August Update

The weather has been fabulous this summer for hiking, swimming, boating - and in general, being active outside.

Up Bute Inlet: Homathco River and Mount Waddington

We are seeing people from all around the province and the globe with many locals of course, out on the Sunshine Coast Trail, section-hiking and through-hiking. The length of the 180 km long trail is in good shape as per the latest reports.

We still have an issue with an unknown individual going back from time to time and covering up the entrance to Tony's Trail (SCT) with woody debris. This access trail lies west just off the Telus Road on Gallagher Hill. (See detailed description on how to access it from Mowat Bay in the June 21 post.) The individual has taken to covering up our orange spaypainted markings with black paint. So if you can't see the orange markings, look for black paint on trees opposite the pull out. That's where the trail begins. Step over the debris, or better still help us out and move it off the trail, and carry on in a westerly direction. Thank you.





Ron and Bruce ready for a swim at Tony Point after clearing the trail down from the Gallagher Hill Telus road.





There is one upcoming blockage of the trail with Western Forest Products planning to harvest "Cutblock ST-324". Its boundary lies adjacent to about a 100m stretch of the Blue Ridge Trail section of the SCT, just about a km north of the Goat Main crossing at Mile 4, right where the trail crosses the new Deer Main logging road. Last week we were told by Western that it would only be closed one or two days. We have requested that they log after tourism and mushrooming seasons are over so wildcrafters may get one more harvest out of that area. Here is the link to the map: http://www.westernforest.com/files/planning/Stillwater%20Operational%20Information%20Map.pdf
You can copy and paste it into the top of Google and then click on to it. Red-lined ST-324 is in quadrant C-7 just west of Lois Lake (near centre bottom of the map). Stay tuned as to when exactly the closure will occur.

The beginning of March Lake Trail is still impacted by logging but can be passed by using the posted Alaska Pine reroute.

We did have a report that the Spires access trail below Manzanita Bluffs needed some brushing. The salmonberry and salal came back strongly there. This secondary trail is accessed by people coming off the old forest service road just 500 m beyond the "Dome" at about the 2.2 km mark on Sarah Point Road from the Lund gas station. Going in there avoids going up and down 3 K hill. It's all brushed out now all the way up to the SCT junction as of today, but could use some fancy stick work flicking the wee branches off the trail. Enjoy.

Happy trails.