Water views, blue and green

Still playing catch up. These are all photos of water, from various points on the island.

Blue water:

View of Buttle Lake, stretching away south from Buttle Narrows, where the bridge separates Buttle from Upper Campbell Lake. The lake is more like a slow river, 30 km. long, 1.5 km wide. Through the car window.

Crofton ferry landing, looking towards Saltspring Island.

Islet at low tide, off Saltspring Island.

Green water:

Darkis Lake, near Buttle Lake. At 475 m. by 200 m.. almost too small to be called a lake.

Above Elk Falls, where the Campbell River runs peacefully, all unsuspecting that the bottom will fall away just down the line.

Puddle on the rocks above Elk Falls, reflecting the hillside opposite.

White water:

Skiff, Churchill Beach, Saltspring Island.

Waterfall; creek running down from Big Baldy Mountain, near Gold River.

Next, quirky landings.

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Sigo tratando de ponerme al corriente. Estas son escenas con agua, en diversos sitios de la isla.

1. El lago Buttle, mirando hacia el sur desde el puente que lo cruza al punto donde toca el lago Upper Campbell. Este es un lago largo y angosto, casi un rio lento, midiendo 30 kilómetros por apenas kilómetro y medio en su parte más ancha.
2. El desembarcadero del trasbordador que cruza hasta la isla Saltspring.
3. Islita (a marea baja; cuando sube la marea es una roca) cerca del desembarcadero en la isla Saltspring.
4. Agua verde.  El lago Barkis, un pocito tan pequeño que apenas merece el nombre de lago. 475 m. por 200 m. Cerca del lago Buttle.
5. Rio arriba de las cataratas Elk, donde el rio Campbell corre en paz, sin sospechar que en unos pocos metros se le va a desaparecer el fondo.
6. Un charquito en las rocas arriba de las cataratas, reflejando el verdor de la ladera opuesta.
7. Un esquife azul en la playa Churchill, en la isla Saltspring.
8. Cataratas cerca de Gold River; un riachuelo que baja desde la montaña Big Baldy (Calvo Grande).

Cut rock

I'm back. I took a break for a week while I sorted and processed spiders for Arachtober, and went looking for more. We're off to a good start with hundreds of spider pics already this week; go check us out!

So I'm back. Now where was I? Oh, yes; walking through the woods and along the river above Elk Falls.

We started walking at the lower end, just above Elk Falls itself.

View of the falls from the usual viewing platform, this spring.

We turned away from the trail to the bridge and viewing platforms, to look at the waterfall from a different angle.

Side view of Elk Falls and the pool below. The falls drop 27 metres from the river bed to the pool.

From here, the rock masses, the bones of the earth, dominate the view. The forest sits on top, in a thin skin of soil and duff. Douglas-fir taproots may extend 3 metres downward, at most; the root systems of red-cedar and hemlock are shallower, spreading horizontally instead of vertically. And from there on down, it's rock, carved out for our viewing pleasure by millennia of rushing water.

A fallen log rests on a ledge halfway down the rock face.

This almost looks like some ancient fireplace. In a giant's house.

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Estoy de vuelta. Me tomé un descanso esta semana mientras preparaba y surtía fotos de arañas para Arachtober, y luego fui a buscar más.  Vamos bien ahora; ya tenemos cientos de fotos en estos 7 dias. Vale la pena ir a verlas.

Bueno, pues, ¿dónde estaba? Ah, sí, paseando por el bosque y al lado del rio arriba de la catarata Elk. Empezamos la ruta al lado del rio justo arriba de la catarata.

Foto #1: La catarata, vista desde la plataforma de observación en la ruta usual. Esta foto la saqué esta primavera. Pero esta vez, seguimos el sendero en dirección opuesta, dejando atrás la puente y las plataformas.

Foto #2: La catarata y el rio más abajo, vistos desde el lado. La catarata cae 27 metros desde su cauce.

