Search This Blog

Thursday 8 February 2018

Mount Tzouhalem

We were off this sunny morning to look at some of the work done by a landscaping company that has quoted on designing and installing our garden. The townhouse complex is located nearby Mount Tzouhalem in North Cowichan and Shelagh thought it would be a fine day for a hike up the hill. The gardening job looked great so we have hired Apex Landscaping to get the job done here at home. I hope they'll get started soon and don't have too much of a maƱana outlook on life...

A hunter has taken out some frustration on this sign...


We parked the car at the base of the trailhead in a neighbourhood called "the Properties" in North Cowichan. Very posh homes here with stunning views. The hike is pretty much straight up to the top from where the view of Cowichan Bay is breathtaking. I am surprised that with Shelagh's dodgy knees and my dodgy hip we made it to the cliffs to take in the view. A little bit farther stands a large Christian cross. The original wooden cross was placed by local Catholic churches in the 1970s and it was replaced more than once due to weathering and vandalism. It was finally replaced with a metal one in the 1980s by the Knights of Columbus. We did not make it all the way to the cross, we will attempt that on our second climb up.


Just shy of the summit.

Along the walk, we met a young couple from San Francisco who were traveling up the coast. It's so nice to see twenty-somethings hike up the mountain with no effort. Aging sucks! About halfway up there is a spot to practice your rock stacking skills. Many cairns and some inukshuks have been built here. Great fun for young and old alike. The walk down was a bit harder on the joints and when we got back to the car both of us were a bit wobbly. Shelagh has gone for X-rays of her knees and we are waiting to hear if she'll qualify for knee replacement surgery. Our next hike will be on more level ground...



Friday 2 February 2018

Skutz Falls

About a 15 minute drive west of Duncan, in the beautiful Cowichan River Provincial Park is Skutz Falls. A perfect picnic spot in the spring, summer and fall. And a year round destination for hikers, campers and equestrians. At this time of year, with the rain fall and the start of the spring run off, the river is flowing at capacity and the roar is very loud. We followed the trail for a while but we were soon turned around because of the wet and soggy conditions. There were also some trees down crossing the trail, so our one hour walk was cut a bit short. Still, we enjoyed looking at the roaring river and I marked the spot on our GPS so we will be able to find the place easier next time. The signage is sparse. At the spot that I would go to for a picnic, a salmon ladder has been constructed to help the fish get to their spawning beds. We look forward to warmer days so we can enjoy this area with some lunch and a little glass of vino...

The salmon ladder. It is very noisy here at this time.