Qualicum River Hike

Yesterday our group went on our bi weekly hike. I had requested that we do the Qualicum River hike even though we did it last March, but to show it to Pat because she was unable to make it before. I wanted to show this hike to her because I consider it the most picturesque trails on the island. The trail starts at a fish hatchery and proceeds up for several kilometers on one side and the opportunity to come back on the other. What makes this such a nice hike is that you follow beside a beautiful small river with lots of rills and small waterfalls and is surrounded by mature rain forest. It is a major salmon breeding river because it has large stretches of gravel bottom and no major falls to block them.

In one of the pictures you see one of the small bridges there for hikers. Basically they have converted large trees that have fallen across the river into narrow bridges. There are about 3 crossings like this on the 10 km length of the river up to its source in Horne lake. You will note the colour of the water. This had just started as we were hiking along and we could not figure it out until we turned a bend and found a Fisheries department excavator in the river clearing debris and reshaping the gravel beds. Above the work the river was the usual crystal clear.

We stop for lunch at a particular giant Cedar tree right beside the river. Has to be 20 feet around and at least 700 years old. You can see Pat and our hiking leader Tim giving it a hug. Just a beautiful sunny day. Nice and cool on the shaded trails. Pat and others who had not taken the hike agreed that it is one of the most beautiful hikes they have been on and it was even nicer in the summer than I remembered. Cannot wait to show this to family and friends one day