Blackwater

On Sunday, May 20, the Caledonia Ramblers will be leading a Easy Moderate C2d hiking trip at Blackwater.   The carpool fee will be $12.00.  Please meet behind City Hall at least 10 minutes before departure time of 8:00 am.

For information on the hiking trip please contact Dave at 250-564-8887.

You can find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CaledoniaRamblers

Twenty-seven hikers including six guests came out for the easy two hour trip on the Piderny Trail – South-West Loop. This trail, although only about a 10 minutes drive from downtown Prince George, meanders through an area of forest having a distinct backcountry atmosphere about it. There is plenty of Moose and deer sign, and some of the trees have been virtually fallen by the efforts of what are clearly very large woodpeckers on steroids.

This Recreation Site has a huge and varied network of trails to explore, some of which have colourful and puzzling names that have the effect of perking one’s interest into why a particular trail earned that name. Our trail is not shown on the map, and we gave it a rather more conservative name than what the others trails have. This trail begins at the yellow entrance gate and climbs immediately up a hill for 30 minutes passing some large Douglas Fir along the way that were spared from logging that had taken place many years ago. Once up the hill, the trail winds through a mixed and attractive forest of old and new growth including more large fir trees.

The trail gradually makes its way downhill then winds south west uphill before completing the loop and going down the first hill we began on.

It was a nice sunny day with even sunnier chats and laughs along the way.

You can view photos from the hike by visiting the Gallery.

Nowell’s Moose Encounter Story

Listen to Nowell’s story about his evening Moose Encounter this past February.  This was recorded on the May 6 hike at Piderny at the exact spot that the encounter happened!

The Ramblers first hike of the season had 26 participants. We took the Greenway Trail for just over 2 km, and then took the Western Loop past the “Whose Home” interpretive trail to Forests for the World, the look-out platform, down past the water tower and back to the Greenway Trail parking area.

The weather was overcast with the sun struggling to shine on us; the weather was mild with the last of this winter’s snow reluctant to leave with patches here and there saying a last good-bye.

It was a leisurely trip with long breaks for snacks and chats, and we were out for three and a half hours.

You can view photos of the hike by visiting the Gallery.

Although the weather was cloudy with rain at lower elevations and snow falling higher up, with no views of the surrounding mountains once on the ridge – we nevertheless had an enjoyable day of snowshoeing.

Of course, it is still winter in the mountains with record levels of snow pack, but the beauty of the route we took through the inland temperate rainforest close to the Ancient Forest Trail, compensated for the zero visibility we had once on the ridge.Our trek began through antique stands of cedar – some of which are about 1000 years-old. At higher elevations, large hemlock replace the cedars, and higher still almost at tree-line are the Engleman spruce and sub-alpine fir – all of which make for an interesting forest experience.

IF we had had clear visibility on the ridge we would have had good views of the Vineyards Ridge in the Caribou Mountains in the south, McGregor Mountains in the north, and the Rockies looking north-east. As it was cold and wet with nothing to see from the ridge, we had a quick lunch and hightailed it back down to our vehicles in almost half the time it took us to get up on the ridge for a total round trip time of five and a half hours and elevation gain of 664 meters.

Our guest, Hardy, came down a little too fast and fell through a fast melting snow-bridge and into the fast-running creek we had to cross to reach our vehicles. This was very helpful to those of us who were behind Hardy because it showed us where not to go, and to consequently find a more reliable crossing of the creek.

This marked our final official snowshoe trip of the season with our first hike of the summer to begin next Sunday April 29, on the Greenway Trail.

You can view photos of the trip by visiting the gallery.

Some of the current rotation of Katimavik volunteers showed interest in visiting The Cliff located off the Blue Spruce Trail, so we set off Saturday morning and did the trip in two hours out and back. Snow is fast receding and we managed without snowshoes.

You can view photos from the trip by visiting the gallery.

Viking Ridge

Seven of us enjoyed a leisurely 10 hour snowshoe trip to Viking Ridge on Sunday. We approached the ridge via the established trail route, and although dark clouds circled ominously as we arrived at Caribou Meadows – they kindly moved on leaving us with clear visibility for the rest of the day, especially once we were on the ridge.

From the summit we followed the sickle above the lake that took us to a northerly route back to the trailhead. Along the way we saw lots of mountain caribou sign; we always do in the winter because of the lichen-laden forest in the area that the caribou depend on to survive.

Of course, although summer looks like it’s around the corner in the city, it’s still winter in the alpine, but perfect for snowshoeing; the snow is packed down, there is more sunlight and daylight and the weather is warmer. So what if the estimated 8 hour trip turns into 10 hours – it is an extra 2 hours of enjoyment and you still get home before dark…Just!

The only real challenge for us was falling through the rotten warmed-up snow at the lower elevations on our return, but otherwise it was a perfect day and good preparation for our final snowshoe trip which will be at Driscoll Ridge next Sunday (estimated trip time 8 hours!).

You can view photos of the snowshow trip by visiting the gallery.

Mystery Lake

We began at the wildlifeviewing area and headed for the Willow River where we had great views of the McGregor Mountains in the north east, and the river below us – a good spot for a long relaxing lunch under a blue sky and a blazing sun. After lunch we spent about  two hours searching for Mystery Lake south west of our lunch spot; when we arrived at the lake, it was a very tiny little thing still frozen over with the remains of old trees still standing resolutely out of the icy clutches of the lake.
Another 90 minutes of bushwacking through the last of the snow remaining from the winter of 2012 took us back to our vehicles. Our total distance for the day was 8 kilometers over 4 hours and an hour for lunch. We saw plenty of sign of moose, hare,squirrel, and a solitary lynx.

You can view photos of the trip by visiting the Gallery.

Forests for the World Full Moon Snowshoe

On Friday April 6, eleven Katimavikers joined six Ramblers for the full moon hike at Forest for the World. We began by walking up to the lookout platform where, with the city lights of Prince George winking at us, the Katimavikers sang a blues song from Carolina. As we made our way to Reflection Lake the glowing full moon rose in all her glory – although none of our pictures were able to depict this. With it being Easter week-end, students from the University of Northern British Columbia were letting off steam with a full moon party at the picnic site beside Shane Lake.

This will have been the first, and probably the only time that the shouts and laughter of UNBC students enjoying themselves at Shane Lake at night-time were joined by young Katimavikers singing their songs in a forest bathed by the light of a full moon.

You can view photos of the trip by visiting the gallery.