon, Steve walked down to the bridge to see the salmon...

Then he returned to the campground and walked the road that leads to where the Tsolum and Puntledge Rivers meet... 

Friday (Sept. 15) was another beautiful day, so we went back to the Wildwood Forest to do more geocaching. We went to a different trailhead this time.

My first find...

A fern forest...

Steve got to this one first as we ventured off the main trail...

The trail we took today ends at a road...another park trail continues on the other side so we will check it out another time. We made a left and walked along the roadside to reach the gas/hydro trail that loops back into the trees and eventually meets up with the trail we started on.

This old barn was on a property along the road...very cool...

Another cache found!

It was a long hike...our GPS says 7.6 miles (12.25 km)...so we were glad when we finally got back to the car! We had found 5 caches but got skunked on 2.

That evening, we joined Earl and Allison at Kin Beach Provincial Park for a picnic dinner. It was our first time being there. Such a beautiful evening!

Earl and Allison picked up a pizza...thanks guys! We supplied desert...cookies and fruit.

Still a little smokey but such a gorgeous evening...

BC Ferry from Powell River to Comox arriving...

BC Mainland in the distance...

A Kingfisher...

A great end to a beautiful day!

Saturday (Sept. 16) morning we did a walk that we have done many times...this time though, I checked the geocaching app on my phone and we went in search of one along the way.

Found it! It was hidden in a block of wood in the storyboard along the trail near the creek...

As we were walking along the trail, we saw a black bear cross the trail ahead of us...probably the same one we saw the other day.

On our way home, we  stopped at the bridge to check out the salmon...lots of fishers out there! Love seeing the kids out too...

There is apparently another geocache hidden along our walk around the Airpark, so Sunday (Sept. 17) morning we decided to try and find it. It was a very clever hide on the bottom of a light standard, held in place by magnets. We did get a little help from a fellow geocacher that happened to be walking by!

Steve had looked at this but figured it looked like a normal part of the post...very clever!

Our morning walks have been very educational for me...Steve has taught me the phonetic alphabet. I have the registration down pat on each plane we pass...."Charlie, Golf, Foxtrot, X-ray, Hotel"...

The visitors centre is next to the path we walk and apparently there is another geocache hidden somewhere near the train but we couldn't find it!

Tonight was date night! We started off with drinks and dinner at Gladstone Brewery...

And then walked across the street to the Sid Williams Theatre to see the Canadian rock band from BC, Chilliwack, in concert! Check out this link for some of their top hits that you may recognise...

Not the greatest audio on this 1:40 minute video...we were in the second to last row in the nose bleed section! 😂

With the weekend over, Monday (Sept. 18) morning we headed back to the Wildwood Forest to hike the rest of the trails. We've been on a geocache hunt craze lately!

There it is!

Now this one is unique...the hint was "look for something out of place". A cow-patty on the side of a log? Hmmm...I prodded it with my hiking pole and broke a small piece off...oops! 😕

And look what I found...

Another one...

We found a 'Path Tag' in one of the caches...Pathtags are personal trading items. Used most often in Geocaching, they are also very handy for Scouting, Military and Promotional use.
Unfortunately, I didn't make note of which geocache we found it in...and I'm not sure whether I feel like signing up with PathTags to log it. But here it is!

This was the end of the line...the last cache tied to a fox. There were a couple more but looking on the logs for them indicated that they hadn't been found for quite a long time. Unfortunately some people don't maintain the geocaches they have placed.

Another great hike in a lovely park! Have we mentioned that we are very pleased with our decision to make Courtenay our "home base"? So much to see and do in this area!

Tuesday (Sept. 19) morning we saw this new family behind the trailer for the first time...a doe and her 3 fawns...

As we were about to leave for our morning walk, my brother, Doug, from Chilliwack called. We are buying his small travel trailer and he wanted to know if we could take it now, since he needed the room back in his driveway. Our cell service here at the RV Park is spotty...which really ticks me off since we are on the edge of a city. So we had to call Doug back once we got to the parking lot at the Courtenay Airpark. No problem, Doug, we will work on the logistics...storage and transport and get back to you.

After our walk, we stopped by a couple of storage places...of course, the one we wanted was full but they put us on a wait list. Long story short, we ended up with a spot at a commercial business off Royston Road that has a big storage area that is fenced and gated. It's a side-line business for them...with a very reasonable rate, so decided our new trailer will go there until we can get a spot at the place in town.

Our long-time friends, Rob and Nancy, have a pickup truck that they tow their trailer with. They have agreed to take us over to pick up the trailer the week after next. Thanks guys! It's going to kill us having the trailer now, but nothing to tow it with...sorry Buster, but you have to go soon!

Wednesday (Sept. 20) morning we had our usual 3.5 km power-walk along the Riverway and  Courtenay Airpark. We have been having some fabulous weather...but that is supposed to end by the weekend with major rain forecast for the next couple of weeks. This is actually good because we really, really need the rain. Apparently we've been in a drought since last fall!

Some pictures from our walk...Lots of geese resting in the Lagoon Salt Marsh before they continue their trek south...

Lots of seals hanging out on a tiny island at the entrance to the Puntledge River...

Great Blue Heron...

The salmon are finally coming up the channel under the foot-bridge we cross that enters the Lagoon Salt Marsh...

After lunch Steve "made" his heated hose for the trailer. He had purchased a Camco heated hose but after giving it a good try for over a week, we just couldn't get rid of the awful plastic taste, so we returned it and Steve decided he would build his own. 

Steve here: We had to buy a 25' water hose as our existing one was 50' and not required. I ordered a Heatit Self Regulating Water Pipe Heating Cable that adjusts its power output based on ambient temperature so it doesn't overheat or burn. After taping it to the bottom of the hose, I covered it with pipe insulation. 

Yup...time to get ready for winter!