Why not spend the BC Day long weekend in the beautiful B.C. outdoors?
The Strathcona Wilderness Institute has weekend programs at the Strathcona Park Wilderness Centre, at the Paradise Meadows trailhead in Strathcona Park.
This Saturday, naturalists Heather and Rolf Kellerhals will guide a hike to Mt. Allan Brooks. Starting at 9 a.m., this is a strenuous eight-hour hike to a mountain named for Major Allan Cyril Brooks, noted ornithologist and artist; and Allan Cecil Brooks Jr., biologist and teacher.
Pre-register at coordinator@strathconapark.org.
On Sunday at 1 p.m., Alison Maingon, retired archeologist and member of Comox Valley Nature, will give a talk and walk titled Ethnobotany in Paradise Meadows.
The outing will be an introduction to some of our native plants and their uses. Last year her talk was standing room only!
Hikes and nature walks continue the following weekend. On Aug. 11, Tim Penney of the Comox District Mountaineering Club will guide a hike starting at 9 a.m. to Croteau Lake. This six-hour outing will continue to a lookout over Ball Lake.
Pre-register at coordinator@strathconapark.org.
On Aug. 12, Alana Buchanan of the Marmot Recovery Centre at Mount Washington will give a presentation appealing to all ages — Marvelous Marmots: Fun, Fact and Fiction.
The Recovery Centre is not open to the public, so this event is a chance to see behind the scenes: what the facility looks like, how it runs, and what they do with the captive marmots. The presentation starts at 1 p.m. indoors at the Wilderness Centre, and was hugely popular last year.
For the full schedule of nature walks and hikes, visit www.strathconapark.org. For the most up-to-date information on activities and trail conditions, visit strathconapark.blogspot.com.
— Strathcona Wilderness Institute