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Jan, 2010 (1)

A Kayak Adventure

blog by Kelly Hodgins

Powell River has countless lakes and endless ocean, so a visit to Powell River would be incomplete without engaging in at least one water-based activity! Although we have tons of companies catering to this industry, they are always hopping! Kayak rentals and tours, canoe rentals, fishing charters, swimming, diving, snorkelling, dinner and lunch cruises, zodiac and scarab tours...no matter what you want to do on the water, there is a business to accommodate you!

Last week my friends and I took a grand adventure: A kayak tour with Alpha Dive and Kayak! This company will also rent kayaks, but my skills are FAR from the level where I’d feel comfortable in the absence of someone experienced to panic at. We had a group of 5 girls, plus our guide, Anamika, who was fabulous! Alpha drove the kayaks to the beach and unloaded so all we had to do was show up. It’s just couldn’t have been easier!

We set out from Willingdon Beach at 6:00 and paddled slowly (the speed being dictated by me, I suppose, as I was the slowest, with my kayak making a rather ineffective zig-zag as I worked out the best steering techniques. I kept lagging behind, which brought back memories of swimming lessons when I was 7, when my sub-par stroke couldn’t keep up with the rest). After shoving down that bitter memory’s rearing head, I quite embraced my back of the pack position, pretending my role was imperative; keeping an eye on all my friends. Truth be told, there was infinitesimal danger of anything going wrong on that glassy, quiet ocean. The most I was doing was providing them breaks as they waited for me to catch up.

Working in tourism, I have the perks of being able to learn all about kayaking, the different tours and the locations for a perfect paddling. We have SO many kayaking destinations in our expansive marine network, and there is only a handful I would rule for a beginner. Our oceans and lakes are gentle and any beginner has a great variety of choice without having to worry one iota about capsizing! I chose a 3 hour, evening paddle to see the Hulks and am convinced it was the best choice for us! We made it to the Hulks, Powell River’s iconic warship-turned-breakwater ships outside the mill, and explored the ten of them closer than we had ever been, imaginations captured as we considered their glory days, pondered the trees and grasses growing haphazardly out of some crumbling sterns. Seals came to say hello, and an eagle eyed us for ages from atop a ship before swooping over our heads to skim along the water. The ships are amazing up close, looming tall into the sky, and looking a sort of destructed-majestic.

The trip back was leisurely as we clumped together, all chatting over the quiet splash of our paddles ...perhaps the best way to spend a summer evening with friends. At this point our wisdom in choosing to take a sunset tour presented itself. The sun slid down, painting the entire shoreline gold, and making the water sparkle. If the trip had been amazing before, by this point we were awestruck. We pulled up our kayaks as the sun’s last warm rays slid down beside Harwood, and ended our trip with an ice cream cone from a local vendor, all agreeing that it was perfect, and definitely something to be done again soon!

Attack of the Geocacher's

blog by Jackie Wallace

My first find left me like an addict wanting more, it also made me want to share my new favourite hobby with the world, or at least a couple of my friends. Just like me, they took to geocaching like a moth to a flame and soon Powell River was under attack. In one night we did four, and we would have continued into the wee hours of the morning, but we were ill prepared and unfortunately did not think to bring a flashlight (a very valuable tool when geocaching at night).

The First Find

blog by Jackie Wallace

There are no words to explain the rush of excitement that I felt having just found my first cache. After prepping for hours getting my brand new GPS programmed and ready to lead me towards the unknown, I was ready to discover what everyone is talking about. My goal: the Haslem Lake cache (GC2A08X); with this lake not only being one of my favourite lakes in town, but one of the warmest, I was ready to make this destination my first. As I was getting closer and closer I felt like a kid on Christmas morning, so close to the cache that I could almost smell the find. But, like a rookie I had no idea what or where to look for, if there were any “Muggels” around I would have looked like a chicken with its head cut off. Although, after some determination and creative thinking there it was, my first cache!!! I signed the logbook, and that’s all it took for me to become hooked! Geocaching is a scavenger hunt for the 21 century, it is a great way to get out there and explore the world, or even your own community. Visit www.geocaching.com to get started on your own adventure.



blog by Josh Statham

Elise and I have started off actually trying a few trails we discovered in this year’s Discover Powell River Magazine. This annual tourism magazine is a great advertisement for our town, featured in over 110 visitor locations in the province, and is also useful for people visiting PR, but don’t forget, you receive a copy each year, so use it.

Last Sunday we opened up our Discover Powell River Magazine and Elise suggested we try the Toquenatch Trail. On one of our recent outings we coined the phrase “Adventaster” (Pronounced Ad-Vench-Tas-ter), a combination of the words ‘adventure’ and ‘disaster’. We’re still exploring sans compass, so we’re sticking to easier hikes, never-the-less, we still seem to get lost just about every single time, but we eventually find the right way, which is part of the fun.

The Discover Powell River magazine had a great write-up on Toquenatch trail, in which it was described that you will end up in Toquenatch, at the head of Okeover Inlet, where Sliammon band uses tidal mud-flats for commercial oyster and clam growth. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to write about them, because our version of the Toquenatch Trail did not include a trip to the mud-flats, but it was an excellent day in the forest.

