Get o ut !
Saanichton Bay by Frank Gee
The Get Out series is aimed at reminding us how lucky we are to live on southern Vancouver Island – one of the most diverse and livable places on earth! All my adventures are from the basis of a family with pre-teen kids. Get out and enjoy! Best described as a strip of trees and shoreline that provides green-space to a residential area, Saanichton Bay Park is a little known treasure. Explored from a paved path overlooking the water or from the foreshore, I often find waterfowl and bald eagles here. This is a very easy, short walk. At the south end, the Sandhill Creek estuary mixes fresh water with salt. Whenever two habitats come together like this, there is always an increase in plants and animals because of the mixing. If waterfowl are paddling away from the shore look up: a bald eagle, thinking about duck for dinner, may be perched nearby. The huge Cordova Spit, across the bay, shelters the waters from southerly winds; north winds are another story! While an amazing place of fragile plants, the spit is on the Tsawout First Nations Reserve, so visiting is not appropriate without permission. An opportunity to learn more about First Nations traditional knowledge is to join a paddling tour, in the summer, with Tseycum Tours (www.tseycumtours.com). They may explore parts of Sidney Island, which are similar to Cordova spit. Beyond the spit is James Island. Now privately owned, it was an explosives factory until the early 1980s. The factory operated for over 60 years and employed many local folks, myself included. At one point there was even a community of employees living on the north end of the island. The nitro-explosives made there were shipped to isolated logging and mining camps along the West Coast. It was an interesting place to work on two counts: production was broken down into small steps to limit dam-
age and casualties in the event of an accident; an unnerving concept. But the other thing about the factory was the nitroglycerine. NG opens blood vessels; in a controlled manner, this can make it easier for the heart. On the production line nitro fumes would cause migraine-like headaches the first week, as your body adjusted. Tread carefully, but explore the mixed cobble and sand beach of Saanichton Bay. Various fish lay their eggs in the cobble areas. This provides food for many small creatures and is ultimately important to salmon populations. Some salmon are very important to Orca, therefore where you walk could be affecting killer whales! There are a number of tidal zone books and guides to use while exploring; let your kids learn by comparing their discoveries to the pictures. To the north, Saanichton Bay is protected by the rocky Turgoose Point. Overhanging firs provide perches for eagles and Arbutus trees cling to the bank. The rocks can be slippery if wet, but provide a whole new environment to explore. Fishing from the dock at the end of James Island Road is popular. Directions: From Lochside Road (just north of Mount Newton Cross Road) turn right onto James Island Road, take the first right (Arthur), then left (Lancelot) to the north end of the path.
Jim Laing – 250-652-2923
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JULY 2010