Resting Under Trees

Fire-scarred Douglas fir trees along Sooke Basin on the Galloping Goose Trail.
A good place to rest on a hot summer day.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."  - J. Lubbock

Sooke Hills: Parks, Peaks, and Rain Forest

Trees on rock, roots on rock, moss on rock

One of my favourite stretches of forest can be found along the Galloping Goose Trail from Sooke to the trail's northern terminus at the gold mining ghost town called Leechtown. The Goose runs along the western edge of a 12, 000 hectare protected wilderness.

In the vast expanse of wilderness covered by a patchwork of parks, one can find pockets of old growth, as well as individual old growth trees. Along the old rail right of way is no different, plus the access is excellent on the wide, flat, gently sloping trail.

In the area one can also find Roosevelt elk, wolves, black bears, bald eagles, and cougars.

Cedar, Douglas-fir, and Hemlock are major rain forest trees

"The Sea to Sea Green Blue Belt is a corridor of protected wilderness and parkland stretching from Saanich Inlet in the east to the Sooke Basin in the southwest. 

Lands extend from Saanich and Tod Inlets to Sooke Basin (north to south), and from the Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park Reserve to the Sooke River (east to west). The protected area covers approximately 11,500 hectares, making it the largest protected area in the CRD. 

It includes provincial, regional and municipal park land, including Gowlland Tod Provincial Park, Goldstream Provincial Park, Sooke Mountain Provincial Park, Sooke Potholes Park, and Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park Reserve."

There are many amazing moss species that live here

A variety of peaks, such as Mount Manuel Quimper, afford the energetic hiker amazing 360 degree views of the huge protected area, plus out over the ocean. Mt. Quimper has an old forest fire lookout structure at the summit. It can be handy on a windy or rainy day.

This beautiful hike can be accessed from the Harbourview Road parking lot.

View from Mt. Quimper looking south east over the park and Juan de Fuca Strait

In the early days the rail line went all the way through to the Lake Cowichan area. It hauled equipment and supplies from Victoria in to towns and lumber camps, then turned around and hauled huge logs out.

In spring seasonal brooks are full, as is the thick, spongy moss

Along this route there are many individual old growth trees that escaped the saws that took most of their contemporaries years ago.

While there are no record-breaking trees here that I know of, there are some nice sized Douglas-fir, Western red-cedar, and Western Hemlock. Sitka spruce can be found along the ocean, and along valley bottoms closer to the sea.

Moss and lichen cling to everything, including a Western red-cedar

Any time is a good time to hike or bike into the Sooke Hills Park rain forest. Whether you are cycling the Galloping Goose Trail, or hiking up Harborview Road, there are enough parks, peaks, and rain forest areas to keep you exploring for a lifetime.

Forest Creatures: Pileated Woodpecker

photo: allaboutbirds.org

Yesterday I was cycling through a nice stretch of trees on the Galloping Goose trail up the Sooke River when I noticed a couple of striking creatures. 

Clinging to the bark of a large diameter tree were two pileated woodpeckers, the largest woodpeckers in North America.

A little larger than a crow, these flame-capped birds are year round residents in mature forests. I watched the two as they flew from tree trunk to tree trunk, poking into the furrowed bark. I could hear the wind through their ample wings as they flapped from tree to tree.

What a thrill to see these birds here, poking around the spectacular linear park that is the Galloping Goose Trail. This narrow corridor preserves some nice larger, older trees of the type that the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) requires for nesting. In younger forests, it will use any large trees remaining from before the forest was cut.

Pileated woodpecker range

The largest woodpecker in the world was the Imperial Woodpecker of Mexico. The largest woodpecker in North America was  the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (although since 2004 there have been potential and encouraging sightings).

Both were driven toward extinction due mostly to habitat destruction - the loss of the old growth forests they relied on.

Pileated Woodpeckers require the complexities of a multi-storied canopy, large stumps and rotting fallen trees. Their nests have been found in a variety of trees including ponderosa pine, larch, hemlock, western red cedar, alder, and maple trees, amongst others.

Crucial to their survival is the structure of the forest that develops as it 'becomes' old growth (>250 years old). It makes these areas ideal nesting and foraging sites, with plenty of food found in the dense, damp understory. Clear cuts and newer forests do not provide the habitat these amazing birds require.

