Day 2 – Shades of Green
Spring always arrives with a fresh new set of colours to tantalize us and awaken our senses from the winter slumber. Despite the colder spring we have had in BC this year, this is still the case, and David and I were mesmerized by the many shades of green that we saw while we were at Gordon Bay Provincial Park this week.
Our second day of camping showered us with increasing rain throughout the day, but we still could not help enjoying the glory of the area we were camping in.
This forest was one of the first to be logged on Vancouver Island since it was close to Lake Cowichan making it easy to float the massive logs to the mills. Now one of the most beautiful features of the park is the tall stately firs of the second growth that provide a sheltering canopy for every campsite.
It must be an oasis in the hot summer months.
However, for us the persistent rain and cooler temperatures encouraged us that day to take a drive in a warm car. Since we live on Salt Spring, we don’t have ready access to some of the big “box stores”. So we save up a shopping list for times when we travel off island, and this was one of them. Our list wasn’t long, but it was a good excuse to drive back to Duncan and enjoy the scenery while staying warm and dry.
As we were driving along not far from the park, I suddenly spotted this magnificent creature casually munching on greenery near the highway. I shouted to David to pull over, turn around and go back quickly so I could take a photo. I had never seen an elk in this area of BC. What an opportunity!
We made it just in time and I snapped a couple of photos out the window before he disappeared. I cropped this photo to get a closer look at him. He didn’t pay any attention to us at all, and just wandered away into the brush. I think this was the highlight of our day!
Okay, it’s time for true confessions. Another reason we like to come to Duncan is for a meal at one of our favourite restaurants, Heritage Indian Cuisine.
It was a real treat after we finished shopping and before returning to the campground. The day was still gloomy and rainy, and this was great for elevating our mood. We even had enough left to augment our supper plans.
On the way back, we took a more scenic route, and admired the native dogwood trees in bloom among the various shades of green beside the road. The Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) was adopted in 1956 as B.C.’s floral emblem, but the blossom was considered a symbol of British Columbia long before it was officially adopted. The tree grows six to eight metres high, and flowers in April and May; so this was an excellent time to see them in their full glory. It was difficult to truly capture what we were seeing with my camera, but here are a few specimens. Remember, it was a grey and rainy day.
I particularly like the photo with the white truck accent – and power lines to boot!
We got back to our tent in late afternoon with rain still coming down, sometimes harder than others. When you were in the tent or the shelter, you often couldn’t tell if it was still raining or the drops were coming from the trees above. It made little difference; everything was wet.
This is what the weather radar was showing us in the forecast for the area. We were right in the middle of that yellow and orange blob for the evening.
We finished our supper, washed up the dishes and stowed everything away. It was not the night to have a campfire, just head to bed and listen to the rain. There were a few small puddles in the vestibules of our tent, but we had brought extra towels for this kind of occurrence. We may want to buy another tarp sometime. Aside from that we were warm and cozy, and tired out from all the activity of the past two days. We slept well, ready for a new start on Day 3 which held the promise of some sun!
