"Spring Flowers" by Rosemary Jorna
A walk along the Galloping Goose in April and May is rewarding as over thirty different plants and shrubs bloom in succession between Charters and Todd Creeks and can be see without stepping off the trail.
Start your walk at the water treatment plant at Charters Creek in the 2900 block of Sooke River Rd. Follow the path along the chain link fence by Charters Creek. It opens onto a forestry road through a magnificent grove of big leaf maple trees. There are salmon spawning pools recently enhanced. Please don’t disturb the young fry. In the sunlight, you may be lucky to see patrolling Mourning Cloak and Satyr Comma butterflies. Their caterpillars depend on the stinging nettles you see for food. Throughout the year, this road running under the trestle and up to the water board gate is home to Western Spring Azure, Lorquins Admiral, Pine White and Purplish Copper butterflies.
Our route proceeds under the trestle and turns left up the hill to the Galloping Goose; if it has been raining you’ll have the sound of a small creek with its miniature waterfalls running beside you. Turn right on the Goose for a display of Vanilla Leaf. The sharpeyed will see the delicate, deep purple flower of the Pacific Water Leaf. As you leave the trees and move past the mossy rock faces, saxifrages, Death Camas, Camas, Sea blush, Fawn Lily, Chocolate Lily, and Blue Eyed Mary bloom. Look carefully among the stone crop for the purple trumpets of Naked Broomrape and for the blue listed, tiny brown Moss Elfin butterfly whose caterpillars depend on the Stone Crop. This butterfly has been identified near the Whistle Stop.
As you cross the Todd Creek trestle and turn right to the horse ford, the character of the forest changes again. It is a steep slope down to Todd Creek but the ford is passable most of the year. The trail continues up a gentle slope through open wood land. Twinflowers and Coral Root are seen in this area. Turn right down the washed out logging road to return to the Goose and retrace your steps to the Charters Creek trestle. Cross over the trestle look for the Owl Trail on the right, this passes through a well established evergreen forest down to Sooke River Road. Locally this is one of the first spots inhabited by the recently arrived Barred Owl. The owls were nesting here in 1997. When you reach the road you turn right again to return to your starting spot. This walk is approximately 6 kilometers in length with an elevation change of 80 meters through five distinct forest mixtures. The walk is level most of the way with good footing. The loops at both trestles are included in the WFP land recently purchased by the CRD and TLC.
The Juan de Fuca Community Trails Society hikes on the first Saturday of every month. Our April 3rd hike is the walk described above. Contact Rosemary Jorna 250 642 2767; email sid2767@ shaw.ca or visit our website at www.jdfcommunitytrails.ca