Toquenatch trail starts less than 4km up Southview Rd., just after Sliammon reserve. This is one of the best things about it; it’s only minutes from town, and you don’t need a 4 x 4 or even a truck to get to it. We drove out with a picnic, which we don’t always do, but have discovered that even if the hike ends up being shorter than expected, it’s better to have an extra granola bar or two in case we make a wrong turn.

Last Sunday was rainy, but I always wear shorts, no matter the weather, it’s just easier, and besides, nothing is more waterproofed than skin. A few minutes in to the hike I ditched my Powell River Kings hoodie behind a log, as we were for whatever reason jogging, not hiking, and already warming up quite a bit despite the grey, wet day. The trail begins as a series of boardwalks and bridges (watch your step, a few bridges are nearing the end of their life span as I nearly found out) over both marshy wetlands and clear pebble-bottomed creeks. Toquenatch (if you were wonderings) is a type of fir, which you will observe along the way. Perhaps more impressive than the massive girth of a standing Toquenatch is the massive tangled root system of one long since fallen over.

Soon the boardwalks and bridges turn to a narrow path, heavily over-grown at the time by big ferns. Now for the first time the grade varies, but for the most part the whole trip is fairly flat. When the trail opens up again you’re on the path of a Nineteenth Century train track system that was integral to the logging industry in this area. Soon you’ll hit a fork in the road; a short walk to the left and a vehicle access road, or, keep straight on back to the river, where you’ll cross several new bridges, take in some refreshing open areas of sun through a beautiful forest canopy, and eventually end up 3.5 km from where you parked on Southview Rd. Luckily we bumped in to some locals who knew the trails well and pointed us back to Southview Rd. In hind-site I think we would just take the trail all the way back though instead of trodding on a gravel road for another 20 minutes.

The path we did travel took about 1.5 hours at a walk/run pace. If you’re like Elise and I, you’ll love the historical value of the forestry and fisheries roots displayed along the hike, and you can’t help but marvel at the Toquenatch Firs, standing tall for over 1,000 years! It’s an all ages hike, and can easily fit in to an afternoon, or, spend some time exploring the other trails along Southview Rd.

Pe‘Tales’ of a Flower Lover in Powell River

blog by Elise Statham

“The earth laughs in flowers”. ~Ralph Aldo Emerson~

I can still recall the first time I experienced the lushness of the west coast rainforest. Summer vacation had finally arrived and my family travelled from Calgary to Victoria, making stops along the way. It was the first time I’d experienced the majesty of the mountains (after all, Mount Nemo along the Niagara Escarpment doesn’t really count) and the first time we witnessed just what happens when you mix flowers with temperate warm, damp weather...an explosion, of course!

You see, I grew up in the dirt. The Vos family has a loooooong love story with greenhouses, flowers, and photosynthesis. Flowers were in our blood. Flowers were what we did and do. When we initially witnessed the absolute monstrosity of the flowers, leaves, petals along the Coast we were, quite simply, flabbergasted. It was true – everything in BC is bigger and better!

Now, years later, I find myself living in the mildest climate in Canada right here in Powell River. The summers are warm (but not too hot, we have the ocean breeze to cool us down after all) and it seems Old Man Winter has no grasp on our coastal community as it skips straight from autumn into spring. You’ve truly never experienced tulips, daffodils & hyacinth until you have lived in Powell River! These hearty bulbs bloom in the garden from February until May.

Gardens are alive and thriving in Powell River! This past weekend was the annual spring Powell River Garden Tour. I, along with my mother-in-law and Grandma Kay, pranced through the gardens and petal sanctuaries dotting our map. We inhaled the honey sweet scent of the wisteria, marvelled the lipstick red of the poppy, tapped the water droplets off the leaves of the bleedings hearts, and stood in awe of the perfect indigo lupins stretching to the sun. It was bliss, pure bliss. This is a tour not to be missed!

The gardens of Powell River extend from the white picket fenced yards of the Townsite and the rolling greens south of town and into the coastal rainforests which so lovingly hem us to the sea.

I constantly stumble upon petaled beauties while hiking the Sunshine Coast Trail and the Duck Lake Trail system. A few weeks ago on the Sweetwater Trail, I came across a lovely pansy with its sunny face peeping through the moss. While a little stinky (okay, okay – I’ll admit it, I kinda like the smell), skunk cabbage found along the Cable Trail (also known as swamp lantern) is the forest’s very own version of the calla lily with its bright yellow spadix. I witnessed the heads of the fiddlehead fern beginning to gracefully uncurl along the Toquenatch Trail. Wild purple lupin grow along the Powell Forest Canoe Route access road. I plan to take a stroll up the Switchback Trail (across from the street from the Shinglemill just up to Wildwood) within the next few weeks as it’s also gained recognition as ‘orchid ally’.

Beauty is everywhere you look in Powell River.

Curious for more info on gardening and wildflowers in Powell River?

Connect with the Powell River Garden Club at (604) 483-4965, the Garden Tour Committee at (604) 485-2860 (Diana Wood of Bowood Cottages) and the Malaspina Natural List Club (604) 485-0077.

