Today was absolutely beautiful with full sunshine. Summer weather has arrived. After dinner, we decided to take a stroll along the beach and watch the sunset. Bonniebrook Beach is just outside of Gibsons and is a wonderful place for watching sunsets over Vancouver Island in the distance. Ocean Beach Esplanade is 2-3km long and only local traffic, so there are more walkers and bikers than cars most of the time. We had just started walking when I noticed a new trail sign, so we took a detour and look what we found.
 |
| Oak Street Trail - look at the size of that stump! |
What an entrance! Imagine how tall that tree was to leave a stump that big. I had no idea there was a hiking trail here...I've always just walked along the beach. It isn't even on the SCRD's trail maps yet. We decided to explore and see where it led. What a great trail for an evening hike! The whole trail couldn't have taken more than 10-15 minutes and connects to the end of a neighborhood road. If you follow the trail up the road, you end up in Whispering Firs Park along the Sunshine Coast Highway.
Birds and frogs were singing and large ferns covered the forest floor. Rushing water from a creek could be heard in the distance. There were other trees as large as the entrance stump that had fallen and were creating a hotbed of regrowth. The first part of the trail is a bit steep. You are hiking up the bank from the ocean, afterall. Not terribly difficult, but not accessible to everyone.
 |
| Educational display & map of the area |
As you come back down the path, there are glimpses of the ocean in the distance. You can hear the pounding waves more than you can see them from the forest. As we came out to the clearing, we imagined what is was like for pioneers and explorers to cut through think forest only to find the Pacific Ocean before them. Absolutely incredible. We finished the evening with a stroll along the beach to watch the sunset. So simple, yet so special.
 |
| Bonniebrook Beach |
No comments:
Post a Comment