Old Pileated nests are used by many other creatures

I ended my bird sighting with one of the woodpeckers peeking out at me as I sat on my bicycle, stopped on the trail. The large, inquisitive bird was peering out from behind yet another tree trunk.

All of a sudden its red crested head would appear, then bob up and down in what looked like a display directed toward the bright red coat I was wearing.

Maybe I looked like a giant woodpecker, an interloper that would only be tolerated in this bird's territory during winter. Now that it is spring, I would be considered a threat to be actively driven off.

Smiling at the Woody Woodpecker routine, I rode on allowing the bird to forget about potential competition, and resume its hunt for juicy ants and beetle larvae living under the bark of the big trees.

More Coastal Colour

Brilliant fall display beside Todd Creek and the timber trestle, Galloping Goose Trail

The winter weather has swept in with gale force winds up to 34 knots knocking down trees and cutting power to thousands of hydro customers. Power lines are not the only things coming down though, as whatever colour was left on the deciduous trees gets blown off. Good thing I got a few photos before the gales blew through.

Leaf litter is rich in nutrients providing a natural soil enhancer for the forest

Soon the deciduous trees will show their beautiful skeletal structures as their bare branches are silhouetted against the winter sky. Their amazing patterns remind us of many similar ones we see in nature, such as those formed by flowing water, our vascular system, or our lungs.

Trees amaze, regardless of the season.

Galloping Goose Big Trees - Coopers Cove to Roche Cove

The Coopers Cove/Saseenos area of Sooke is a thickly forested rural area with outstanding old growth trees spread throughout the hillsides and shoreline. Most are on private land, but can be seen from vantage points along Highway 14, side roads, and The Galloping Goose trail.



The trail offers many opportunities to view impressive trees as you travel with forest on one side and the ocean down below on the other. A scenic stretch from Coopers Cove to Roche Cove Park has enough old growth trees among younger forest to keep you searching for the next giant.






Evidence of ongoing forest cycles are shown by one particular tree along this stretch of trail. The bleached and twisted snag pictured here was hundreds of years old when it met its demise. How long it has been standing since then is hard to say. Snags sometimes remain standing for hundreds of years. They are key structures in a mature and healthy forest.















As time passes the sun, gravity, wind and decay take their toll. Over the years this Douglas fir has lost its upper trunk and all limbs except a huge main branch, itself as thick as a large trunk.










Other branches have tumbled to the shoreline below and lay in a grey wood-grained nest worthy of a large packrat.








This de-barked limb rests on the beach below showing a wrinkly pattern where the branch bends.



Many large old trees, links to the unmolested pre-European forest, can be seen from the Galloping Goose Trail. There is a place to park at the trail head at Coopers Cove just at the side of highway 14. At the other end, at Roche Cove Park, there is also parking available.

A short way up the G.G. trail from Roche Cove you will find Matheson Lake Park. Here you can hike through ancient forest that has been preserved. I will be visiting Matheson in the near future. Look for a post and photos on some of the choice trees in this patch of old forest.

New Forest, Beach, and Waterfront Parks For South Island

CRD, conservation groups buy controversial Jordan River lands

By Judith Lavoie , Times ColonistMarch 5, 2010

The Capital Regional District has negotiated a massive deal with Western Forest Products to buy more than 2,300 hectares of high-profile waterfront and forest land, days before much of the southwest corner of Vancouver Island was set to go up for sale.

The agreement in principle, with a pricetag of $18.8 million, includes more than 3.5 kilometres of shoreline along Sandcut Beach and the Jordan River surfing beach and townsite. It also takes in land beside Sooke Potholes regional park and areas, such as Weeks Lake, that will add to the buffer around the Greater Victoria water supply’s catchment area and complete the Sea-to-Sea Greenbelt.

http://www.timescolonist.com/travel/conservation+groups+controversial+Jordan+River+lands/2642632/story.html

This is such good news for recreational types on the south island, not to mention all the thousands of visitors that come to enjoy everything the wild west coast has to offer. It is an example of our elected officials doing things that will benefit the people for generations. Thank you to everyone involved in this very positive outcome.

