Leader: Janine Buckley
Group members: Adam Bowman, Kathleen Gallagher, Conrad Nielsen, Quinn Deo, Bianca Pedretti
Crisp, refreshing air greeted us at the old Forbidden Plateau parking lot after a fun, speedy drive up the road: right, Conrad😉. Shuttling was easily organized to begin a great day: beautiful colours presented themselves right from the start along the “Paradise Planks” all the way back to the cars; a bonus: the first dusting of this year’s snow was noticed on Albert Edward during our first snack break at Croteau Lake. After the distinct southeast turn towards Mt. Becher, as suspected, some soggy trail spots awaited us making for some giddy creek crossings; the highlight was the slightly challenging, meandering stream to get to McKenzie lake for lunch (see photo for proof!).
Noted were the upbeat, encouraging group members helping each other out; laughter and cheering were shared across the meadows! ”Fall colours and yummy blueberries (of which there were lots😊) I’d hoped for, but I made no promises about dry feet😉!” I do believe I said. The lovely lakeside lunch spot, clear views, super intriguing, colourful, abundant fungi and otherwise generally easy travelling more than made up for a few damp feet…
A memorable turquoise and pink sky with her distinct, large, readily visible, almost full moon making her presence known, accompanied us down the wide trail amongst the old ski runs on the front face of what was once the Forbidden Plateau Ski Hill, not to mention excellent views of the northern gulf islands and both directions across Georgia Strait. The surprise finale: a lovely, warm note from Catrin on my windshield that made us all smile; and, phew, not a parking ticket😉! As Adam summed it up on his post, “A fantastic hike!”
Check out the fresh snow up there on Albert Edward😊!
Quinn just “Going for it!”
“I got ya, Kathleen!”
And we did make it to the lake to dry out and warm up some feet😊.
A lonely amonita: the only one we saw of this fungi type. Love these.
La lune accompanying us down the old Forbidden Plateau Ski Hill.
A lovely surprise: thanks for making us all smile, Catrin😊.