Interesting ducks along the Cumberland Marsh Trails

 
By Keith and Heather Nicol

We decided to check out the Cumberland Marsh trails at Cumberland’s Coal Creek Historic Park on Sunday, Nov. 6 and we were not disappointed. We often see some ducks here that we don’t see many other places in the Comox Valley so it is an interesting place to check out.   On this morning we were saw several other people with binoculars and big telephoto lenses as we left the parking area at Jumbo’s cabin (see directions below) which was encouraging...maybe they knew something we didn’t.  The Wellington Colliery Trail starts just below the parking area on the road and it connects Cumberland’s Historic Chinatown and Japanese town. There are various interpretative plaques along the way which make for fascinating reading if you have not been here before. 

                                             Male Hooded mergansers have very unusual shaped heads

 But on this day we were keen to see what birds might be in the wetland-marshy area which is just a few hundred meters away along this trail and we first saw the several hooded mergansers with their unusually shaped white heads. At one point we saw 6 males clustered together which is a first for us to see so many together. We also saw several females but they seemed to be smaller groups away from the males. We also saw some colourful wood ducks and this marshy wetland is one of the only places we know of in this area where we can often see this ducks. Adding to the mix were many American widgeons which for us are much more common since we see these often at the Air Park and other places in Courtenay. 

                                               Heather checking out the ducks from the trail

  To get here, drive through the community of Cumberland toward Comox Lake. Look for a log cabin (Jumbo’s cabin) and a sign for Cumberland’s Coal Creek Historic Park on your left and park here. The Wellington Colliery Trail starts next to the parking area. If you like seeing different kinds of ducks check this place out and be sure to bring your camera and binoculars. For more information on Cumberland’s Coal Creek Park  see: https://cumberland.ca/coal-creek-historic-park/ 

                                                                  Wood ducks are also found in this area

 

 

 

 

Shadows are a great way to get feedback while roller skiing

 By Keith and Heather Nicol

Shadows are a great way to get feedback with roller skiing or cross country skiing on snow for that matter. I use shadows where possible to get an idea of what my body is doing since often our percption and reality are quite abit off. I know when I do video analysis with skiers in lessons and clinics skiers are often very surprised to see how they look when they ski. That good balance and style they thought they had often gets adjusted when they see first hand in video format how they actually ski. “I thought my toe , knee and nose are lined up when I free skate or diagonal stride” clients will comment - when in fact their weight stays in the middle of the track with little weight shift. Or that nice tight arm position they thought they had for strong poling in fact shows lots of poling with straight arms or A framing. Video doesn’t lie but it is time consuming to set up and you need a partner to take video of you. It certainly is not spontaneous. 

                                    Shadows will help you see where your arms and poles are when you skate

But using shadows is spontaneous since you can view your shadow as you ski and determine what your arms, poles, and torso are doing if the sun is in the right position- directly behind you.  You can get immediate feedback and adjust arm position on the fly if you see something that doesn’t look right. Shadows won’t detect all of your skiing errors since it is hard to see what your feet and lower legs are doing since that would require that you stare right in front of you without looking ahead as you should. So next time you are out roller skiing and the sun is right behind you – have a look at what you see and how you might improve your skiing. If you would like to check out our on line video instructional programme for improving your roller and/or  snow skiing contact me at k2nicol@gmail.com

      Shadows will let you see your torso and arms are doing when you roller ski when the sun is directly behind you

Searching for the Trent River Potholes using Trailforks app and a Paper Map

 By Keith and Heather Nicol

We often like to use our mountain bikes to explore new places as well as the challenge of riding down twisting turning trails of Cumberland and other single track destinations on Vancouver Island.  Our cross country ski buddy Steve had a paper map of the Cumberland trails and he noted that one trail led to the Trent River potholes. Interestingly it was not on the Trailforks app-- my “go to” app for single track riding. For those readers that don’t about it then it is a god send for scouting trails that exist not only in your backyard but other places across Vancouver Island and beyond.  But for some reason this was not marked on the Trailforks app but all the trails leading to it were so on Sunday Oct. 23 we headed out to see if we could find these potholes. 