Desde este punto de vista, lo que salta a la vista son las grandes masas de roca. El bosque apenas las cubre con una capa delgada de tierra y detritus. Las raices primarias de abeto de Douglas apenas se extienden unos 3 metros para abajo; el hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) y el cedro rojo tienen raices que se extienden horizontalmente y no llegan a la profundidad que alcanzan las del abeto de Douglas. Y de allí para abajo, es roca. Roca excavada para nuestro deleite durante milenios por el agua corriente. 

Foto #3: Un troncón caído hace años se sostiene sobre una terraza de roca.

#4: Esto parece una chimenea antigüísima. En una casa de gigantes, por cierto.

On the rocks

 All along the Campbell River, from the estuary to the lake, about 8 km along the river (6 km as the crow flies) there is a maze of trails, through the hills on both sides of the river. I've walked or hiked along about half of them. This week, I was introduced to a new section of the river, inland from Elk Falls.

From the first stop on our trail, a viewing platform over the falls, we looked back towards the suspension bridge, where I usually end my walk.

The forest grows on a thin layer of soil on top of a mass of solid rock.

From there, it's a few steps down to the river racing through its rocky bed towards the falls.

The water rises at times to cover all this rock.

The upper end of this stretch of river. More bare rock.

And a few metres above this, the water flows sedately towards the gap.

The rocks here are mostly bare, alternately scoured by the water and baked in the sunlight, but small plants manage to find cracks deep enough to hold a root or two. There are even a few flowers.

One lonely harebell, grass, crunchy moss and lichens.

Rock walls on three sides make a sheltered haven.

I'm still sorting photos. Trees along the trail next, methinks.

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A lo largo del rio Campbell, desde el estuario hasta el lago Campbell, son unos 8 km siguiendo el rio (pero 6 en linea recta), y hay un laberinto de senderos en ambos lados del rio, y en los cerros que lindan con el cañon. Hasta ahora, he caminado más o menos la mitad de ellos. Esta semana, unos amigos me mostraron otra parte del rio, empezando con las cataratas Elk, donde está la puente que  casi siempre ha sido donde daba vuelta para regresar al estacionamiento. Esta vez, desde las cataratas, nos fuimos siguiento el rio hacia el lago.

Fotos:

1. La primera parada fue en una plataforma justo arriba de la catarata, bien abajo de la puente. Se ve como el bosque crece en una capa delgada de tierra encima de una masa grande de pura roca.
2. Desde allí son unos cuanto pasos a las rocas donde se cuela en agua en camino a la caída. El agua a veces sube a lavar toda esta roca.
3. Un poco más arriba, todavía en estas rocas, el agua entra desde un canal estrecho.
4. Y unos metros más atrás, el rio parece tranquilo.
5. Aunque las rocas están alternativamente pulidas por el agua y tostadas con el sol, algunas plantitas logran encontrar grietas donde pueden adherir una raiz. Aquí una campanula con una sola flor acompaña musgos tostados.
6. Y donde tres paredes de roca hacen un albergue, unas flores azules llegaron a formar semilla.

Sigo revisando mis fotos. En seguida, algunos de los árboles de este bosque, creo.

Shade lovers (me. too!)

It was another hot day. Well, it only got to 28º, but that's hot for Vancouver Island. And when it's hot, there's nothing better than a shady walk under tall trees.

The trail to Moose Falls, Deer Fallls, Elk Falls, and points below.

The trail goes down, down, down. And steeply down again. (And up, up, up, coming home.) It's a bit challenging for my ancient knees, but it's overshadowed by these big evergreens. And there's a breeze and a roar from the waterfall below.

And under that green protection, shade-loving plants can grow.

A tiny pinesap, Hypopitys monotropa.

Clasping twisted stalk, Streptous amplexifolius.

It's called "clasping" because the leaves wrap around the stem. And "twisted stalk" because, look at the little stalks holding the single fruits. It is growing on a damp side hill, with moss and skunk cabbage.

