Hike Report: The rain held off on Saturday and three of us walked around Winter Cove, up the road to Veruna Beach and back. This was a nice loop that included beach walking, rock clambering on the Georgia strait side, salt marsh exploring, bucolic scenery... a good mix.
Right now, the big leaf maples (Acer macrophyllum) are in full golden mode and the wind hasn't knocked down all the leaves, so when you walk through an area of maples, you get a golden glow.
One of the women knows quite a bit about rocks, so we got some interesting info on the local geology, the formation of mudstone and shale, and so on.
Winter Cove has a couple of salt marshes (click here for local info on salt marshes) and in the fall, they change colour. Mostly, it's the sea asparagus (Salicornia virginica) that turns red.
Also known as pickle week, Sea asparagus is edible. I found a lot of websites with recipes. Of course, we're not about to go picking it in the park... But we did take a bite, to get an idea of the taste. Interesting.
On the Georgia Strait side, we took our time and checked out nature's own abstract art - the bull kelp bits that the tide brings in, all rolled up by the wave action.
Bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana), a fast-growing annual kelp that ends up on the shore in late summer and fall, creates interesting compositions. It can look like a long hose, it's huge and very rubbery. Right now, there are fascinating clumps of it on the shore.
Finally, we followed Winter Cove Road to Veruna Beach. This area has open meadows, with some sheep grazing in the distance.
Very nice walk for a couple of hours, varied landscapes. Hope you can join us next Saturday for a totally different excursion.
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