This morning I woke up at 6am, packed up , and walked into town. I stopped by Embe Bakery at the edge of town and ate breakfast consisting of a smoke salmon/cream cheese croissant and a spinach /feta croissant. From the front of Embe Bakery, I hitchhiked to Cranberry Road, the main road leading up to Mt Maxwell Park. From the start of Cranberry Road, I hitchhiked half-way up the road to Mt Maxwell until being dropped off at a neighborhood farm stand at the start of Mt Maxwell Road. From there, I walked the remaining four miles until the summit of Mt Maxwell. About two miles before the summit, I turned onto a hiking trail #6, which paralleled the main road until the summit of Mt Maxwell. Along trail #6, there are beautiful views of the water/islands below and of the harbor below. Stop Mt Maxwell, I met Holly, a middle-aged woman native to Vancouver Island. She mentioned that she was camping at Ruckle Park Campground and would be more than happy to give me a ride there from the Seymour Parking lot where she was parked. After hiking down to Seymour, we drove to Fulford Harbor because Holly needed to buy ice. We went into a general store and I paid for the ice and also bought two homemade cookies for myself.
Here is some additional information about Holly:
- Born and raised on Vancouver island. She was a “ward” child meaning that she had no family to take care of her
- She has a son and daughter and three grandchildren all under the age of 7. She cares immensely about her grandparents and would do everything in her power to ensure they have a comfortable, living childhood
- She has been a vegetarian for 10 years and eats very healthy
- For work, She looks after two separate elderly people who she really cares about
- She doesn’t feel comfortable in busy areas or around large numbers of people. She feels much more comfortable hiking and camping in the mountains and in nature
We then headed to the Ruckle Park Campground and I left my full backpack in her tent while hiking the Ruckle Park Coastal Trail with a day pack. The coastal trail hugs the coastline for about 6km, continuously ascending and descending rugged trails. The trail is mostly shaded with the cover of tall, leafy trees and greenery, and passes many quiet beach coves which are semicircle indentations into the coastline.
At the end of the trail at Yeo Point, I once again met Holly who had also arrived at Yeo Point through a different hiking trail. We took a break at Yeo Point, and I continued on a side trail past Yeo point for another 15 minutes. Then, I backtracked the entire coastal trail until Ruckle Park Campground, where I arrived at 4:45pm. I then began walking the 12km route to Fulford Harbor to catch either the 5:50pm or 7:50pm ferry back to Victoria. After a couple km of hiking ,
