I awoke to a winter wonderland! I was willing to walk to Irly to buy a shovel, but when I phoned they said they were sold out. So I decided to just take the dog out for a little walk.
Opening the door, I was met with several inches of snow on my deck. I called to my dog Rory, "Let's go for a walk!" Facing the open door, Rory looked at me incredulously, as if to say, "You're KIDDING, right?!?!"
He was not so impressed with the snow. lol. I took him around for a little walk, then dumped him off inside. He quickly ran to the couch and settled in.
I, on the other hand, was eager to enjoy the fluffy white stuff, and followed the sun, up Cates Hill. I decided to do a loop of Cates Hill, do a little shopping at the Knick Knack Nook and Artisan Square, and come back to the Cove via the Trans-Island Trail (TIT). It would be about 5km in total. The altitude changed about 120m in the first 1km up Village Dr and Berry Rd, then dropped half of that in the 500m down Cates Hill Dr. The rest of the loop was fairly flat, but generally sloped gently down towards the cove.
(click map to enlarge)
I left Snug Cove, heading up Village Dr. The hill in the background is the Eco Reserve. It is located off the bottom left of the map above (i.e. not shown in map above). You can see the very tip of it highlighted in bright green at the bottom of the map.
The road snaked up the hill, the sun ahead ever beckoning me onward. The road was steep, as it climbed about 120m in just over 1 km.
The plough had apparently been through Village Dr, although not on any of the smaller side streets. Cars parked on the side of the road got blocked in by the plough's cast-offs.
Heading up Village Dr was so beautiful and scenic. They have amazing views in nearly all directions. Looking down towards Snug Cove, I could even see the ferry coming in.
A little farther up the hill, an elderly couple was outside, shoveling their driveway. I could actually hear the scraping noise of shovels from several directions.
At the intersection of Village Dr and Berry Rd, I turned left to head up Berry.
It was beautiful there in a different way... no grand views, but the snow on the trees was gorgeous like a Christmas card.
I took a right onto Cates Hill Dr, and headed down the hill. I don't know why all my photos near the top of Cates Hill turned out dark and dim... it was so brilliantly white everywhere!! Maybe the camera was trying to compensate. I did get one correctly-colored photo, when I took a selfie.
The road continued down to the intersection with Grafton Rd.
On Grafton Rd, the shoulder was completely ploughed over. I slugged through it, because the road itself was fairly busy.
At one point, I waited on the shoulder for a car to pass, so that I could walk on the clear cement, but it didn't pass and instead stopped and offered me a ride. Gotta love this Bowen LIFT system!
I politely declined and continued onward until I found the Trans-Island Trail (TIT) sign, almost completely covered in snow.
I ducked off the road and into the forest trail. Someone had driven through there on some kind of ATV, to clear the trail.
Here, I had the choice to follow the tire marks, curving off to the left, or the footprints, leading straight ahead. I took the footprints.
The trail was quite lovely in the snow, and not as slippery as I would have expected!
Soon, I rejoined the trail with the tire tracks, which had reappeared on my left.
The trail crossed over a little creek.
The trail approached the road, and I could see a wooden bus stop up a short incline. I could get to Artisan Square from here, I noted.
But instead, I turned left, and followed that trail towards the Bowen Children's Centre.
I crossed another small bridge over another small creek, and followed an orange fence down the hill.
Soon, I found myself facing the Bowen's Children's Centre. Peering down the road to my left, I could see the bridge right before the Island Pacific School, and the entrance to the path leading to the Knick Knack Nook.
However, I couldn't figure out how to get down to the road. Based on a set of snowy footprints, it seemed like the path might take a sharp left turn, and run beside the road a stretch, but the area was very thin, and covered in snow, and perched above a rocky drop-off, and I could not see how or where it came out. I decided to try it another day, and retraced my steps back to the bus stop. [EDIT: I did go back on another day, and it did turn there, run high above the road a stretch before dropping down and coming out onto the road near the bridge.]
Back at the trail intersection behind the bus stop, I located the little path leading up to the road, and emerged right beside the bus stop.
Across the road was the signage for Artisan Square, and the entrance to Artisan Lane.
I crossed the street, very mindful of the traffic on Grafton Rd, and headed up Artisan Lane, also mindful of the snow plough clearing the area by the mail boxes.
At the intersection with Roocroft Lane, I just kept straight on Artisan Lane, and soon I could see the rooftops of the shops over the top of the hill.
I stopped in at The Arts Pacific Gallery, and was greeted by two very friendly dogs. Another woman was there, doing her holiday shopping, and eased her way out, through the dogs, just as I entered.
I swung through Artisan Eats Cafe for a decaf cappuccino, then looped back to where I had come in, along Artisan Lane.
As I made my way down the hill with my new treasures, I was offered another LIFT. I was feeling like a real local, getting all these ride offers. ;)
A short while later, the path emerged up at Grafton Rd once more. Normally, the path would run along the shoulder at this spot, but the shoulder was completely engulfed in snow.
I walked a short distance along the road (well, ON the road) until just past the intersection with Carter Rd. There the trail again left the road, and headed downhill, parallel to the road. It is a little difficult to see in the photos, but there was a TIT trail sign on the left, and a red fire hydrant on the right side of the trail.
The snow there was a pristine white, even though it was marked with many sets of footprints. I made my way down cautiously. A woman suddenly passed me from behind, calling "You need grippier shoes!" She charged ahead at full speed, and soon disappeared past a bend in the path. At the fork, I knew I wanted to continue forward (towards the propane truck below), to get Snug Cove, but I was intrigued at the trail which turned off to my left.
I looked back and could see that the trail made a hairpin turn and basically headed back the way I had come. I wondered where that trail led, especially as a man and his dog headed down that trail. But I didn't feel like exploring on that day, so I turned back around, and continued forward, along the trail I was already on.
It turned out to be the one really slippery section of that day's walk. The trail plunged down briefly, and ducked under some trees, and there it was really icy. I made it through without any problems, and was soon crossing a small gravel driveway.
On the other side of the driveway, the trail picked back up, and was marked with a small "Trail" sign on the right.
After another short downhill stretch, I soon had to duck under some bushes, heavy with snow, overhanging the path.
Then the trail widened and became easier to navigate, as it passed though big trees.
I thought this tree was pretty cool. I spent quite a while photographing it from different angles.
Then the path opened on the left to the road and I could see the Bowen Island Community School, the island's public elementary school.
One could take the left-hand fork, and proceed to the school through a cross-walk. Instead, I climbed around this giant wind-fallen branch, to use the right-hand trail and get back to Grafton Rd.
At the road, I had to wade through a wide dirty snow-filled shoulder to get to the intersection with Bowen Island Trunk Rd.
At the intersection, I crossed the road and took the footpath on the other side, which ran parallel to the road.
The many snowy footprints told me that several people had come this way before me today.
I followed the path until it reached Orchard Rd, a little no-thru road that led to the Bowen Island Municipality (BIM) building. The path picked up again on the other side of the little roadway.
Two snow-laden picnic tables reminded me of sunnier times. This would make a nice rest area in the summer.
On the other side of the picnic area, some stairs led down to the road. Heavy machinery was setting up to start some work, so I scooted past quickly, to arrive at Village Square.
I cut through Village Square and turned right to follow Dorman Rd toward Village Dr and my original departure point. Someone had decorated the lamp posts with garlands, colorful lights, and festive red ribbons.
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