This is where we're going
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| From Places I've wandered |
Here's how we got from the 4am sunrise in Victoria, BC to after dark on top of a mountain overlooking Duncan, BC.
We started by catching the sunrising over Mt.Baker from Gonzalez Hill in Victoria.
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| From 2011-07-13 |
Then it was off west up the coastline towards the Sooke Potholes. But we were locked out. So we rambled about the Sooke River for a bit.
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| From Wandering and Wondering |
Further west we went. Over bridges and beyond. To the end of the road we sought the path.
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| From Wandering and Wondering |
We went through mossy dark primeval to make our way to the bountiful and magnificent intertidal zone
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| From Wandering and Wondering |
Two of our last three visits to Botanical Beach have been planned to allow us low tide exploration. Two of the last three visits we've seen a black bear fishing out sea urchins to eat. Coincidence? I think not!
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| From Wandering and Wondering |
We walked the shore until a chasm we couldn't cross dryly, forced us into the woods.
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| From Wandering and Wondering |
There was time for one last dash along the sea past all sorts of intriguing geology.
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| From Wandering and Wondering |
then it was back into the shelter of the forest and to quest for the trailhead.
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| From Wandering and Wondering |
Leaving behind the Pacific Ocean and Provincial Park we drove deeper into the mountains along less traveled routes which afforded great discoveries during bathroom breaks.
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| From Wandering and Wondering |
We made a quick detour and discovered a giant spruce and a large maple.
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| From S&G Day1 |
We explored canyons most usually drive over and forget.
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| From Places I've wandered |
We discovered an old suspension bridge that lead to an overgrown path of rusted debris and local history being consumed by the rainforest reasserting itself.
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| From Harris Creek Suspension Bridge Discovery |
We explored a waterfall beneath an old concrete bridge footing alongside the road.
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| From Harris Creek Waterfall - A Shorts and Gaiters Adventure |
And that's how we found ourselves over 200km, and approximately 16 hours from when we started,
cruising up a dirt road on the side of Mt.Prevost.
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| From Places I've wandered |
I haven't mentioned that the car's radiator wasn't a happy one and that we always had to be aware of the potential of overheating.... as we continued up.
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| From Places I've wandered |
Finally we had to stop and let the car cool down. What a fabulous time to dig into some photoadventuring food! Yes, we split a tub of cookies and cream ice cream while pulled over on the side of a logging road halfway up a mountain watching a Travelling Wilburys music video on youtube on Karsten's phone.
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| From Places I've wandered |
A drive to the parking spot, followed by a brief but intense summiting as dusk fell led to the following photos
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| From Places I've wandered |
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| From Places I've wandered |
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| From Places I've wandered |
then it was time to find our way back down the trail, mostly on it, in the dark so we could get things from the car and sleep before sunrise and the start of day two. Because this is a two-day adventure around Southern Vancouver Island after all.... ;)
see you in the morning ;)
MM
