Things that Made me Happy in 2025, part 1.

As I said yesterday, 2025 has been a good year. Going back over my photos from this year, looking for ones to include in my annual "Things that made me happy" file, I ended up with far, far too many. I've cut the list down to 32 representative photos, to split into 4 posts.

This is the first batch: Going places, driving, walking, hiking.  This island is such a beautiful place to be, and the roads and trails always call to me.

(Some of these photos were in my "later" file; others I've already posted earlier in the year.)

January. Old road, now closed to traffic, high above the river.

January, beside Buttle Lake. I go here often just to look at the rocks.

September, Elk River. A long hike on a stripped hillside with a viewpoint at the end. There's always something worth seeing.

April. Road to Zeballos, on the far (west) side of the island.

February. Just another logging road, well used.

(I see on the weather report that it's supposed to snow on Christmas day. I hope!)

June. Last photo of a trip to Saltspring Island to visit family.

June. An unmarked trail led me down to the edge of the Quinsam River.

March. Early spring on the BCHydro trail by the Campbell River.

Tomorrow: company (four- and two-footed) along the way.

A Skywatch post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Como dije ayer, 2025 ha sido un año feliz. Revisando las fotos de todo el año para escoger algunas para incluir en la lista anual de "Cosas que me hicieron feliz", tratando de escoger una que otra nada más, junté más de cien. He achicado la lista, quedando con 32 fotos representativas, para subir en 4 posts.

Este es el primer grupo: Carreteras, caminos, senderos. Esta isla es tan hermosa, y las vistas siempre me están llamando.

(Algunas de estas fotos estaban en mi archivo "para después; otras las he subido antes.)

1. Enero. Un camino viejo, cerrado para tráfico ahora, que corre en la ladera arriba del rio.
2. Enero. Al lado del lago Buttle. Regreso frecuentemente para ver las rocas.
3. Septiembre. Elk River. Un sendero largo, seco, cruzando terreno baldío para llegar a una plataforma de observación. Siempre hay algo que vale la pena visitar.
4. Abril. Camino a Zeballos, en la costa opuesta de la isla.
5. Febrero. Un camino maderero; este está en uso frecuente. (Veo en el pronóstico meteorológico que dicen que va a nevar el dia de Navidad. ¡Ojalá!)
6. Junio. La última foto de un viaje al sur hasta la isla Saltspring, para visitar a mi familia.
7. Junio. Un sendero sin nombre me trajo a la orilla del rio Quinsam.
8. Marzo. La primavera llega a un sendero de BCHydro, subiendo por el rio Campbell.

Mañana: compañeros de cuatro y de dos patas por el camino.

Un post de Skywatch: ve a mirar cielos de todo el mundo.

I beat the bears to these

The huckleberries are ripe!

Red huckleberries, Vacciunium parvifolium

They're slightly acid, but sweet. I picked only two handfuls, leaving the rest for the bears and birds.

The bush these came from.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Los "huckleberry" rojos son una especie de arándano nativo a la costa del Pacífico. Ayer encontré un arbusto lleno de frutas.

La fruta es un poco ácido, pero dulce. Me comí dos puños de fruta, y dejé los demás para los osos y los pájaros.

Indian Creek Falls

The World Waterfall Database lists 2465 waterfalls in BC. It misses some, probably quite a few; I've found waterfalls that are not listed, in my limited travels.

Indian Creek waterfall is on their list, though. I didn't know its name until I found it in Google maps then compared with the WWD maps. They have no details on it, except that Indian Creek is a tributary of Udona Creek, which I can't find, except maybe as a darker line on Google maps.

Nameless, or named and listed, it's still worth a stop and a short walk.

Indian Creek falls, the top half of the first drop.

It's a smallish creek, but it drops down a rock face from high above the highway, then runs through a pipe underneath the highway, into a small pool, then drops again into the Gold River, far below.

I have climbed down to the first pool several times, but never thought to follow the pipe under the road. My granddaughter was more adventurous than I.

Ahead, the second pool, and then the drop. Between the nearest trees and the dark woods beyond, is a deep gash in the terrain, with the river at the bottom.