And I'm not sure about this one, that I discovered when I sat down to rest halfway up that long hill.

Maybe it's pinedrops, Pterospora andromedea. But maybe not.

I'll send this one into inaturalist to see if they can identify it.

UPDATE:  It seems to be pink wintergreen, Pyrola asarifolia.

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Hizo calor otra vez. Bueno, no más llegó a 28ºC, pero aquí en la isla, eso cuenta como calor. Y en un dia caluroso, no hay nada mejor que un paseo bajo la sombra de grandes árboles.

Primera foto; el senderito que baja (y baja y baja. Y baja aún más) hacia las cataratas de Moose, de Deer, y de Elk. ("Moose' se refiere al alce, Alces alces, "Deer" es venado, y un  "Elk", Cervus canadensis, también se puede llamar uapití. Aquí en Canadá, por lo menos. Si vas a Europa, al moose, le llaman "elk", y al elk, le llaman wapiti. Los dos son grandes ejemplares de la familia mayor de los venados, y son nativos a Canadá y otros paises norteños.)

El camino es un poco difícil para mis rodillas ancianas, no tanto en la subida. Pero el sendero sigue en la sombra de estos árboles perennifolios. Y hay una brisa fresca y el clamor de las cataratas allá abajo.

Y bajo la protección de los árboles, crecen plantas amantes de la sombra.

Segunda foto: Hipopitys monotropa, "salvia de pino".

Tercera: Streptous amplexifolius; a esta planta le llamamos "sujetador con el tallo torcido", porque las hojas se forman alrededor del tallo, y porque: mira el tallito de donde cuelga el fruto único. Esta crece en una ladera húmeda, entre musgos y linterna de pantano.

Cuarta: esta no la conozco. La encontré cuando me senté a descansar a la mitad de la subida. Puede ser (o no) las gotas de pino, Pterospora andromedea. La voy a subir a inaturalist para ver si me la pueden identificar.

On a snowy trail

At the Elk Falls trailhead, the snow was 10 inches deep in the parking lot. But there were a half dozen cars parked; people were out there on the trails. I went to join them.

There's less snow on the trail, under the cover of the trees.

This forest is usually dark, in shades of dark green and brown, the tall evergreens, growing so closely together cutting off the sun. The snow made everything new. And it was quiet, so very quiet; the snow muffled all the usual whisperings and creakings of the trees. But now and then large lumps of snow fell from branches far above; Plop, plop! And then silence again.

First bridge, over the pipeline ditch.

The snow was 8 inches deep on the bridge railing.

Down, down, down. A bit slippery here.

I could hear the falls long before I arrived at the first lookout over the river. I was glad I'd come; such a change from grey rocks and green forest, as I usually see it!

The river and the top of the falls.

Still going down.

And the stairs go on down to the suspension bridge and more lookouts.

I didn't brave the steps; the top steps were icy. And my feet were cold; I'd forgotten to wear boots.

On the way back up, I took photos of little things. That's for tomorrow.

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En el estacionamiento al principio del sendero que baja a las cataratas, la nieve llegaba a 10 pulgadas, pero había una media docena de coches; había gente allá en el bosque. Me uní a los caminantes.

Bajo la sombra de los árboles, la nieve apenas cubría mis zapatos.

Normalmente, este bosque está en penumbra. Los árboles tan altos, creciendo tan densamente, cortan todos los rayos del sol. Y los colores son los verdes oscuros y el café de troncos y suelo. Con la nieve, todo se ve diferente. Y reinaba un gran silencio; no se oían los murmuros de hojas ni el crujir de las ramas de otros días. De vez en cuando caían grandes bultos de nieve desde las ramas allá arriba, haciendo un fuerte ¡Plop, plop! Y luego volvía el silencio.

Segunda foto:  la primera puente. La nieve medía 8 pulgadas en el barandal.

Tercera foto, bajando hacia el río. Mucha nieve, un poco resbaloso. Ya empezaba a oir el bramar de las cataratas.

