A rather dreary morning here suddenly turned into a beautiful afternoon and that was all Paulette, me and the mutzzo’s needed to head out and find a spot for a good long hike. We hadn’t been on any real difficult hikes for a week or so and we thought yesterday would be just as good a time as any. The toughest part was trying to figure out where we wanted to go but we eventually settled on the Glenora section of the Cowichan River Park, about a 20 minute drive for us.
Holt Creek flowing into the Cowichan River – my favourite spot of all
This is a beautiful, quiet place and that’s why we’ve chosen it for afternoon walks several times over the past few years. It has long, winding trails that take us right through the Pacific rainforest with tall cedars and firs climbing up to the skies.
Hidden amongst the trees and vines is a long, steep set of stairs – ugh!
For a good workout there are a few steep grades as well as lung busting climbs up wooden stairways leading from the Cowichan River to the trails above. Of all the hikes we do, I think stair climbing is the hardest.
A long, rising trail ahead
Even in the forest amongst the tall trees it was still pretty warm as it was about 65F which is pretty nice for hiking. Molly and Rylie were able to run off-leash but we had to keep a close eye on Rylie as she seemed intent on running off the path and into the woods at several spots.
We were in Bear Family territory – Rylie’s a whirling dervish in the corner
After about 20 minutes of following the trail we came to a long set of switchback stairs that led us down to Holt Creek. About 200 yards from the bottom of the wooden stairs there was a bridge to take us across the creek and just 75 yards from the crossing, Holt Creek flows into the Cowichan River. Of all the places in the park, this has always been my favourite spot. The total hike took us about 90 minutes and we were both tired and glad to be back in our Honda with A/C.
Multi-coloured rocks lining the bottom of crystal clear Holt Creek
Yesterday morning, and again later in the afternoon, I spent some time getting familiar with the new look of Google+. Just my luck to schedule my first Hangout session with fellow bloggers for this coming Monday to show Google+ and some of its different features only to find out that Google had introduced a complete new look and format. Thanks, guys! So, I spent a few hours familiarizing myself with where everything I used to know was now hiding.
The new look is quite different but after working with it I have to say I really like it. Things are better organized and easier to follow now. Even the new Stream Layout with the option of a single or multiple column display has got me to change to the multi-column look I didn’t much care for at first. Using the CTRL + and – keys can switch the display from 2 to 3 columns and back or you can simply select the standard 1 column look.
WARNING: The video clip shown below is a fake – but a very good and very interesting fake depicting what the author feels would make a real, cool new Apple iWatch. Even though it’s not true, the video is extremely well done and even experts reviewing this commercial all agree that nothing shown in it is actually impossible. It’s kind of mind-blowing and takes Dick Tracy type watches to a whole new level. It’s worth a look.
WARNING: This commercial is not real – it is just a hypothetical for Apple
Have a great Friday, and thanks again for visiting!
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