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| Mt Albert Edward is one of hiking destinations from the trailhead |
by Keith
and Heather Nicol
On Monday , June 29th we decided to check out Paradise Meadows in
Strathcona Provincial Park since the last time we were there was in mid March
when the cross country ski area closed due to Covid 19. Paradise Meadows is just a 30 minute drive
from Courtenay –Comox and is a quick way to get into the sub alpine. To access
this area follow the signs to Raven Lodge and the hiking trails start next to
this building. On this hike we decided to focus on some of the wild flowers
which are easy to see along the Paradise Meadows trail. This area is certainly
popular and we were surprised to see the parking lot near the trailhead virtually
full when we got there. Fortunately there is lots of overflow parking in the
Nordic skiing parking lot nearby.
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| Jeffrey's Shooting Star is in full bloom in many places along the trail |
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The Paradise Meadows trail is about 3.6 km and you can do a shorter 2 km
wheelchair accessible boardwalk trail if you have people with mobility issues
or small children in your group. There were many species of wildflowers out
when we did the hike and there are markers identifying many of them along the
trail. We especially liked the Jeffrey’s Shooting Star as well as the delicate Arctic Lupine. The trail also gives views of
Mount Washington Alpine Ski Resort as well as several ponds. Also several
other trails branch off from these trails providing access to the higher
mountains nearby. For more information on the large variety of hiking options
see : http://bcparks.ca/explore/parkpgs/strath/. You might want to bring a tripod for taking photographs and some kneeling pads allow you get down to the flowers level.
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| Heather walking along the Paradise Meadows trail with Mt Washington Ski Area behind |
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| Many plants are identiifed with small plaques |
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