Y las cataratas, o al menos la parte superior de la catarata, desde el primer puesto de observación. ¡Qué diferente se ve bajo nieve! Estuve contenta de haber venido.

La última foto es de las escaleras que bajan y bajan hasta el puente de suspensión y más puestos de observación. No bajé esta vez. Había hielo en los primeros escalones. Y ya traía los pies helados; se me había olvidado ponerme las botas.

Camino de regreso, saqué fotos de cosas pequeñas. Las dejo para mañana.

Snow day

When I went out to do my weekly grocery shopping, before dawn this morning, it was starting to snow. By the time I left the store, it was coming down so fast that once I'd scraped the snow off the car windows, I had to re-do the windshield.

But what with one thing and another, it was after one before I got the camera into the car. And it was starting to rain. I went to Oyster Bay, and the rain had washed all the snow off the trees. Back in town, there was still slushy snow on the streets. I kept on going, and took the highway going west.

It's a steep climb just out of town, and up top, the rain hadn't arrived. I went to Elk Falls; the snow in the parking lot was halfway up to my knees. Yay!

So I went down to look at the forest and the falls and the snow.

The old pipeline cutting, from the trail to Elk Falls.

There will be photos tomorrow.

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Cuando salí esta madrugada, antes de primera luz, para hacer las compras de la semana, ya empezaba a nevar. De vuelta en el estacionamiento de la tienda, caía tan rápido que limpié todas las ventanas del coche y me encontré con el parabrisas que acababa de limpiar ya bajo otra pulgada de nieve.

Pero entre una cosa y otra, no llegué a salir con la cámara hasta la una. Y ya estaba lloviendo. Ni modo. Me fuí a Oyster Bay, y ya la lluvia había lavado los árboles. Un poco de nieve aguada quedaba en el suelo, nada más. Regresé al pueblo; llovía, y las calles traían una mezcla de lodo y nieve derretida. Seguí adelante, tomando la carretera fuera de la ciudad, rumbo al oeste.

El terreno sube repentinamente desde el nivel del mar, y allá arriba, no había llegado la lluvia. Me fui a las cataratas de Elk Falls, y aún en el estacionamiento, la nieve me llegaba cerca de las rodillas. ¡Maravilloso!

Así que me metí en el bosque y fui a mirar las cataratas y los árboles todo nevados.

Mañana habrá fotos.

La foto de hoy es del lugar donde antes pasaba el antiguo conducto de agua desde la presa, tubos enormes hechos de madera, visto desde el sendero que baja hacia las cataratas.

On the rocks

Water and rocks. A recent trip to Elk Falls:

The Campbell River leaves Lower Campbell Lake and winds down to the drop-off. At one time, all this rock was river bed, but the dam and hydroelectric project has diminished it considerably, leaving open rock suitable for exploring. Carefully.

Last pool before the cliff.

A sheer, single-drop fall. 27 metres.

View from the platform along the return trail.

Goat's beards and creambush

The woods and hillsides are softened this month with large sprays of tiny white or cream flowers.

Holodiscus discolor, aka Ocean spray creambush, or ironwood, against a background of the cliff face below Elk Falls.

Goat's beard, Aruncus dioicus. Beside the trail, Elk Falls. Also known as "spaghetti flower".

When I was a kid in summer camp at Ferrer Point, on the west coast of Nootka Island (to the west of Vancouver Island), one of the cabins had a signpost: "Ocean Spray Cabin," it said. I always wondered about that; the cabin was at the top of a long, steep hill down to the hidden beach below, a beach not suited for swimming, where the waves rolled in from the open ocean. But they rolled, they didn't spray, and anyhow, the spray would never, ever reach anywhere near the cabin. So the name didn't make sense to me.

