Pestered by wasps and other biting insects on those two earlier trips, I deliberately returned late season. No bugs.
This time I headed for the Troubridge Trudge section:
Oct 24 – Lang Bay to Golden Stanley hut (km 145) Oct 25 – Golden Stanley to Mt Troubridge hut (km 158) Oct 26 – Troubridge to Fairview Bay hut (km 173) Oct 27 – Fairview to Lang Bay (km 180)
You can hike 42km in either direction. It’s called the trudge as this is the highest section of the Sunshine Coast Trail.
I assumed I’d have Troubridge hut to myself again when Chris and his dog arrived. Rather than sharing a small space, Chris took the A-frame. I stayed in the hut on my own.
He had the views of Jervis inlet and could see all the way to Powell River.
Turns out winter camping is quite comfortable — when you can sleep in a hut rather than a tent.
I took plenty of winter wonderland video. And later managed to accidentally delete most of it. Somehow. 😕
Oct 26 – Troubridge to Fairview Bay hut (km 173)
More good weather. I was worried the descent might be slippery, but new snow was mostly grippy. No problems in approach shoes.
Navigation no problem in winter either.
I stopped 800m lower for lunch at Rainy Day lake (km 169) which has a hut.
Winter hiking is much different than doing the same thing in summer.
Eventually snow disappeared. Went away. Like magic. 😀
On July 1, 2020 I cycle toured Gabriola Island, the first time I’d been back to the island since I was a kid on family summer vacation.
Gabriola is about 14 kilometres (9 mi) long by 4.2 kilometres (2.6 mi) wide, about the same land mass as Bermuda.
I caught the ferry over from Nanaimo in the early evening.
Next morning, while celebrating Canada Day, I was reminded that descendants of the original inhabitants are still there — the Snuneymuxw, a First Nation of the Coast Salish People.
Sobering.
First stop was the Malaspina Galleries, a sandstone cliff carved by wind and waves. Lovely shoreline, as well.
Though decommissioned in 1999, you can still climb the wooden stairway with 4,444 steps. The longest wooden staircase in the world.
Some call this adventure Flørli 4444.
There are longer staircases in the world. Highest is the service stairway for the Niesenbahnfunicular railway near Spiez, Switzerland, with 11,674 steps. But that one is only open to the public one day a year.
As I post the current operation system of Mac computers is called Catalina.
… only 27 miles off the coast of southern California.
Though Catalina is a short 90 minute boat ride away, it feels like another world. There are two small, quaint towns on the island — Avalon and Two Harbors — and the remainder of the island is primarily wilderness managed by the Catalina Island Conservancy.
The 37.2 mile Trans-Catalina Trail traverses the entire island, from Avalon on the eastern tip to Starlight beach at the western end.
Of course, once you get to the end, you’ve still got to hike back to Two Harbors to catch a boat back to the mainland. This adds another nine miles, making the total mileage a bit over 46 miles — perfect for a long weekend backpack getaway. …
UPDATE – About 7500 hikers have permits for the West Coast Trail starting May 1st. But the hike is not being prepped right now — my guess is that it will be closed for all of 2020.
Since the start of this website we’ve ranked the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island our favourite multi-day hike anywhere.
besthike.com 