Hiking Campbell Point Trail, Mayne Island

I invite you to join us in a walk along the beach at Bennett Bay... on Mayne Island.  This is one of our favourite beaches and parks on our island.

From this beach many visitors launch their kayaks... and several locals have canoes and small boats at Bennett Bay. If you rent a kayak this is where it gets delivered.

Lots of families were enjoying the beach today... and there is a part of it with some good sand.

When the tide is out you'll see in several places the lines of the rock layers.

Storms wash up some huge pieces of the driftwood on the beach,

When I saw my friend Roger taking a picture of this large piece...

I too wanted a close up of the interesting grain in this log.  I told Roger it reminded me of his hair.

He smiled and agreed.

The hike to the end of the Campbell Point Trail is pretty easy... and not very long.  You can access it from part ways along the beach... as well as from the parking lot.

But when you stop to take pictures it always takes a little longer.

Bennett Bay and Georgeson Island are also part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve... which was formed in 2003.

Georgeson Island is not very far from the point... and it looks like just a little island.  But it is likely five times longer than it is wide.  What we see from here is like looking at the end of your finger, whereas the island is your finger.

Along the trail are several interesting trees.  This huge burl will likely never make it into a woodworking project.  That is what a park does.  It protects natural beauty.

There are several Garry Oak trees at the end of the trail.  These trees are endangered... and we know from experience that to grow one from a starter is a low percentage game.  Shirley wants to try another time starting one from just an acorn.

Garry Oaks are the only native oak in British Columbia.

The survey marker in a rock at the point.

What a great setting to get a photo of your sweetheart.

In several places along the ocean we see large sandstone rocks with thousands of holes in them.

They make interesting patterns... but is there a name for these rocks?

I Googled it and the best answer is they are vesicular rocks... containing vesicles. Does anyone have first hand information about this?

Roger and Lori sat down in one of the larges vesicles for a little break... another photo op.

This blue heron also provided a photo op... doing a little morning fishing.

Climbing back up the hill from the water level we took the road less travelled... and it was a bit of a challenge.

I hope the people who carved their lovers initials into the bark are still together.

"Love me now... or love me never.
If you love me, love me forever."

"I loved you once, love you still.
I always have, and always will."

It seems like the arbutus trees draw me to take their picture... kind of like they invite some to carve their initials into them.

I don't know how this Garry Oak can grow seemingly out of a rock. Life is a struggle for these trees at best... but this one overlooking Bennett Bay has been shaped by the force of the wind over many years.

It was all I could do to catch this paddle boarder across the bay.  This wharf is not in the park...

But it always draws me to take yet another picture when the tide is out... the grain of the rock is beautiful.  That is Georgeson Island again left centre.

I had not noticed before how the rock in the bank is the same rock as on the beach.  Absolutely beautiful as it sweeps around... carved out over centuries of the washing of the waves.

These Canadian Geese spent more time with their heads under the water... feeding off the bottom of the bay... maybe grazing on eel grass.

Lori is checking out some sea life... thinking about possibilities for dinner?

Even this log provides a home for many sea creatures.

To check out some other related websites: Mayne Island Parks
They have lots of other Mayne Island things to do as well.

For a brochure from Parks Canada on the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve
There are over 30 places in this park reserve on several other Gulf Islands. I have a goal to try to see them all... so over time if you stick with me, you will see more blog posts on this theme. We're going to have to get a canoe or a kayak to get to several of the remote islands.

If you have any questions or wish printed information on the Gulf Islands National Parks... or hiking information in the Gulf Islands... here is a link to their contact information. They will send you anything they have.

My wife Shirley Ann also does a great blog with excellent photos and poetry.  click on: and the Living is Easy.

Quote of the Day:

"A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe." -attributed to Pierre Berton

Hmmmmm ...not as easy in a kayak.

Hike to Edith Point

This past weekend we had some friends visiting, so we invited them join us on a hike to Edith Point.  It is one of our favorite places to hike, but since it usually takes us over two hours round trip, we save it for special times with friends.

"Sounds of the wind and sounds of the sea
make me happy just to be."
-June Polis

We usually go out along the ocean trial, where we often see more birds and sea creatures along the shoreline.

And it is a sunny side to walk on in the early morning... with an excellent view of Mt. Baker due east in Washington.  Three men were also enjoying some time in the sunshine in their small fishing boat.

"The day, the water, the sun, the mountains, the clouds... I do not have to purchase these things with money."

It is interesting to see the erosion pattern of holes in the sandstone rock.

"Delight in the beauty that surrounds you."

There are endless opportunities of subjects to take pictures of... which makes it hard to do this hike in less than two hours when you take a camera along.

Since the tide was out, we could go down to where the starfish cling to the rocks.

"I think it annoys God if you walk by the color purple and don't notice!" Alice Walker in "The Color Purple"

A wooden starfish?

Let your imagination loose. Things are not always as we first see them.

In a couple of pockets driftwood accumulates, making an interesting pattern of large "pick-up sticks."

"The landscape belongs to the person who looks at it."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

These moss covered rocks are not usually visible unless the tide is out. I love the fresh green color.

"Delight in the beauty that surrounds you."

The owner of the property, Don and Betty Graves, live in this really cool house, which was built primarily from materials brought to the site by barge, as there is no regular road access to the end of Edith Point.

In all the years we have hiked out to this point, we had never met the owner... but when we got back to where we parked our car, Don was on his bicycle and he stopped to visit with us.  We told him how much we appreciate him allowing us to hike on his property and enjoy this little part of paridise.

"Discovering this idylic place, we find oursleves filled with a yearning to linger here, where time stands still and beauty overwhelms."

"All seasons are beautiful for the person who carries happiness within." -Horace Friess

The colorful, stately Arbutus tree.  It is starting to lose its leaves already.  By mid-August all of its old leaves will be on the ground... and new ones will survive until next summer.

"Nature is the art of God."

We take the Middle Trail back from the point... it is wider, a little more level and we find our return takes about half the time as it takes to go out to the point.

"Be a gentle friend to the trees and they will give you back beauty, cool and fragrant shade, and many birds singing."

And if the birds are not singing, they are pecking... like this Flicker woodpecker.

Shirley and Maureen walking and visiting along the Middle Trail.

More Arbutus leaves, like confetti cover the ground.  Just like after a wedding.

 

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I... I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference." -Robet Frost