Going out to the top of the second drop.

We walked down the road to the next viewpoint, to look at the second half of the falls. All we got was a hint of white movement; it's visible in the winter, but not in summer, with all the trees leafed out in between.

The lower half of the falls, taken last year. The falls are visible as two white lines on the left.

And in my search of maps and databases, trying to find this waterfall, I discovered others, and other interesting roads I haven't explored yet. So much to see!

Hoppers and a jumper below the dam

Last week, I was travelling with my granddaughter. She's as crazy as I am, and more energetic. (I seem to be slowing down as the years mount up. Funny how that works!)

In a simple day trip to Gold River and back, we stopped along the way to clamber through the bush to look at the back of the beaver lodge, to take photos of spiders in the hardhack and shelf fungi on the trees, to look at birds at Strathcona Park Lodge, to chase grasshoppers at Strathcona Dam, to climb a rock face beside a waterfall, to look at flamingos in Two Boat Pond, to try out newly-carved animal seats, and to chase crows at the Gold River docks. It was raining as we headed home; otherwise, I'm sure we would have stopped a couple more times.

I have tons* of photos to sort and process. These are from the campsite below Strathcona Dam.

Dam sign.

Text of sign:

You are standing below the largest hydroelectric dam on Vancouver Island. Strathcona Dam is part of the Campbell River Hydroelectric System which includes the Ladore and John Hart developments and the Salmon River, Heber River, and Quinsam River diversions.
Strathcona was the last dam completed on the Campbell River Development project. This 53 meter high earth-filled dam created Upper Campbell Lake, a 48 kilometer long reservoir for water storage. The water that flows through this dam will drop over 200 meters, passing through three generating stations, Strathcona, Ladore, and John Hart, before it reaches the ocean. As you drive towards Campbell River, you will pass near two other reservoirs, Lower Campbell Lake created by Ladore Dam, and John Hart Reservoir created by John Hart dam. This major project was started in 1945 and took  over 13 years to complete.

The campground, with the dam looming over it, has 11 overnight free campsites and large areas for day parking. When we arrived, there was almost no space left to park; cars and trailers and RVs were everywhere; it was the long weekend. It seems that no-one worries about the mass of water ready to drop on you. Signs warn visitors to clear the water and river banks if a siren sounds; water will be rushing down the spillway. The backwaters were alive with kids in rubber boats; the geese I've seen on other visits were in hiding.

We wandered around the weedy area between parking lots. First find: a humongous jumping spider. Or so it seems.

About 25 meters long. As advertised on the campground map.

And then there was the grasshopper. We chased him and his family for quite some time.

It's hard to sneak up on a grasshopper on bare gravel.

But we tried. Pop can half tab included to show size. (I moved it on the photo; it was a couple of inches away.)

Trying to blend in on a mossy rock. And still aware of us; with the next leap, we lost him.

Lichen and moss on a rock. At least it stays put.

More lichen and moss.

Bladder campion, Silene vulgaris, going to seed.

Nearly one o'clock, and we were hungry. Next stop, Strathcona Park Lodge.

*tons. Of photos. Digital. So not really tons. But you know what I mean.

Two boats, three flamingos

Three years ago, on the way to Gold River, I passed a pond, a shallow, muddy pond, far from any human habitation, surrounded by impassible thickets of hardhack and dead trees. And in the centre of the pond, someone had moored two homemade toy boats.

The pond, on the map, has no name. I've been calling it "Two Boat Pond".

Boat # 2, in June of 2016.

There were two boats in March, but by June, one had disappeared. The other remained until last year. Maybe it sunk; maybe a bear stole it. It's not in a pond that you would want to walk through; the water may be mid-thigh deep, but underneath there is mud covering dead logs and branches; treacherous going, if you managed somehow to hack through the hardhack. The plant lives up to its name.

We went by again last Saturday. And now, the boats have been replaced. By flamingos.

Flamingos on a log.

And now I must call the pond "Three flamingos and two boats Pond."

I wonder who put them there.