Strathcona Wilderness Centre

Its Sunday which means a new Hiking post! But first a garden update. We're not going full force ahead with our balcony garden until next summer but we did try out a couple of things this year including radishes. I can report that after quickly sprouting despite Hudson's best attempt to disrupt our attempt at planting, my radishes have done ... Sweet Fuck All. Nothing, Nada. Zip. Zilch. I ended up pulling them all and will dump the dirt next weekend. So disappointing but I am eager to try again next year. Ok, onto the report...

This week, Mom and I headed out to the Strathcona Wilderness Centre for our weekly hike. We had visited there last year and were happy to try out a new to us trail. Now, we're early risers and like to try and get out in the wilderness first thing in the morning - and I mean FIRST thing. However, unlike most places we hike, the SWC doesn't open until 9:00am each morning. We had not bother to look up operating times as we had completely forgotten this from last year. Fortunately for us, the person working at the visitor information centre was opening the gate when we arrived at 8:30 and very kindly let us in. 

After a quick potty break, off we went. It was nice and cool for the first time in it seems like forever with a fantastic cool breeze. The sun was shining brightly but the cooler temps made for a perfect morning. We opted for one of their beginner trails, the Owl Loop which we combined with part of the Wagon Loop and a shortcut thru Coyote Run for a hike of 2.12 miles / 3.4 km. 

The trails are all very well maintained and very wide - 4-5 people could easily walk together along most of the trails without feeling squished together side by side. While the trails are groomed, they are mostly grass and clover with a few muddy patches (we finally got some rain!) which they occasionally cover with woodchips. 

The only wildlife we encountered on this hike were a bunch of little tiny frogs racing from one side of the trail to the other. We did hear a woodpecker and a squirrel but didn't see anything. We also only encountered 3 other people (all together) that were on a short hike from the lodge where they were staying. The perks of going early!!!! 

We also didn't see any bodies of water on our hike which is usally a must for us but the trail was lovely and we'll definitely keep it on our list of must do local hikes each year. So far all of our hikes have pretty much made this list. 

Near the end of our trail there was a side path and boardwalk that led to a spruce bog. Its part of a forest study and I think they use it as part of their kids programming. Once you get onto the boardwalk, the forest changes quickly an becomes darker, like something out of a horror movie. You almost expect a bunch of scantily clad teens to run past screaming as they try to escape the local maniac in a hockey mask. However, since the bog is filled with squirrel nests/warrens, some unlucky busty blonde would twist an ankle and quickly die a horrigle death. I digress......  The path leading you into the bog and onto the boardwalk though is lovely and sunny although a bit narrow. After spending an hour hiking the super wide trails, it was quite a switch.

Other than our feet getting completely soaked from the dew and remnants of rain, no complaints this week (not even any mosquito bites to report!)