                                                  Steve gaining lots of elevation on Sobo no Michi                 

We started by taking Cumberland’s great climbing trail - Sobo no Michi. Abit less than an hour later we were at the top and we then headed to Trent River Main to Trent River Climb which leads to the Lighthouse Way Trail. We were now in the upper part of the vast trail system in Cumberland on trails that neither of us had been on and we used Trailforks to keep us found. Portions of this route are quie steep and we ended up pushing our bikes up the hill in some places. Part way along Lighthouse Way according to Steve’s paper map a trail called Trent Potholes would come in on the left.  Curiously this trail is not on Trailforks but it did come in where it was marked on the paper map. We followed it and when the trail got steep we left our bikes to walk down to the Trent River. 

                                               Steve walking between the 2 Potholes

Of course with the exceptionally summer and fall , there was very little water in the river and we could basically walk along the river bed to 2 large “potholes”.  There was even a little bridge between the 2 potholes. On the left we could see the plunge pool of a tributary water fall that at this time was completely dry.  For those handy with a GPS the coordinates of the potholes are 49.580126 N and 125.0906648 W. It would be good to come back when more water is running in the Trent River but it was also good to see it at very low water. 

                                               Steve riding out on Trent Potholes trail

Since we were now 2 hours in we decided to head fairly quickly back to our car and so took Trent River main to Allan Lake main which connected us to Davis Lake main and out. This route back is basically on wide gravel logging roads so could be done with a front suspension bike and we even saw one person on a road bike in there so it is not restricted to full suspensions bikes by any means. Over all we traveled about 24.5 km and we gained around 650 meters so it is a good workout and it was fun to check out a new area.  For more info on Trailforks see: https://www.trailforks.com/   See you on the trails!

Using AllTrails on the Easter Bluffs trail on Cortes Island

By Keith and Heather Nicol

On a recent trip to Cortes Island from our home in the Comox Valley we were again reminded of the utility of the AllTrails app for hiking. We had gone to Cortes Island to sea kayak and hike for 3 days and  it was our first time enjoying these activities on the Island. One of the hikes that had been recommended to us was the Easter Bluff hike since it would offer great views and was relatively short so that we could fit it in around our other plans. So before we left our home I downloaded the map for this hike and I am glad I did since it came in handy on 3 occasions.

                                                                 Near the top of the Easter Bluffs Trail

First of all one of the aspects of AllTrails that I really like is that it gives the driving directions to the trailhead. In the case of Easter Bluffs the trailhead is very easy to drive past as we discovered when we sailed several kilometers past the trail start. There were no signs and the parking area is very small and is very easy to miss as you drive along. But thanks to AllTrails I activated the app and used the driving directions to bring us to the small unmarked parking lot. 

                                                            Heather starting out on the Easter Bluffs Trail

Once on the trail it is generally easy to follow but the upper part is located across sections of bare rock where the trail virtually disappears. In 2 cases we followed a faint trail that dead ended and clearly we were on the wrong trail. By using the AllTrails app it showed our location and the location of the real route and so we could see how to get back on the actual trail. So if you haven’t  used AllTrails when hiking check it out. It will keep you going in the right dirction. For more info see: https://www.alltrails.com/

                                                        View of Cortes Bay and beyond from Easter Bluffs

Sampling Cortes Island by kayak and on foot

By Keith and Heather Nicol

With the record breaking summer like temperatures extending into October we decided to head to Cortes Island to camp, hiking and sea kayak. We had only been to Cortes once before and that was over 40 years ago when we travelled directly across the island to connect with friends (Colin and Bonnie) who picked us up in Squirrel  Cove enroute to West Redonda Island and Refuge Cove.  We headed over on Monday Oct 3 and caught the ferry from Campbell River to Quadra and then to Cortes Island. With the double ferry crossing we arrived around noon and headed to our camp site to set up our tent and have lunch. From there we headed to Squirrel Cove and paddled past Protection Island to the Lagoon at the far end of the bay (3.3 km 1 way)  The boat launch at Squirrel Cove made launching easy and the back drop on the rugged Coastal Mountains made for a scenic paddle.  Earlier at the camp ground we asked about our friends Colin and Bonnie and if anyone knew anything about them. We were told they lived on Cortes so contacted them and arranged to catch the sunset at Smelt Bay Park. After kayaking we  cooked our supper at a great picnic spot at nearby Manson’s Landing and then headed to watch the sunset. Smelt Bay is a popular spot for sunset viewing and we were joined by many others who watched the sun sink behind the mountains of Vancouver Island. We had a fun time trying to remember  when we had last visited them at Refuge Cove and where we had  all previously lived in Vancouver. 

