Sifnos, Greece: Hot, Hazy, 32

Finally, Walking In Greece!

Having transferred from Milos Island to Sifnos it was time to enjoy what we had come here to do...walk! Sifnos is one of the few Greek Islands that has taken the time to setup a series of formal walking trails, totalling over 100 kms. The trails have been developed by professionals, are well marked with the red and white of GR routes and take one along trails that have crisscrossed this ancient land for ever. The routes cover the island and one can change routes on the go to get to the desired destination. Today we walked from Artemonas where we have centred ourselves and walked to Faros and then on to the Chrisopigi Monastery. Looking fresh at the beginning...that wasn't to last as we started at the seemingly late hour of 10:00. Don't ask...

We started on Route 1 heading for Kastro on the coast...we are staying in the mountains where most of the Greek island inhabitants reside. pew passes by one of the many windmills on the island, usually a striking white and blue.

That's Kastro in the distance, seemingly downhill! A good thing because the trails are all exposed and very hot.

The trails range from pretty well groomed to quite rough, and yes, loads of stairs. I hate stairs....

In some respects it looks a little like walking in Galicia without the trees or rain. And did I say that it's hot?! We descended down to a local agios (church), had a nice look see and moved on.

There are beautiful small churches along the entire route, many of which sit on cliffs above the Aegean Sea. 

This one is back in the distance behind the ladies.

We arrive at Kastro to see the small churches on the sea.

After climbing up through the town this is the view.

And then having come this far of course you have to walk down to see the church...and of course back up. Did I say it was hot?

Afterwards, we headed in this direction, changing to Route 2. 

And of course we made many new friends enroute! This guy told us that he loves Canada. I returned the love about Greece!

More friends!

And we know this guy with the occasional selfie:)   I think I looked a little like this in Japan!

We walked and we walked. Did I mention that it was HOT!

Then we found ourselves very close. Faro down below and the monastery a way to the right a few more kilometres onwards.

On the way out to the monastery...

Before heading out the monastery we stopped at a very traditional taverna for a light lunch right on the beach! Then out we went, Geoff finding an unlikely place to put on his swimsuit! 

Then we figured that we may as well swim off the rocks rather than the beach. It was excellent after the day of walking. We figured there was no way we could rent any of the huge boats at anchor! 

Then cooled down and changed we walked back to Faros for the traditional celebration!

Followed by the traditional push and punch your way in to a Greek bus and a return to have a good shower and wash some clothes. Sounds rather familiar! Now finish posting this and it's off to the festival again to eat and drink a bit more! 

Lake Cowichan, BC, Sunny, 23

The Cowichan River Trail

 Once again, retirement strikes and we're off camping and hiking. This time with our long time friends Ted and Sue who we camped with often over the years as we raised our families. Always a very satisfying experience with good memories. While we are now all slightly on the other side of 60, we still enjoy our time together and as the relationship has matured the camping seems to get better...like a good wine aging. We have in the past taken the troops out to walk, but today (happily or sadly?) it's just the four of us. These days the walks are quieter, but just as fun AND, no bribes are required to keep the herd moving! The suggestion of a cold beer at the end of the walk usually suffices to motivate the four of us. Mind you, we're an easily motivated crew!
We walked yesterday, but most of it was road walking and fairly routine. I have no photo history, so you can imagine that the scenery was lacking, though the company and conversations were excellent. Today was another story. Ted and Sue suggested a walk along the Cowichan River, world renown for its Steele Head salmon fishing. Serious anglers equipped with fly rods and all manner of support gear make the trek here each year to see if they can land these highly sought after fish. Aside from the fishing, the setting is quite spectacular. 

We sourced the trail and off we went along the north side of the river heading down stream. 

The trees quickly revealed themselves and it became quite apparent that we were walking through a moderately high precipitation belt. It's been extremely dry these past two months, but the fall and winter here experience decent amounts of rain. I really liked the trees and took far too many pictures as I usually do, but who really cares:)

We found ourselves pleasantly surprised as we followed the shore. My friend Dennis has since explained to me that the water rights to Lake Cowichan are held by the large pulp operation close to the river mouth. So a certain amount of water is released through the weir to satisfy the needs of the mill, which has a large diversion pipe to transfer water from the river. Over the years the water level of the lake has been maintained to assist with logging operations and booming, but those days are now long gone. Today water levels in the river are managed to ensure adequate flow is maintained for various residential downstream users, fisheries and recreational purposes.

We eventually climbed up onto the cliff edges of the river canyon where the river had cut deep channels with the falling gradient. Essentially forming a beautiful tree lined gorge.

We continued to follow the river downstream, but eventually crossed a bridge and headed back upstream. I guess if it was raining hard one could take shelter inside here...better than getting soaked!

We eventually climbed back out of the gorge and again had access to the river.

At one point we walked a short portion of the 22,000 km long Trans Canada Trail.  Some Camino that would be!!  Ken, Neil...what do you think??

High on cliffs above,

The river runs far below,

A day shared. Priceless.

Bear Creek, Vancouver Island, Hike 3, Hot, 28

So, Where's Dem Bears?


We moved from the interior of the Island down to the east coast to camp and hike for a couple more days. A friend of Annemarie's, Michelle, kindly offered to talk us for a couple of walks to see a little of her area and we gladly accepted. Michelle was accompanied by her 1 year old Border Collie, Charlie, a lovely dog who was quite difficult to ignore!
The first walk was down to the mouth of Oyster River where I had completed some hydrology work to assist with Salmon enhancement studies in the early 1980's. Its a nice tidal estuary...for a dog to enjoy!
There was an odd sighting on the River, but that was about it.
We eventually headed northward along the coast line. It was pleasant, but fairly unremarkable, except for the smoke which robbed us of views of the stunning Coastal Mountain range. Such is life.

Then we moved more inland to walk along Bear Creek, another part of the Salmon Enhancement study where considerable time and effort has been expended to improve the salmon runs. It was a good walk and while we saw no bears, there was definitely bear signs as the sign posts confirmed! So yes Neil, there are bears in this area, I've encountered them here before.

The tributaries have been 'managed' to encourage spawning activity and they have done an excellent job.



There are also quiet areas where the fry are protected from the local wildlife for the first year before they are released into the main stream to head into the open ocean.

We found a pub for a nice lunch and after saying farewell to Michelle and Charlie we headed back to camp and watched the ebb and flow of the smoke and enjoyed the sunset.





Once home the smoke became more intense and settled in for over 10 days, but happily last night we had the first short rain in 2 months and the accompanying wind shift has sent the smoke back again into the eastern interior. A very pleasant change!!