We hiked from the end of Caleb Pike parking lot along the Ridge Top trail in the Gowlland Tod Provincial park on Sunday. it was a frosty morning with the beginning of trail shrouded in fog. 2 inches of snow frozen on the trail crunched under our feet most of the way. We soon rose above the fog and the air was beautifully crystal clear over the Sound. The fog lingered below and we could hear the sound of the Malahat Highway hidden in the dense cloud. As we went further along the ridge the fog below dissipated and we could now see the ocean surface. The birds were very quiet on the way out, possibly it was still early and too cool for them to do much chattering. A Sharp-shinned hawk was sitting on the golden eagle tree. No Golden eagles or even Bald Eagles were seen today.
We hiked 3 miles along the ridge, up and over Holmes peak, to the top of jocelynn hill. Met no hikers on the way up, but ran into maybe 8 or so on the way back. on the return trip the frozen snow started to melt and was quite sloppy in some places. More birds were active with 15 species counted. Even two Pileated woodpeckers flew up from the trail ahead of us. Not much else interesting in the bird category. A 6 mile hike done in 3 hours, not bad.
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