One of my favorite big tree areas alongside the upper Sooke River is one of the parcels involved. A few years back while biking up there I saw flagging outlining boundaries and marking trees. The Galloping Goose Trail, which I was riding on, is a linear park and is therefore very narrow and protects a very small bit of land and trees. Ancient trees hundreds of years old that survived the first, second, third and subsequent waves of logging looked like they might finally be coming down. It depressed me.

Now, with this latest acquisition, it looks like a wider area on both sides of the upper Sooke River will be preserved as a park.

There are individual giant trees in the Sooke River valley that will be saved because of this forward thinking decision-making. I look forward to being able to visit them until they fall down, or until I do. I will be devoting future posts to the tree-hunting possibilities within the new parks systems.

See you in our new parks, and don't forget about Muir Creek, still one of the best possibilities for preserving a nice bit of old growth. It would be a shame to gain all of this, and lose Muir Creek.

When A Tree Falls In The Forest...It Becomes Large Diameter Woody Debris

When I taught grade six science my favorite unit to teach was Trees and Forests which was all about the importance of forest eco-systems. While discussing old growth forests I had to teach my students about major characteristics of these ancient places, such as Large Diameter Woody Debris. Even though this term never failed to elicit giggles and snickers from students, they soon came to see how it holds great importance for the forest environment.

I often scour the forested hills surrounding my home for large diameter woody debris. LDWD is a tell-tale sign of an older, undisturbed forest. These large trees can be standing dead trees (snags), or fallen dead trees, or healthy trees downed by windthrow. They provide irreplaceable habitat for a host of forest life. On one recent trip I followed the Galloping Goose trail into the Sooke Hills Wilderness.

Just before Sooke the western section of the Galloping Goose trail turns north and heads into the Sooke River watershed . The trail traverses a 1918-built CNR rail line that once saw wood-powered Shay locomotives hauling massive trees out of the pristine forest. Now it provides access for people recreating, including those seeking out big tree wilderness.



The trail's western terminus, about 12km from where it leaves the coastal plain below, is 14 hectare Kapoor Park Reserve. This undeveloped park contains the remains of Leechtown, a 20th century gold rush and lumber town. Anything that remains has been reclaimed by the ceaseless growth of the forest, not to mention the invasive Scotch Broom. The Galloping Goose trail ends here, but the old line pushed north through the forested hills to Cowichan Lake.


Along this section of the trail there is a high frequency of scattered Douglas fir veterans that soar over 45 m/150 ft and are hundreds of years old. The tops of these trees emerge from the smaller forest around them, and announce their presence. Douglas fir typically live about 750 years with documented cases of well over one thousand years old.


The old tree's trunks stand out from the background of toothpicks of 2nd or 3rd-growth trees. Often the trunks show evidence of fire across the deeply furrowed, fire-resistant bark. Before fire suppression started, wildfires occurred on a regular basis. Such fires kept down smaller trees and underbrush, leaving an open forest dominated by 122 m/400 ft ancients.


Every winter storms slam into this region, and their power and fury is recorded in old tree's twisted limbs and broken tops. Occasionally storms topple trees and the big ones come down with a crash... if there is someone in the forest to hear it, that is. Sometimes they are uprooted (windthrow or blowdown), and sometimes trees snap off up the trunk (windsnap).

Imagine standing next to one of these 10 story tall trees while it is oscillating back and forth during a gale-force wind. Soon you hear wood snapping and cracking, then during a strong gust, the dangerously leaning tree keeps on going until it crashes to the ground at your feet. You hear it. You feel it, too. This tree, perhaps 400 years old, has just become large diameter woody debris, a very important part of this ecosystem.



Standing veteran trees are ecosystems unto themselves over the hundreds of years they live and provide habitat for a variety of plants and animals. From the mosses and lichens growing on their bark to the marbled murrelet in its branches or the heartwood decaying fungus slowly hollowing out the inside of the trunk, such a tree harbours a complex self-sustaining system. When such trees die and/or fall to earth the micro-hoards of decomposing creatures begin the relentless process of recycling these giant columns of biomass back into the system.


