Swimming with salmon in the Puntledge River

 by Keith and Heather Nicol

On Thursday August 17 we headed to Puntledge Park in Courtenay to check out the salmon in the river. We had seen salmon jumping the day before when we tubed the river so we thought we would see quite a few when we returned on the 17^th with snorkels and a water proof camera.  The day was sunny and warm with temperatures hitting 27-28 C so it was perfect day to see what lay below the surface.  We headed for the pool just off the gravel beach and we quickly saw many salmon. We usually see pink salmon at this time in the river and they seem to have a 2 year cycle with every odd year showing a big return. So 2023 should be a good year and we weren`t disappointed.

Salmon are now in the Puntledge River

 The current is strong in places and the rocks are slippery so you need to pay attention. We wear water shoes to protect our feet from the rocks and wade out several meters from shore before diving in and swimming over the salmon. The current will take you down near Morrison Creek and then  you need to swim hard to get to shore. You can also swim to the other side of the river where the current is slower and you can more easily stay in one place. With some warm weather forecast for the next several days this is a great chance to swim with salmon. Puntledge Park in located just off of 1^st Street in Courtenay. Check it out if you want to see an amazing show of nature in our backyard.Click this video link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YWL060GokU    to see the huge numbers of salmon that are currently in the river (as of late August 2023) .

Using Alltrails for the Lake Helen Mackenzie and Battleship Lake Hike

 by Keith and Heather Nicol


Alltrails is a great app for hikers to know about even if they know the trail they want to hike and have been on it several times. Alltrails has a free and paid version of its app and although the free version has lots of utility the pro version allows you to download maps and use them off line as well as off route notifications etc. But if you already know the trail and have hiked it a few times why would you go to Alltrails to get route info etc? The main reason is to find out what conditions are like at the present time. Since users provide regular updates you can find out if a trail is muddy or full of mosquitoes at the present time if people have posted updates on conditions recently. Note that not every trail you want to hike will be on Alltrails or would have had recent posts about trail conditions but it is always our first "go to" .

 For instance, we hiked the Helen Mackenzie and Battleship Lake trail on Friday, August 4 with our daughter Kristie and her boyfriend Eric and used the app to find out what conditions were like.  We have done the hike previously so didn’t need the route info and trail description that Alltrails supplies. It turned out that any people had done the hike in the past week and posted info to Alltrails.  Although a couple of hikers mentioned bugs were annoying at times most people remarked about how great the swimming or views were along the trail. In fact 1 person said it was the nicest hike they had ever done!! Given this report we decided not to carry much insect repellant and in fact weren’t bothered by bugs at all. A slight wind that came up on the last half the hike probably helped abit as well. Overall the hike took us about 2 and 1/2 hours which included about 15-20 minutes for lunch at Lake Helen Mackenzie- see picture below. Our total distance was measured at 9.2 km which is higher than the Alltrails distance of 8.2 km. But we recorded our distance from the Raven Lodge Parking lot and we did an extra small loop around a small peninsula sticking out into Lake Helen Mackenzie which might account for some of this difference.  

                                            Kristie and Eric along the shore of Lake Helen Mackenzie having lunch  

Of course the main application of Alltrails is to get trail info about hikes that you have never done and it is a great tool for this. In this case, the paid version might well be worth it. For information on Alltrails see: https://www.alltrails.com/  .  See you on the trail. 

                                    You get great views of Mt Washington Ski Area from Battleship Lake 

The Filberg Festival has something for Everyone

 by Keith and Heather Nicol

The Filberg Festival is this weekend in Comox and offers something for just about everyone in terms of music and artisan vendors. Over 100 vendors have displays of art work, pottery, food, clothing and many other unique products and over 40 musical groups are playing on 2 stages through the 3 day event. Saturday, August 5 was hot so we really liked the shady setting of the festival . We would have melted had been out in the sun the whole day. 

                                       Alex Cuba played to an appreciative standing room only audience 

Another tip is that we  recommend people be sure to check out the music on both stages. Although the Rotary Main Stage is the place to be for the headliner acts we love the Garden Stage for is more intimate setting and location by the ocean. You never know who you might here and we loved the performance by Le Ren from Montreal who was joined by her friend Ella Korth. But if you missed her performance on Saturday she is going to be back on stage on Sunday with Ella Korth at the Garden Stage. Her folk music was a real highlight for us. We also really liked the music of Alex Cuba who shows you the kind of talent that the Filberg Festival attracts. In his case he has won both Juno and Grammy Awards!! And even though Alex Cuba was born in Cuba he now lives in Smithers, BC – who would have guessed?

                                          We love the Garden Stage with its more intimate setting- Le Ren and Ella Korth

Sunday promises to be another warm day so prepare by bringing water , sunscreen, sun hat and sunglasses. Also a blanket might not go astray since you can lay it out under a tree and take a break when you feel you need a break from the hot weather. 

                                                       There are lots of vendors to choose from!

Remember that the Festival is the main fundraiser for the Filberg Lodge and Park so you have one more day to come out and support this fine festival. Also on tap for the last musical act of the night is Jill Barber, another Juno award winner.  You won’t want to miss her show. When you consider the inexpensive cost of a day or weekend pass given the quality of music you can listen to, it must be one of the best bargains around. For more info see filbergfestival.com. See you there.

                                           The Festival is a fundraiser for the Lodge and the surrounding Park

Movin’ and Groovin’ at the Filberg Festival in Comox – Friday, August 4

 By Keith and Heather Nicol

   The World Renowned Filberg Festival is back again this year and we love its combination of music and artisan crafts. And the setting is perfect for the hot weather we have been having since most of the site is shady and it is on the ocean so you usually get a nice breeze close to the water. This makes this location ideal since the forecast for the weekend is hot and sunny.

 

                                            Elise Leblanc and The Ridgeriders played to a full house on Friday

With over 100 vendors displaying their wares it is overwhelming to try to see it all at once so we suggest getting a weekend pass to be able to leisurely return to check out those vendors that you want to buy something from. And since the line up of musical groups numbers close to 40 for the weekend- a weekend pass lets you hear much more music than a single day pass.

                                    The seaside setting makes for a great location for this event

 Some other tips that we have learned from attending past festivals-  1) get down early you can get better parking places closer to Filberg Park. 2) Bring plenty of water, sunscreen, hat and sunglasses. 3) We usually don`t bring a folding camp chair since they have lots of seating at the 2 musical stages but a seating pad won`t go astray. 4) Pick up a programme so you know who is performing when and where and it also has a map to all the vendors. 5) Scout out the vendors on the first day and once you know who has the items you are interested in you can go back on the next day to pick up the unique handcrafted gifts, clothing, food or art work that is available at the Filberg Festival. 6) There is lots for kids to do so make this a family event.

                          There is lots for kids to do- so make this a family event - check out the Enchanted Forest

Also a reminder that the money raised for from the Filberg Festival goes to restoring and improving Filberg Park and Lodge so come out and take in the great music and arts and crafts displays.  For more information on the Saturday, August 5 and Sunday, August 6 line up of artists and performers at the Filberg Festival see: http://filbergfestival.com/   . We are really looking forward to catching Juno nominated singer Jill Barber on Sunday afternoon and Alex Cuba who will be performing with his brother and father on Saturday evening! See you there!!