Welcome to Catherine's Blog

Wild Roses on Brewster Lake on the Sayward Forest Canoe Route.

We did an afternoon paddle on Brewster Lake not too long ago and were just entranced by all the wild roses, this particular area looked like someone had spent a lot of time organizing the roses amongst the tree stumps. Natures Garden art a new craze. I do have a thing about wild flowers.

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Outdoor Writers of Canada Visit June 2013

This past week Campbell River hosted 35 outdoor writers who came from all over Canada.

Teresa Davis from Tourism Campbell River and Region had submitted an application to be the host city for this AGM a few years ago and she won the bid, I believe last September. Since then she has worked tirelessly in cooperation with the president of the club Michael Snook to organize 5 days of activities, tours and meetings to keep these rather well traveled masters of the pen busy, and to keep them out of trouble.

OH what to do when the sun is shining

OH what to do when the sun is shining (sort of) and and you just want to get away from it all. Chrissy paddling Brewster Lake, Sayward Forest Canoe Route, Campbell River

Chrissy paddling Brewster Lake, Sayward Forest Canoe Route, Campbell River

Well try picking any one of the numerous lakes that surround Campbell River, grab a kayak, a canoe or a row boat and spend a day on the water.

We did exactly that this past weekend and ended up on Brewster Lake because we wanted to scout out camping possibilities on the Sayward Forest Canoe Route. Both myself and Chrissy have done this before on Amor Lake, and Morton Lake however we had never been on Brewster Lake before. This past weekend was one of those weekends where we were not quite sure if there was going to be sun or rain or thunderstorms, so we were just hoping for the best. And the best is exactly what we scored.

Bedwell Lake Trail - Strathcona Park

It has been a long time since I have been down this trail due to health reasons, so this past Bedwell Lake Trial, Strathcona Park weekend was a real milestone for me. Heather and I did the trial this past weeekend, the beginning of June and there was still intermittent snow on the ground. I had forgotten what it was like moving from snow field to rock and rock to snow field, it takes concentration, a keen eye for challenges and a little know how to make this transition smooth and safe as a little slip can see you launched down a slimy, wet, slippery slope or drop you down a gully into freezing water or worse still onto sharp rocks. More than one of my friends have gotten into trouble over the years with this, although in the end they never complained about the helicopter ride out.

You have to drive down a gravel mine road to get to the trailhead and that is about 3 kilometres up hill. The trail starts at 570 metres above sea level, and gains 450 metres to a total of 1015 metres above sea level, the trail is rated easy to moderate and you can count on 2 to 2 1/2 hours one way, I usually say count on a good solid 7 hour day, that way you can take a bunch of pictures and sit and enjoy the view at the lake. This past weekend the trail was thoroughly wet, there was still lots of snow and the trails direction was not completely clear, fortunately we knew where we were going so no worries. Judging from the heat of the day and the extent of the run-off in the creeks, it won't take long for the trail to be clear of all snow, perhaps 2 or 3 weeks tops.