Canada Maxi-METHS April / May 2020
Toria (Tornado) Horner has some exciting
devilment planned, probable
dates April 29th May 4th. There are
now 2 takers for this meet.
Breaking news: - we could take the boat across to Saltspring Island and walk the three peaks there. Or we could island hop a bit. Or hike around lake Cowichan, Shawnigan lake and adjacent hills...
The Canada TPW - more specifically Vancouver Island TPW - if interested, parties should email me directly with their preferences/availability at tornadotoria@me.com then we can pin down a more precise window. Given the distance that people will be travelling, I would recommend they try for a two-week minimum stay and take in some of the sights before or after the TPW. Vancouver Island is just about the size of England (if you trim off Cornwall) yet with a total population of less than I million people - so Victoria seems a sprawling and cosmopolitan city but there is pretty virgin territory within a short distance of town. North of Victoria (known locally as 'up Island') there are some interesting historic villages, with great pubs, and many gorgeous parks, hiking trails and beaches. The west coast of the island has the famously rugged West Coast trail as well as the First Nations towns of Ucuelet and Tofino and a magnificent beach on the open Pacific - next stop Japan.
For the TPW, I'm proposing three hikes involving peaks in National Parks around the city - Mt Finlayson in Goldstream Park (if we are lucky we'll see the salmon run), Gowland Todd Park and Mt Work regional park. These are parks in the very BC sense - areas of preserved wilderness - there are well worn trails with picnic areas but also a lot of rugged, natural unexplored bits - and staggering views!
There is also the opportunity of a micro TPW afterwards - three peaks in Victoria that are largely housing estates now but all have natural parks with hiking trails on top and significant roles in local history - Gonzales Hill, Mt Tolmie and Mt Douglas. Parents live on Gonzales Hill - Walbran Park on the top has a WWII observation post and a cairn dedicated to the early explorers of the area as well as amazing views of the mountains across the Straits of Juan de Fuca - in the good old US of A - Washington state is visible on a clear day. And then there are the Gulf islands - loads of them, many accessible by ferry and all unique.
Contact Toria direct for questions re B&B inns .. and number of days you would like to stay .. and diarise now. tornadotoria@me.com
© WDYFO, 2020