What a Difference Five Days Makes

On January 18th we had a taste of winter. It was a winter wonderland outside.

Fast forward to today. Back to our Vancouver Island winter.

Almost all the snow has melted and it is 7 degrees Celsius.

We went on a field trip for our hike this morning.  Thirteen of us travelled about an hour south of Nanaimo.  The plan was to hike a portion of the TransCanada Trail near Shawnigan Lake.  This bit of the trail leads to the Kinsol Trestle.  This trestle was a railway bridge and is one of the highest in the world.  It is the highest trestle bridge in the Commonwealth.  The bridge needed to be restored to make it safe for hikers.  The project cost almost 4 million dollars.

This was a great trail but the snow is still there and has melted into an icy mess.  I really need waterproof hiking boots with good treads.  Thank god, I got hiking poles for Christmas.  Without them, I wouldn't have been able to participate.

Since it was a long distance commute to our hiking trail, we planned a group pub lunch.  Great fun and good food!