B.C.- Sargent Bay and Smugglers Cove

Today dawned sunny and 12 degrees. We had coffee and breakfast and made sandwiches for lunch (which we forgot on the counter!) and decided to explore the coast north of Sechelt.

 

Off the highway and down into Sargent Bay. With a small parking lot, short trail and ringed by a scattering of homes.

We spoke to a woman with a knee brace and a small dog who described her scare the day before when a Grizzly and 3 adolescent cubs had been on the trail. People helped her with the dog and they all moved up the trail away from the bears and a home owner nearby drove her back to her car. The woman checking us out at the grocery store had also said that the bears were around more than usual due to the dry summer and sparse food.

Made by a local who attached driftwood he thought resembled animals, birds and fish.

There was a marsh behind the beach with beavers and fish (no, we didn't see any).

There were just a few people about, walking their dogs. We did see some bear scat and the apple trees were absolutely striped bare!

Google indicates that this could be a female Harlequin Duck. 

At the far end of the beach there was a fish ladder,

Just a trickle due to the beaver dam in the pond.

The vistor's book made mention of Grizzly sightings a number of times over the last 2 weeks.

Rick and I both started playing around with framing the sailboat in the bay.

What a beautiful place to moor.

Next up the coast Coopers Green Beach which had

tons of rose hips

and life jackets to borrow.

Back in the car and a little further up the coast Smuggler Cove Provincial Marine Park (all of these spots were free, by the way). It was Saturday and the parking lot was full and cars parked down the road. We pulled over at the bottom of the hill, near the water and walked up to the trail head.

I am amazed at the trees here, huge and straight. Rick tells me they are nothing next to the Cathedral Grove trees that we will see on Vancouver Island, but they are still the tallest trees I have ever seen.

The start of the trail was gravel and boardwalks across marshes.

When we got closer to the sea, the trail was less groomed,

with more exposed rocks and roots.

There were info boards describing the wildlife and the foliage.

Arbutus menziesii is an evergreen tree about 10 to 25 metres (33 to 82 feet) in height, but in the right conditions up to 30 m (98 ft).  The thin bark is a rich orange-red, and when mature naturally peels away in thin sheets, leaving a greenish, silvery appearance that has a smooth satin sheen.^[6] Older trunks are gray-brown near the base.^[5] Individual trees can live for over 300 years.^[5]

The leaves are thick with a waxy texture, elliptical, 7 to 15 cm (2+3⁄4 to 6 in) long and 4 to 8 cm (1+1⁄2 to 3+1⁄4 in) broad, arranged spirally; they are glossy dark green above and a lighter, more grayish green beneath, with an entire margin. The leaves are evergreen, lasting a few years before detaching. Some second-year leaves turn orange to red and detach in the autumn. from wikipedia.

We walked the loop at the end, on a headland with views all the way round. Photo by Rick.

 

Rick saw a Bald Eagle fly by and there was a couple of very noisy Kingfishers fighting over their fishing territory.

We did see a small squirrel but there were really to many people on the trail to expect any wildlife sightings. Mostly young people, I guess those who are retired hike during the week.

I had a banana in my backpack and we had eaten that before starting out. We were hungry and getting pretty tired. We had not researched how long this trail was before leaving! According to Alltrails.com it was 4.3km long and we were feeling every metre!

We were pretty happy to get back on groomed part of the trail as we knew that it wasn't that far back to the trail head.

Back in the car and we debated getting lunch out somewhere but we were only 15minutes from home, with our sandwiches sitting on the counter, so we drove home, sat in the sun and ate lunch. Tired but having enjoyed the day. Likely to take it a lot easier tomorrow.

B.C. - Gibsons to Sechelt, Sunshine Coast

 

We are staying in an apartment, in a house in a residential neighbourhood of Sechelt.

From the front window and the porch we can see the ocean.

Today we woke at 4am,(7am Ontario time) but were able to get back to sleep, Coffee, breakfast and we decided to take the path, opposite the house, that looked like it was heading down to the sea.

It was a steep, muddy trail down hill but worth it

to see some of the houses with huge tree pillars

and make our way down to the stony beach with massive tree drift wood.

Still grey, as you can tell, but about 12 degrees and not raining at this point.

Rick took pictures of me

while I took pictures of stones

and  barnacles

and logs

and scenery

and a dead crab!

We walked most  of the way back up the steep trail and the last bit through the residential neighbourhood, marveling at the plants that will grow here. Rhododendrons!

Google couldn't identify it.

Google says this is a kind of Dogwood.

Yesterday we ate a lot of "travel day" junk. Breakfast today was oatmeal and banana for Rick and yogurt, banana and granola for me. Lunch was cheese and lettuce sandwiches and then we headed out to double back on yesterdays drive. Mike had recommended that we go down into Gibsons so we drove back to take a look.

Gibsons is famous for being the location of the Beachcombers TV series.

 The Beachcombers is a Canadian comedy drama television series that ran on CBC Television from October 1, 1972, to December 12, 1990. With over 350 episodes, it is one of the longest-running dramatic series ever made for Canadian English-language television. from Wikipedia

We didn't go in, though the baked goods coming out looked great. Huge line up!

.

Gibsons has a large working harbour with tugs, fishing boats, sail boats...

and some great views.

We walked the docks

and the piers.

Then along the waterfront where we saw a Harbour Seal and this

Merganser.

Sea Gull eating a Starfish.

Lots of cafes, restaurants and shops

but we didn't partake.

Back in the car we were hugging the coast, driving north.

We stopped in at Roberts Creek Beach

About the Mandala

History: The tradition began in 1997 when local artists Robert Marion and others painted over negative graffiti in the beach parking lot. [1, 2, 3]
Design & Community: Every July, hundreds of volunteers and visitors help paint the 15-meter pavement mosaic, filling in roughly 600 individual sections with a brand-new theme each year robertscreek.com 


 




We walked out, now in rain and strong wind



on to the pier that had once hosted steamships from Vancouver.



A quick stop for wine (at he BC Liquor store, cheaper than the independent) and dish soap (from Dollerama)



and, at home, we were greeted by sun.



The perfect excuse for drinks on the porch.