It wasn't till decades later that I discovered the plant that gave the cabin its name. By the time we arrived for camp, the flowers would have dried on the branches, so I hadn't noticed them. My interests at the time were the edible berries in abundance in the forest; huckleberries, salmonberries, thimbleberries, salal. (It was long ago, before the invasive blackberries had made their appearance.) Tiny dried flowers were not on my radar.

The alternate name, ironwood, refers to the hardness of its wood. First Nations peoples used it for a variety of tools, including halibut hooks, bark scrapers, and as pegs for carpentry, before nails were available.

Why the goat's beard, which kind of, sort of, looks goat's beard-y enough, is also called "spaghetti flower" is a new wonderment.

Giving up on the falls

Elk Falls is a roaring, foaming waterfall, at the bottom of the Campbell River canyon. Not a high fall, as falls go; the free-falling, plunge section of the falls is only 89 feet (27 metres), but still, it's an impressive sight and sound from a platform on the opposite side of the river.

Top end of the falls. The gorge is too narrow, the platform too close to get a photo of the whole falls.

The view from this lower platform, going backwards, up-river:

Bare rock, once washed by the much wider river; now a major part of the flow has been re-directed to the turbines, to provide electrical power to a large part of Vancouver Island.

And moving the gaze up-river again:

Still waters, barely seeming to move.

From the suspension bridge above, the bottom of the falls is visible, although through high (over my head,) daunting chain-link fencing. I took photos of the fence, instead:

Shy jumping spider and top of fence.

First huckleberry of the year. I ate it afterwards; it was sweet, but not too sweet.

On the way back up, near the top of the canyon, the fence is less forbidding. With snooty robin, who disapproved of my presence on his trail.

And at the top, beside the parking lot, the fence is temporary. And protects a young deer from traffic.

Maintenance crew

Keeping the trail weed-free:

Black slug, hard at work. Elk Falls trail.

The crew was out in full force, mostly black slugs, with the occasional hurrying banana slug.

Water carriers

On the way from the John Hart Project parking lot to Elk Falls, the trail crosses the 1947 wood-stave pipes, still in use. They carry water for the city of Campbell River and the John Hart power station.

Three pipes, 12 feet in diameter each.

View downstream, from the bridge.

The pipes carry water for 1.1 kilometers, from the John Hart dam, below the outlet of John Hart Lake, to a shorter, high pressure, steel pipe leading in to the powerhouse, which empties into the Campbell River.

The dam was built in 1946-7, and provides electricity to the northern half of Vancouver Island (Nanaimo-Port Alberni tothe northern tip) The pipes and the generating station are in the process of being replaced, due to concerns over earthquake stability. During their construction, back in 1946, the area suffered a quake that measured 7.3 on the Richter scale, and the pipes were deemed strong enough to weather one like that back then. But that was 70 years ago.

The pipes will be removed by next year, and will be replaced by a tunnel through the bedrock, their channel infilled and reforested.

Wood stave construction: long, Douglas fir staves (bevelled boards, like those used to make wooden barrels), paint, and steel bands.

Occasionally, these pipes spring a leak. This bit looks like it has been patched with tar. Sometimes a steel plate is installed where boards have been broken through.

Stave wood pipes had the advantage of being pieced together somewhat like tongue and groove joints of staggered lengths, building a continuous pipe and lessening the number of joints. These pipes also swelled when soaked with water, forming tight seals. Tar was applied to the outside and the pipe was wrapped with metal bands to keep it stable. Interestingly, water coming from these pipes didn’t taste like wood since the tree sap was soon flushed out and thus the taste went with it. (Tri-State Museum)

Ferns on a rock face

Throughout this long, hot, dry summer, mists from the falls keep the opposite rock wall moist and, wherever there is a toe-hold for roots, green.

Even on the sheer face to the left, constantly spray-blasted, two or three ferns have found a safe shelter.

Green light

Reflections, above Elk Falls:

Trees reflected in a puddle on the rock around the head of the falls.

Above the falls, the river widens into a quiet pool. Looking out from the shady side of the ravine.