This is an archival consolidated post from the previous incarnation of our website.

JUNE 2

CROSS-GABRIOLA TREK: Over 50 people started from Joyce Lockwood Park to walk this year’s lovely new 13.5 km route. We trekked along the beautiful forested coast cliffs, and then up and across the middle of the island. We walked entirely on public trails apart from one very brief stretch after we passed through Elder Cedar Nature Reserve, when we crossed North Rd and walked up Degnen North to enter the trail system through Government lands to Tait Rd. Then we followed nicely clipped (thank you trail-work crew!) Central Island Trail parallel to North Rd, to connect with the 707 Community Park trails, making a large meandering loop and finishing by taking the newly public south-western trail down to the Golf Club for very welcome refreshments.

Man kneeling on sandstone with a selection of cobblestones, extracting a testing chemical from a small bottle with an eyedropper. Other people are watching.
Group of people on a forest trail.

JULY

On a sunny afternoon, a dozen people of mixed ages met with Nick Doe at Blue Heron Park to gather interesting-looking rocks from Whalebone Beach and learn what they were and when and how they ended up on a Gabriola beach.

The next evening another group joined Rob Brockley in Elder Cedar Nature Reserve to experience shinrin yoku— a contemplative walk known as “forest bathing”—using all five senses to savor the forest environment.

Photo of moon

AUGUST

in August we tried something new—board member Libby Gunn led a night walk in Cox Park, teaching us how to enjoy the forest with all our senses by moonlight. At the end of the month Derrill Shuttleworth also led a night biking group through 707 trails.

Row of feet on a bridge over a creek

DECEMBER

On December 7, Board member Nola Johnston led our second “A, B, Cs of Gabriola Trails” guided walk through the complex trail system labelled “M” on our trail map (in the government lands south of North Road).

We also launched a fun contest, inviting supporters to send us their photos of “Feet on Trails”—human feet, pet feet, or wild critter feet. We will use the pictures in our printed and on-line publications, and the winning photographer will be presented with a small prize at our AGM in March.

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