With my limited mobility, I didn't get far over the next couple days. I did hot and cold compresses, and put my feet up on pillows. On Colin's day off, we decided to try to find a new trail we had never tried before. Just for fun, we started on the paths out of our property. On the map, I'll put the starting point at the trailhead on Village Dr, so that others can follow our route if they like.
The plan was to head out along Cates Hill trail, up to Cates Hill Rd, then along Berry Rd to Rivendell Rd, and up through a right-of-way easement to Artisan Square. As usual, that's not exactly what happened. We ended up making a wrong turn, then searching around for the correct trail (marked in dashes). It's really hard to estimate the distances, but I would guess around 3km.
I was proud of the work I had done on our property's trails. After cutting back a lot of branches and clearing out some brush, they were now clear enough to take through to the main right-of-way trail.
The main "public" trail led through the forest, parallel to Davies Creek. Since this is the same path I took to start the Valhalla Trail, I won't reblog that portion in any detail.
Where the trail split, and the left-hand trail led to Davies Creek, we took the right-hand trail, that --according to maps and word-of-mouth-- was supposed to lead up to Cates Hill Rd.
The trail was more narrow here than in the lower part of the trail, rough, and rocky. It led uphill through dense ferns. Because of the recent rains, the ground was a little slippery, and I didn't take many photos on the way up. However, the trail was fairly consistent, so you didn't miss anything, dear reader. ;)
I was definitely starting to question the wisdom of taking my poor ankle up on that trail, when it came to a clearing, with two houses dead ahead. The trail split, and I guessed as to which fork led to the outcome I was looking for. I probably should have checked my GPS, but for some reason I didn't.
The trail leading left didn't look like it had that much potential, as it wasn't that differentiated from simply being someone's back yard...
...whereas the grassy trail leading to the right appeared to exit onto the road in a few dozen metres. We took the grassy right-hand fork.
We exited behind a tiny shed, in what appeared to be a gravel driveway. However, I could see pavement ahead, and assumed it was Cates Hill Rd. I was wrong.
The paved road led past a cute chicken coop on the right, and a new building site in the midst of construction, on the left.
Exiting onto Berry Rd, recognizable by a house we considered purchasing, I realized we probably should have taken the left-hand fork, back in the clearing.
Looking back from Berry Rd, it seemed as if we had come out of a joint driveway, perhaps a right-of-way driveway easement, just like the one we had at our house.
We decided to walk up Berry Rd to Cates Hill Rd, and see where the "correct" trail came out on the road. Walking Southwest along Cates Hill Rd, we passed a cute little private pond, and then saw an exit that someone had cut through from the "correct" path.
I looked around to see what could mark the path's location. There was a line of trees that the shortcut emerged from, but nothing much else to mark it. The trail continued, parallel to the road, so we kept going, following it with my eyes.
A little later, I saw the final exit of the path. Again, I looked around to see what could mark the exit's location. I could only see this telephone post, marked 626, with an 11 underneath.
Satisfied that I had found the end of the "correct" path, and would try again soon, this time on the left-hand fork in the clearing, we made an about-face and went back to Berry Rd, which became Rivendell Rd.
One of Rivendell's buildings appeared on the right side of the road. Rivendell is a little-known Christian retreat centre, available to groups and individuals who want to spend some time in quiet contemplation. One need not be Christian to stay there, but one must respect the centre's Christian atmosphere and "rhythms," including the daily 8am silent meditation and 5pm call to prayer. One interesting service they offer is "spiritual accompanying," which means that a person or a group can benefit from the support and/or assistance of a Christian volunteer. The fact that accommodations are sliding-scale means that this retreat is available to anyone. The fact that they offer this "spiritual accompanying" also means that no-one need feel alone in their journey, if they do not choose to be.
The roads up here were so new, they didn't have names on google maps, and didn't appear on bowentrails.ca. Taking a left at the intersection (along what the street sign declared to be "Elrond's Court") would take me to the heart of Rivendell. (Unfortunately, Elrond was not there.) We had walked up there one time in the evening, just to take a look (it was beautiful!), but on this day, we did not.
Taking a right at the intersection would lead me down a new road that *might* eventually take us back to Village Dr (the maps are unclear, but anyway, an adventure for another day). As you can see, the views in that area were truly spectacular.
Instead, we continued straight ahead on Rivendell Dr, through --for what all appearances-- was a dead end road.
At the very end of the road, a walking path continued onward, to the left of this house.
The trail almost immediately plunged downward, in a steep straight staircase. I wondered whether it was Smeagol's secret way... ;)
At a break in the stairs, I could see Artisan Square below me to my right. The mists in the mountains gave a magical touch to the scene. Go ahead, click on the photo to zoom in. :)
Then, another set of stairs, and beyond that, a steep grassy path.
Down on the grassy path, I was surprised to see garbage cans, set out for pickup. What garbage truck would come up here?!?!?
A final set of stairs led to Roocroft Lane, a short road behind Artisan Square.
Almost directly across the road was yet another set of stairs, which finally put us onto Artisan Lane, right beside the Bowen Island Wellness Centre. I was seriously glad that I didn't decide to circle in the other direction, and walk UP all these stairs, only to slide down the slippery Cates Hill trail!
I stopped in at the Bowen Island Flower Shop. It was a gorgeous little oasis with a waterfall, tucked in a corner on the East end of the square. Their inside flowers and decor were also stunning, and the last time I had stopped by, the owner, Caroline, spent some time chatting with me, and welcoming me to the island. I wanted Colin to meet her, and see some of the items I liked for our place.
His lunch hour over, Colin had to rush back to work. I took a little time to rest my foot, and grab a bite at Artisan Eats, a marvelous little French cafe. I blogged, I enjoyed the view of the misty mountains, then I took the same ol' route back past BIM to get home again.
