Finishing A New Hike

 This is such a pretty waterfall... it's too bad it's quite a hike... although that can be a good thing too!

Always good to know! This is a coal mining area... and you never know where you might find old workings... with holes...

Alright... let's continue this loop hike!

This is the view of the waterfall from the main trail... good thing we took that little side shoot!

We finally reached the upper part of the creek where the trail crossed the creek.  And now we're coming down the far side.

This side is wayyyyy more civilized... like a wide gravel path (we'll learn why later).

Onwards!!

Huh. Look at that... there's an old dam here! Apparently it was a colliery dam (told you there was old coal workings around here).

There's an interesting bit up near the bottom of the dam... let's just go see...

Up here... along this concrete wall that leads to the dam...

There is a big, ancient pipe coming out of the dam and going into that concrete wall.

That's pretty cool!! It must have funneled water somewhere... for some purpose...

Oooh... as we were walking we saw this... wait for it...

Do you see that black box?? We think it might be a trail camera...

Peek-a-boo I see you!!! Heh-heh... 

Or it might just be a people counter... who knows... but if it is a trail camera... someone's going to see a bear on it!! Rah!

Oooh... the wild blackberries are ready... or almost ready!

They are super yummy!

So... as we walk along this uber-civilized trail...

We see that old pipe following along with us... so this trail might have been an old road access back in the day.

Then we came across another sign for the Mackie Road Dam...

That's it down there... while the other dam we saw was a concrete dam... this one is a timber crib dam... It is at least 70 years old (early 1950s) and was built by the Wellington Collieries Company for coal mining water supply or control. But it's now not in a safe condition. It was supposed to be removed in 2023... and then 2024... but now it's due to get removed in 2025... we'll see.

Along the way... we found some horsetails...

Which are normally a foot tall or so... but these...

... are much, much taller... well over 3 feet!!

How did they know I was coming???

We are almost done our loop and found some old bridge abutments along the creek... one on this side...

And one that has fallen down on the other side.

I love it when a hike brings together nature and history!!

I also saw something interesting on that old cut log in the background...

Do you see the faces in it???

There's like a cat on the left... and... not sure about the right... maybe a camel head???

Cool!!!

The stinging nettles are all flowering... and I can touch them and get no stings!!! Cause I'm a little bear... 

And that concludes our hike today!! Now off to get some sustenance...

Ready...

A hot chocolate of course!!!!

A New Hike!!!

 A few weeks (months?) ago... we got to try out a new hike! It's been on my LBBL (Little Bear Bucket List) for a while... so we are doing pretty good on checking things off of that...

Let's go!!

It's a beary pretty hike through lush forests. There is a creek off to the right which we can hear babbling away. 

Ah... there it is!

It was fairly low water... but it's beary calm and peaceful here.

And it's a salmon bearing stream too... although we didn't see any.

We did see some Maiden Hair fern - beary pretty.

The local area has been doing some restoration work on salmon bearing side channels...

Always good to see that! Keeps the local bears happy!

Oooohhh... red huckleberries!!!

Quite a few actually. A bit tart but packed with flavour. YUM!

The thimble-berries weren't even thinking of being ripe yet. They would have made a nice mouth-combo with the huckleberries.

OK... this trail does have some uphill sections... ugh!

Ooooh... a Deer Fern... don't see this all that often. It's beary pretty with it's fertile fronds coming up in the middle (compared to the flatter sterile fronds down below).

Oh. My. Goodness... Do you see what I see?

That is a beary steep slope down to the creek with a lot of wet seepage spots and... I see...

Some devil's club!!! I haven't see ANY on Vancouver Island ever... this is the first. We know they really well from Gramma's... so this is cool to see some here.

Seee... they are nasty but also have some good medicinal properties...

Onwards!! This old cedar would make a great bear condo...

And those lower hollows could use some fairy doors.

So beautiful... soooo green!

We heard the creek again and took a side trail to check it out... beary pretty.

And then we picked our way upstream a bit and around the corner...

We found this uber cute waterfall!

We just have to dance across the stream boulders a bit more...

Oooh... ahhh... with a beautiful deep pool.

Rose might like this for swimming... although it's a good 2 km hike from any parking spot soooo... maybe not!

I'm going to sit and enjoy the waterfall and the peace and quiet for a bit...

Sunrise at the Lake

 We went up to the lake for a wee hike one morning. When it's cool out. And the hordes of mosquitoes (and people) haven't yet descended on the place.

You can see the sun kissing the top of the mountain.

It's been a beary dry summer and all the grass is already done doing it's grass thing and going to seed.

So pretty.

We are going along the lake to check on the new beach and change rooms set-up...

It's a huge expansion project... but it's not done yet... so we won't show anything to you yet.

I could sit here for hours and just watch the shifting patterns of light and shade.

Maybe one day.

Here's the swimming area... It looks the same. Rose is coming at some point in August (we hope) so that we can do the "How Many Swimming Holes Can You Do in a Day" Challenge...

On our way back we found a feather!! It looks like it might have come from a... flicker? Maybe...

Yep... it's from a Northern Flicker! We found this picture on Pinterest... looks like our feather close enough. Those are smaller ones...

Mail Call!!

Hullo!!! I know... it's been months since I last shared a mail post... 

Fun Fact: Did you know this little bear gets more personal mail than the humans?? It's true!!

Alright, first up is a beary nice bear card from Jerry & Ben... Beary nice... I particularly like the bowl of blueberries the bear is munching on...

But then I read the card and... J&B are going to ICELAND in August!!!! Without me!!!

But, but... Iceland is on this little bear's Bucket List!! Oh wait... it's called... the LBBL (Little Bear Bucket List)... anyhow... they better take lots of pictures...

Then we have a card from Ajdin!

Ajdin has a bit hit-or-miss with posting to his blog but we all know he's been struggling with a slacker of a sekrebeary for years! Good help is hard to find (don't I know this!!).

Ajdin sent some temporary tattoos (bear tattoos!). They are from Kodiak Cakes. 

Never heard of them but they do make a Double Dark Chocolate Muffin Mix which sounds yummy... Thanks for the mail guys! Now... if I could only get my sekrebeary to write some mail for me to send!! Although we might be heading into another Canada Post strike. Sigh.