Disappointing Trek to Boulder Island

I went for a walk on Clam Harbour Beach today.  I got excited when I saw how low the tide was and went farther than I meant to: I started walking at about quarter after twelve, decided to turn around at one, turned around at one thirty.  Oops.  But I turned the GPS app on my phone on for the return trip (since I forgot to do it when I headed out) and recorded my route.  Not that it needs to be recorded, it's just following the coast (except for a secret shortcut or two.)

The app says it's 3.3 km.  It took forty-five minutes to return and an hour ten to get there, so I went six and a half kilometres in almost two hours.  If the whole thing had been beach, I'd be worried.  But only a third of it was sandy.  I took pictures, just most of them turned out to be pointless since they don't really show you anything.

 This, I believe, was taken from the end of Slide Rock, the first big point.  You can see the building on the hill there, with the (chopped off) lifeguard tower below it.

 I didn't let this cliff stop me.  I went around.  But the first time I did this hike, I didn't know there was a path around, so I climbed up the rocks, with a walking stick in one hand.

This is the view from where the path comes out on top.  You can see a point that's almost an island, there.  If you look at the map, that's just to the east of the southern tip.


 And here's the destination:  Boulder Island.























If you walk just a couple more meters, you can see my grandmother's house!

And why do I call this a disappointing trek?  Usually when the tide is so low you can walk across to the island without getting your feet wet.  Clearly that wasn't happening today.

Walking the Dog

I just got back from walking the dog.  Nowhere special, just down the road and back.  Roughly 6.5 km, according to the GPS app I have on my phone.

But just after I turned around, the bushes exploded about five feet in front of the dog.  I automatically grab the leash with my free hand and start a hard reverse, but pause before I'd gone more than one step.  My brain just recognized the sound I was hearing: a pheasant flying away.  I hadn't been able to see what happened because I was virtually blinded by the sun peeking through the clouds, so before letting the leash go slack, I turned towards the sound.  Not one but two birds were flying away.  It was hard to tell with the glare, but I think they may have actually been Ruffed Grouse, not Ring-Necked Pheasants.

I started walking again and then the dog stops to crap.  I look down at him and say "scared the shit of you, did they?"