Another day of maximum temperature of 10˚C today.  It may not be the warmest spring weather, but the forecast said sun and so it’s perfect for hiking.  So hike we did.  We went back to Maple Mountain where we did a tough hike (for us) in September last year, and decided to modify it with a different loop but still be able to get some views.   it was good that we did that. The way up was a bit wet, rocky and steep in some areas. The loop down was much more gentle and better footing which our knees appreciated.

We had a lovely lunch spot.  The air was clear so mountains 100 km away were visible so we spent some time naming them.  But when the sun went behind the clouds it was chilly with the breeze so we didn’t linger.

A km or so further down the trail we found some nicer views, out towards Saltspring Island and Stuart Channel where we have paddled before out of Maple Bay.

One thing we noticed today was that there was a lot of very new blowdown, probably from the high winds we had a couple weeks ago.  Some very large trees were down, sometimes across the trail.   This one spot had many downed trees, so we had to go up and under them to keep going!

Then we had hail move in and out.  It was quite unexpected and we had about 4 different episodes.  Enough that the trail got wet.  But we didn’t get wet and were glad it was not rain, so we didn’t really mind.

So another wonderful day on the trail with some views, some bushwhacking and unexpected precipitation.  We’ll take it!