Swifty and I beat the heat today, and just after 8 AM, we headed to the Mount Parke parking lot – only 5 minutes by car from our cabin.
Deer were grazing along the side of the road – a very frequent event on Mayne Island – but on this early morning I managed to stop the car quietly and take a few photos before Swifty, a born hunter, saw the deer and started whining, wanting to get out of the car.
Onwards to the small gravel “Mt. Parke Park parking lot”. Only one other vehicle was there so far. Taking water for us both, we headed into the cool woods. Morning sunlight filtered through the trees displaying multiple shades of greens and browns.
Our Pacific Northwest temperate rain forest consists of fir, cedar, balsam, alder and arbutus trees along with plentiful salal, ferns and soft green moss. There are also some Garry Oak and an invasive scotch broom species, which has gorgeous bright yellow flowers in May/ June.
After a comfortable stroll with a few gentle ups and downs, the path began to climb quite steeply. Our footsteps disturbed a huge raven, which left its perch in a fir and swooped through the trees, cleverly missing branches and trunks even though its black wingspan was very broad! In 20 minutes we came out at the Halliday Ridge viewpoints. Islands lay below us in the deep blue sea; A hawk soared high above us in the bright blue sky.
Reception is excellent at the top of this highest peak on Mayne, and I sent a couple of photos and a hello to Gary and the boys back on the mainland. The whole way up (in between pointing and clicking at the beauty), I had been reminiscing about the many past family hikes up here….the hiding and jumping out from behind a tree stage, the walkie- talkie stage – with boys all over the woods – and the terrifying longstaff sparring with friends on the ridges stage with me stressing and yelling when they got too close to the edge!! Wow, almost three decades of fun family memories here on Mayne!!
We headed back down, meeting a few other hikers, including our neighbour and their dog, Cocoa. Swifty and Cocoa had a great play while Steve and I, on his good advice, stood hugging trees so the weight of the dogs’ bodies in play wouldn’t hurt us when they came close by!
With the sun higher now, the greens were even more brilliant. Even Swift the Pift paused to admire them, though more likely he had spotted a movement that might have been a squirrel!!
After a few more brief stops – a gnaw on a dry twig, a wander through the ferns and a drink of muddy swamp water ( by Swifty, that is ) – along with multiple clicks from my phone camera, of course, we hopped in the sun-warmed car and were home by 10…. ready for tea and breakfast and the sweet radio strains of “This is My Music”.
A lovely start to a restful Saturday stretching ahead of me…😎
JenniEliz 