Sunshine Coast Trail Takes on Four Runners in Documentary

blog by Darren Robinson

The Sunshine Coast Trail may very well be the Sunshine Coast's best kept secret....until now.

The 180 km trail spans from Saltery Bay up to Sarah Point in Desolation Sound and features some of the most breathtaking vistas found on BC's mainland. From impressive bluffs, ocean panoramics, abundant wildlife, to waterfalls and unique rainforest vegetation, the trail offers enriching rewards, with a side of C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-E. Just as four runners from the Lower Mainland found out while filming an extreme documentary entitled "XS-NRG".

The film is now getting some great exposure as everyone is curious as to how badly our infamous trail kicked their butts! You can see the movie during a special matinee on Saturday April 24th at 2:00pm at the Patricia Theatre, Canada's oldest continuously operating theatre.

For more about the documentary and the world premiere, visit XS-NRG Matinee
Or, you can view the trailer here XS-NRG Trailer

A Shot of Appleton

blog and photos by Darren Robinson

Up until this point, the word Appleton has meant nothing more to me than as the brand name of a certain Jamaican rum. A very YUMMY brand of rum indeed. Little did I realize that it is also the name of a very yummy two kilometer (or so) trail just north of Powell River, along BC’s infamous Sunshine Coast. The trail is vastly rich in rewards and challenging enough to justify mixing the night’s tea with an ounce (or two) of the finer liqueur.

Finding the trail head wasn’t easy. Driving up to it almost cost me my Hyundai. Overstatement? Yes. But it could easily had happened if I had been going fast enough. Glad I wasn’t.

The road was great until the first of two washouts jumped out at me like sniper ninjas, my poor Santa Fe catching its first taste of air, at least since we’ve owned it anyways. It shouldn’t be too difficult to remember those hazards on the way back.

And then there’s the signage. Or rather, the lackthereof. Oh wait, there is one sign, it just doesn’t offer any clarity or definitive direction. It’s standing well away from the trail head and doesn’t point anywhere. I know. Where do you sign up for this hike, right.

But hey, it’s all an adventure and the best is still to come, I assure you.

Yes, I’m kind of obsessive about waterfalls. There are worse things to be obsessive about. I don’t know, they just move me. They make me happy. And this trail is chalked full of them.

The Appleton Canyon trail head is marked by aging pink ribbons waving mysteriously over a narrow trail in the gravel pit parking lot just before the less-than-helpful trail sign that sits on the main road. All things good are worth hunting for. I recommend adopting this mentality if finding the trail doesn’t come easily for you either.

The trail begins as a gradual climb beside the torrent Appleton Creek. The creek remains unseen for the first ten to twelve minutes of the hike, but you can definitely hear it. I found it difficult to resist sliding down the embankment in anticipation of what I have heard about this trail. But I knew easier views would soon come my way. As the climb continues on, the rainforest becomes more beautiful, if that is at all possible. A dense green carpet of moss blankets the ground while the giant ceders tower above, acting as nature’s umbrella from the sun, or in my case the spring rain.

Fifteen minutes into the trail comes the first accessible waterfall. A narrow trail to the left guides hikers down to the creek for a view of the top of the waterfall. If you are hiking with kids, watch them closely as a fall into the creek from this vantage point would likely warrant unfavourable circumstances. The image here is of the headwaters leading up to the fifteen foot falls.



Back on the main trail the silence of the forest on the right is harmoniously in sync with the rushing creek on the left. Carry onward and upward another eight or so minutes until you descend down towards the creek. I chose this opportunity for a glug of water and a photo. No waterfall here, but beautiful nonetheless.



The awaiting waterfalls are now screaming. Their sound is unmistakeable. A brief uphill climb along the main trail introduces the next waterfall trail on the left. Unlike most of the other later falls along this trail, this one appears to be nameless. My three year old daughter has since named it Gold Falls. The yellow/golden hues of the tannin-rich water is what I am guessing was the inspiration behind the name.



The trail then begins a solid climb upward for a good several minutes until you reach one the bigger falls along the trail. Again, hold on to your kids tightly here as you soak in the amazing views from high atop the canyon walls. The falls seem to get more impressive as this hike goes on.





As the trail continues, each waterfall vantage point is separated by incredible forest tranquility. Unlike getting to the falls, it’s pretty difficult to get lost once on this trail. The only lead away trails are the ones that guide you to each set of waterfalls for viewing pleasure. But, much like any trail system in rugged BC back country, take caution, you never know when an encounter with a waking black bear or cougar could possibly occur. Be alert and prepared.

Sylph Falls, Bandit Falls and Gorge Falls round out the waterfalls awaiting discovery along this remarkable trail. The headwaters to Bandit Falls are literally straight out of a fairytale. One could almost expect to see Hansel and Gretel frolicking amidst the vibrant greens and earthy browns surrounding the rest bench provided by PRPAWS, a local trail group that deserves national recognition for their contribution to the area’s trails and treasures.





The end of the trail is marked by a recreation campsite eagerly awaiting its next spring inhabitants. Maybe it will be you?