Our blog updates have been getting a little more frequent lately since we have been doing more things involving pictures that warrant it.
On our last blog with the Elk we forgot to include a short video of what happened here in town between an Elk and a parked car...
Wednesday (Sept. 16) was a beautiful day, starting with the early morning sun shining on the misty lake...
It ended up getting a little too breezy on the dock so we went up to the deck and continued our visit. Steve barbequed burgers for dinner...and after returning to the deck for a little longer, Rob and Nancy headed home. They wanted to get there before it got too dark.
Thursday (Sept. 17) we had a lunch packed and were out the door shortly after 7:30. Steve has been watching the tides and weather and today was the day to visit Botanical Beach...
Botanical Beach is at the western end of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. It is popular with visitors hoping to view the area’s unique marine ecosystems. At low tide, you can walk out across sandstone and granite outcroppings to see tide pools filled with marine life.It is almost an hour and a half drive on the Pacific Marine Circle Route a very windy road to Port Renfrew on the west coast of the island. This is a scenic 289 km/180 mile circle route that takes you all the way around to Sooke, Victoria, Duncan and back to Lake Cowichan. We will return the way we came though. It is recommended that you be there about an hour before low tide, so with low tide at 10:10 a.m. we hit the road early.
We pulled into the parking lot just before 9:00 and started the 2 km hike down to the beach...
Steve said this stump needs a haircut...
Looking to the right...
A 3:15 minute video tour of Botanical Beach...
Sea Anemone and snails in a tidal pool...
After a couple of hours, we were ready to walk back up to the car. The trail is actually a loop, so we did not have to go back the way we came. Although a very cool hike, I'm glad we did not have to walk back that way...instead, the rest of the loop trail was a wide rocky road that may have been the original road down to the beach "back in the day".
We sat on a bench in the shade by our car and ate our lunch and then started our drive back...but first we made a stop at the Port Renfrew Pub for a brew...
Next stop was at Pacheedaht Campground...we had camped at this First Nations campground years ago when the kids were little. Very nice right on the beach...but very windy!
San Juan River Estuary...
Steve took a short 17 second video at Fairy Lake. There is a campground here...
Harris Creek...Steve got out and walked across the bridge for pictures. All the bridges on this route are single lane...
Lizard Lake Recreation Site has a nice campground but the beach access is further down the road in the day use area and walk in tent sites...
Harris Canyon from the bridge ...
That was a great day and a wonderful tour not only of Botanical Beach but also spots along the way home!
We were sitting down on the dock shortly after 4:00 when Steve noticed smoke down the lake and realized that there was a wildfire on Bald Mountain. Steve, along with Ray and Deb's daughter Kirsti, hike to the top a few years ago. Obviously human caused with no bad weather today...
Friday morning (Sept. 18) the lake was so calm that Steve decided to go out fishing...
Saturday morning (Sept. 19) we headed out in the car down island to Rob and Angie's. Just a day trip so that Steve can line his rifle in for hunting season...Rob belongs to the North Saanich Rod and Gun Club. I tagged along for the car ride, so that I could have a visit with the kids. Turned out Conner wasn't home and Angie had a cold, so Bryce and I had a great couple of hours in Sidney, going for a walk along the waterfront and then the DQ for ice cream. When we got back to the house, Steve and Rob were back...and Conner was home! So we had a quick visit while Steve finished cleaning his rifle. We hit the road home at 3:00...for the roughly 2 hour trip back to the lake.
Sunday (Sept. 20) was a work day for us. We decided that we would not be swimming in the lake anymore, so we'd bring the stairs out of the water for the winter. There are 3 sets to hoist up...and it wasn't easy because they are full of water to keep them down. But thankfully Bryce had tied ropes on the bottom rung of each ladder when the kids were here last month...thanks Bryce! So with me pulling the rope and Steve using a long pole with a hook at the end, we managed (with a lot of effort!) to get them out of the water and Steve washed all the scum off of them...
I thought that that was all we were going to do...but Steve was on a roll! We ended up taking all of the furniture up to the basement...all 4 recliners, the fire table, 2 white loungers, all of the paraphernalia in the 2 deck boxes, along with the boxes, and finally the mat. We did leave 2 zero-gravity reclining chairs and a side table, though, so we'd have something to sit on should the weather permit it.
Needless to say, we were pooped by the time we were finished! We had a late lunch and then relaxed down on the dock until we went for our usual Sunday afternoon outing...a beer at the Riverside Pub.
