A few pictures from the winter
Buzzing with Projects
One of our big goals has always been to have a trail that goes through all of the planned cutblocks in the Walbran Valley. While the current trail network showcases some of the best of our ancient forests, most people don’t realize that it’s almost all protected from logging. None of the proposed cutblocks go near the trails and the trees are for the most part well within the protected parts of the special management zone.
We believe that the current trails don’t give the public an accurate sense of what will be cut, and also helps the logging companies argue that their activities won’t affect our beloved Walbran. We’ve always wanted to have a trail that went through all the planned cutblocks so that people could see the actual flagging taped boundaries, and witness with their own eyes which trees are marked for harvest.
This past fall, our project got underway with bang! After extensive exploratory bushwacking, a tiny grove of behemoth cedars was discovered nestled between 3 cutblocks. The grove was on par with any of the other groves in the valley and had arguably more giants per square acre than anywhere else. We explored the hillside looking for good trail lines and found even more giant cedars and doug firs all over the place.
After a few weeks of exploring and building, our new trail is almost ready for unveiling. A long, challenging loop trail that will get the stoked up for big tree lovers and hikers alike. The trail will go through some of the most striking features of this forest, while dipping in and out of the flagging boundaries. You’ll be amazed and saddened by the size of these trees, and by the sight of the flagging tape. The trail will also have a special extension to THE best view of the valley. High up on a rocky outcrop, the trail overlooks the walbran, Anderson lake, the falls, and the pacific!!!!
The trail isn’t done yet, but stay tuned. It will be ready for the spring :-).
New Trail in the Walbran
A few weeks ago, Will and I headed off to the Walbran to do a little bit of exploring, and ended up cutting a pretty sweet trail to a recently discovered grove of massive cedars.
The trail isn’t quite finished so I won’t give away too much, but I will say this; the trail goes by over a dozen cedars over 12m in circumference, a couple giant doug fir trees (super rare in the Walbran), and a mega tree over 17m in circumference. Sadly, almost all these trees are well within the proposed cutblocks on the hillside and could be cut down at any point…. Stay tuned for more info & trail maps,.
We headed to the valley late in the afternoon and by the time we got to the FSR, it was pretty dark outside. As we drove up a hill about 40mins behind Cowichan Lake, the sky lit up with a dim orange glow and a pretty dramatic scene unveiled itself. Across the valley, the whole hillside was on fire. You hear the crackle of these gigantic fires, see the huge flames shoot up in slow swirls, and hear the sound of a city block worth of wood being burnt to the ground. Since the weather had cooled off, logging companies were starting to burn slash piles. It’s a forest fire prevention strategy done after a harvesting operation to try to curtail the debris left behind drying out and catching fire in the summer. Doing controlled burns in the wet fall/winter seasons removes the fuel sources and helps return some nutrients to the soil. I gotta say though, seeing this massive fire without any supervision was a little disconcerting. Two years ago, some of these burns got out of control and resulted in multiple hectares of forest being burnt down.
Ontario Road Trip
Last August, me and Emma went on a sweet cross-canadian road trip from the West Coast to the Ottawa Valley. With Vanie, a 1998 Toyoto TownAce van stuffed with climbing and paddling gear, we cruised through winding mountain roads, flat prairie plains, and beautiful ontario shield landscapes.
Highlights:
I tried whitewater paddling for the first time. Experienced a new level of fear….
Got to climb some awesome sport and trad routes in Nelson, Thunder Bay (sandbag capital of the world) and in the Ottawa area.
Explored Algonquin Park. Found zero moose :-(
We saw some freaking butterflies hatch over breakfast!!!
About that last comment; Emma’s dad had placed monarch butterfly chrysalis all over his house, and every day over breakfast we got to see a few of them hatch, dry out, and fly away!!!!
Sad Cutblocks
If you adventure on Vancouver Island, you’re going to have to interact with logging at some point. Every trailhead for any backcountry adventure starts and ends with a logging road, main line or spur. In the last 150 years, 75% of our island has been logged. Even worst, over 90% of our big tree ecosystems (valley bottom, productive forests), have disappeared due to logging. These iconic trees, the massive mega giant cedars and douglas firs, need tens of thousands of years of forest development for the right conditions to grow, then 1000 to 1500 years to reach their size. These trees are disappearing and wether or not you’re for or against our current logging practices, it’s pretty sad to see these giants being cut up for lumber.
Earlier this year, I came across one of the saddest scenes I had ever seen. Emma and I were driving towards Port Alberni from Tofino, and after about 40mins of driving, we found a cutblock on the side of the road littered with some of the biggest trees I had ever seen in my life. Over a dozen massive cedars had been fallen for what appeared to be a highway expansion project. It broke our hearts to see this destruction for more pavement…
