Hornby Island is magical in the Fall- Part 2

By Keith and Heather Nicol

 On Saturday, October 20 we were pleasantly surprised to see the sun glinting off the Chrome Island Lighthouse from the waterfront deck of our  Ford’s Cove Cottage (http://fordscove.com/) .  The forecast of fog for Saturday morning had thankfully been wrong and so we decided to make this a mountain biking day. Mount Geoffrey Regional Nature park is laced with mountain biking trails which are suited to a wide range of riders.  

 

Heather looking toward Denman Island and Chrome Island Lighthouse from the cottage deck

       Heather prefers pavement cycling so I decided to explore some trails I hadn’t ridden before. We had only brought bikes on one other short trip to Hornby Island 2 years prior and so had just cycled a few of the 40 or so trails that the Hornby Island Mountain Bike Association has created on the island. Before you head out be sure to get a copy of the trail map (check them out on line at http://www.hibike.ca/ )

 

Keith on the Outer Ridge trail with views of Lambert Channel, Denman Island and the Mountains beyond

      Since I knew from past experience that the views from Outer Ridge were amazing I rode and walked up that route from my starting point off of Euston Rd. I then passed the summit cairn on Devil’s Kitchen before heading to Purgatory. These 2 trails are rated as advanced so I rode parts of them and walked the very steep sections.  Route finding is fairly easy with a map since most trail junctions are sign posted. The plan was to meet Heather at Slade Road while she hiked the Beulah Trail so I picked several connecting trails that brought me to that point. I chose to ride Washing Machine which proved to be  great trail with smooth banked turns.  What I appreciated about these trails is that many are well suited to entry level riders and I could see many others to do on our next trip to Hornby. 

 

At lower tides the sloping bedrock at Sandpiper Beach makes for an interesting surface to explore

      We lunched at Little Tribune Bay and decided to also check out the Sandpiper Beach which has the added bonus of wave washed tilted bedrock platforms at lower tides.  We finished our trip with a return to the Middle Bench trail (at the top of Mount Rd) which had been foggy the day before. Now it was in bright sun and it was a perfect place to sit on a cliff side bench to await our 4:00 pm ferry. An ideal way to end a trip our autumn trip to Hornby Island.  

Heather at along the Middle Bench Trail overlooking Lambert Channel