The Highlands

Walking On A Thursday!

With a photo like this I could probably stop right here, but I won't. There is more to the story.

Before I proceed with the walk, this past weekend our daughter was married which I have to say was pretty cool! Lots of celebrations with close family and friends. People traveled to participate from all over North America, and it was wonderful to see everyone!

Which sort of leads us into the walk. Anyone who has hosted a wedding where 90% of the attendees are from out of town, including the bride and groom, have a good idea about the amount of work that is required to pull this off. For sure much of the planning was capably done by the newly married couple, but a significant amount of effort originated here. The point being that when all was said and done we took the opportunity to get away to find a little tranquility. We found this on a walking trail that we haven't ventured onto before in a reasonably local area called The Highlands.

The weather this week has been outstanding for this time of year with temperatures above 20. Having recovered sufficiently from said wedding, we headed off with our packs and a little food to walk the Gowland Todd Trail in the Highland area just northwest of our city. Good decision! Being it was a Thursday we had the route pretty much to ourselves, and it was just beautiful! Lots of climbing through fresh green forests and meadows, and we were adequately rewarded for our efforts with stunning views from each summit.

An eagle or two swept in to check us out!

The trails were good with much of the standing water and mud from the past winter rains beginning to dry up. 

In the higher meadows spring flowers were everywhere. Pretty early this year with El Niño, a warm wet winter on the west coast. Lots of snow up high, little down low.

We noticed that the Arbutus Trees which I believe are native to our area were extremely orange this year. The trees shed their leaves, but are considered evergreen as they retain most of their crown throughout the year. 

For sure this is an area that the Three Amigos will walk together in early August should Neil and Ken arrive here as anticipated!!

The good news is that there are many other long walking trails in this area that we plan to explore  over the coming months!

Such a special day...