                                                        Paddling toward Protection Island

The next day (Tuesday , October 4) we headed to Cortes Bay to paddle and again there is a nice concrete boat launch making putting in our kayaks easy. One of the nice things about Cortes is that is seems to have many boat launches scattered around the island which makes putting in kayaks and other water craft easy. Cortes Bay made for a easy protected paddle (2.5 km 1 way) around an island where we saw Oystercatchers and a few seals in the water. Compared to Hornby Island where we had been the week before marine life etc was not in anything like abundance we had seen on the small offshore islands there. From there we did the short (1 km 1 way) hike to the top of Easter Bluff which we fully recommend. But don’t let the short distance fool you..you need to scramble over bare rock in places. We also checked out the gardens at Hollyhock and Bonnie showed us around the local museum – both of which are must do’s. We ended our activities in the afternoon with a hike to Hanks Beach . This is another 1 km (1 way) hike but unlike Easter Bluff is much flatter. It ends at a scenic beach area and is well worth checking out. 

                                                              Sunset from Smelt Bay Park

After checking out of the campground (on Wednesday October 5) we tried to get in a last short paddle before leaving the island but the morning tide was very low and boat launch at Coulter Bay was not as easy to use as the concrete boat launches we had used at Squirrel Cove and Cortes Bay. At Coulter Bay there was a big section of what looked like rocks and mud to negotiate before we got to the water so we decided to save that for another visit and launch there when tides were higher.  We headed to the ferry terminal and caught the 2 ferries back to Campbell River with no extra waiting and decided that fall was a great time to visit Cortes since the summer crowds had gone. We want to get back to Cortes and check out some of the other kayak launch points that we missed and do some of the other hikes that it was to offer. See you on the trail. 

                                                                  Heather at Hank's Beach

 

Hiking Destinations and Places to Explore on Hornby Island

 By Keith and Heather Nicol

We recently traveled to Hornby Island to sea kayak in 2 of our favourite places on the Island (http://keithnicol.blogspot.com/2022/09/sea-kayaking-destinations-and-tips-for.html) and also got a chance to do some exploring on foot as well. We find that hiking nicely compliments sea kayaking since one tends to use the torso and upper body while hiking is mainly exercise for the legs.  We love the hike around Helliwell Park and it is must do if you visit the Island. The full circuit is 5 km and you should allow about 60 to 90 minutes to do the loop depending on how long you spend taking photos! You can also get great views of the garry oak meadows and elevated cliffs if you simply walk out to end of trail which is just under a 1 km one way so this is an option for people that might not be able to walk the 5 km loop. 

 

                      Walking along the cliffs of the Helliwell Trail

We also love exploring the shoreline and find the beach and adjacent sloping bedrock intertidal zone at Sandpiper Beach Park an interesting place to explore. This is best seen on a lower tide. We also head to Grassy Point Park on the north end of the Island to see the sunset and on Sept 26 when we were there we were joined by several other groups with the same idea in mind. Part of the Island is underlain by sandstone and it has been carved into some interesting wave cut formations which can be seen at Ford Cove just along the shore from the Store and Restaurant there. We also make sure that we drive up Mount Rd to walk along the middle beach trail which provides great vistas of Lambert Channel between Denman and Hornby Island . This trail is a real gem is one we always check out when we visit Hornby Island. If readers have other suggestions of hikes to check out on Hornby , let us know.  See you on the trail.  

 

     Walking along the Upper Beach Trail with Lambert Channel below