Many species of birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles use LDWD for a variety of purposes. Birds such as the Pileated woodpecker (the largest type of woodpecker, used as a model for Woody Woodpecker), visit downed Douglas firs to hunt for carpenter ants or excavate cavities to live in. Unlike headbangers, Pileated woodpeckers have a cushion built into their brain to reduce the damage from all that beak slamming into solid wood. Ancient snags are hollowed out as nesting sites, and after primary cavity nesters move out owls, other birds and small mammals move in. The shedding wrinkly bark also gives shelter to bats.


Black bears, martens, fishers and bobcats all use suitable downed LDWD for denning sites. Sharp-tailed snakes, endangered in B.C., are residents of the vanishing coastal Douglas fir forest and live in and around downed trees. A salamander can live its whole moist life in a single log; everything it needs is there.

Over decades, as the log melts into the forest floor, new trees take advantage of the rich nutrients it provides. One day one of these small trees may fill the hole left by its fallen ancestor. The same ancestor that nursed the young tree to its youth.

The whistle of the logging locomotives is not heard any longer in these parts, but veteran trees continue to fall. From the old rail bed I can see where recent clear cut logging has taken out some of the remaining 1% of original low elevation Douglas fir forest on Vancouver Island.

Such clear cuts raze the forest right down to the ground. Extra woody debris (and there is often a lot of it) is burnt in large piles, or is salvaged by outfits further down the chain, much like the vultures that pick on the remains of dead animals. But as vultures prefer the carcasses of herbivores, the same with post-clear cut salvage outfits. They prefer the high value cedar more than anything else.

Large diameter woody debris may be funny, but it is of supreme importance to the things that live in and around it, including humans. You can educate your family and friends AND provide humour at the same time - just mention LDWD.

The B&B Tree

In December 2004 Linda and I came to Sooke to experience life in the rainforest. We had been to Sooke several times over the years, always on our way to hike the West Coast Trail. We knew that there were big trees to be seen on Vancouver Island.

On previous visits to the coast we found it to be a special thing to stand next to an enormous tree a thousand or more years old. An entire forest of such unbelievable huge-ness forces an uncomfortable perspective on the mind. The eyes have problems taking in such immense verticality. Most of us experience such vertical splendor only in the business district of large cities, craning our necks looking up at towers. Imagine a tree, or an entire forest, towering above you at the height of a 30 story building. Trees with trunks larger than

The first month in Sooke we stayed at a bed and breakfast on Hutchison Cove with a fine view over Sooke Basin, East Sooke, and the snow peaked mountains of Washington. The tops of big trees could be seen growing down by the water where The Galloping Goose Trail runs.

One warm winter day I walked down to the Goose. At the bottom of the slope I came to the trail, and a fine example of an old Douglas fir. It is on the land side of the trail, and in its low location is protected from westerly gales by a hill. It has little competition from other big trees. Therefore, it has a beautiful crown and a classic overall shape.

It has not been as beaten by storms like many of the waters-edge trees. Many in this area have had their tops, or leaders, broken off, but not this beauty. It is intact and the whole tree is growing vigorously.

A new access road was built about a year ago that runs right past the base of this tree. While out for a bike ride, I talked to the present owner (the land, and tree, are for sale). She spoke of how her family has loved this tree over the years, and how they took special care to protect it during the construction of the road. Ah, fellow tree lovers.

If you ride or walk the Galloping Goose between the Coopers Cove access on Highway 14 and Roche Cove Park you will see many gnarly old trees, including this one. Some of them are in the range of 100 to 300 years old. Along this stretch of trail you will also see trees in that age range that have been sheared off or blown down, root disk upended and all. These fallen giants are a testament to the strength of the winds that lash this coastline every winter.

Could the B&B Tree live through another 800 years of winter storms? Who will be around to be awed by it if it does?

Where Are The Big Trees?

Living on the west coast of Vancouver Island we are frequently asked about where to find the big trees this sodden land is famous for.

The short answer is, "Everywhere!" We may not have much on the south island for old growth forests (older than 250 years), but what most people would consider to be giant trees still exist all over. Many are older than 250 years.

The header photo is a nice example of one such behemoth. This Western Red Cedar is a short cycle away from home just off the Galloping Goose trail, at the side of the Sooke River.

This blog will highlight similar notable large woody entities. Posts will include photos, directions, and tree and forest related information. Visitors are encouraged to share information about big trees in their area.


"Every craggy and gnarled tree has its own strange and graceful legend attached to it."
Douglas Hyde