Mount Parke
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Mount Parke is a beautiful Gulf Islands destination but it has one drawback for a walker - it’s too short. The ferry allows five hours on the island and a Mount Parke walk takes at most three. You therefore have to look for something to add. You used to be able to go to Helen Point on Active Pass but this is First Nations territory and now has other uses. You can visit the lighthouse site but I find the road walk uninteresting. When I found that Mayne Island had a new Japanese garden commemorating the families who had settled and worked the island from 1900 to 1942, I thought this would be an interesting extra. Five of us set off for Mayne Island one Monday morning aboard the Queen of Nanaimo. We planned to walk to the Japanese garden, take a taxi to Montrose Road on the far side of Mount Parke and hike over the hill back to the ferry. However, BC Ferries through a wrench in the works before we had even started. The ferry left half an hour late, probably because the high number of vehicles on a Monday morning taxed the already complicated loading system of the Gulf Islands ferry. Since we might not have enough time to do what I’d hoped, I changed plans. I called (250.539.132) and asked if the taxi could meet us at the ferry and take us to Montrose Road - we would go to the Japanese Garden at the end if we had time. We took the opportunity to eat our lunch on the ferry so that we were ready to go when we reached Village Bay at about 12:30. Once there, we walked up the hill to the ferry entrance and waited a few minutes for the taxi. The driver had not known there would be five of us and he had others to pick up at the waiting room below. We all got in, drove down and the driver told the waiting party (also numbering five persons) that he would be back.
At the Regional Park’s Montrose Road entrance, we put on our packs and set off. At the junction with Mary Jeffrey Nature Appreciation Park, we followed the signs to look at a Giant Arbutus -an impressive tree, distorted with burls and twisted branches, but I did not find it an attractive specimen. We looked at it briefly before returning to the park's Halliday Trail to follow it up to the ridge, passing a fine sample of Indian pipe on the way. We enjoyed Halliday Viewpoint, then followed the Ridge Trail along thescarpment edge to a viewpoint just before the radar tower at the top of the hill. Here we had a longer stop for dessert - any apples or chocolate bars left over - and had a long drink.At the radar tower, we looked for signs of the old trail which used to follow the escarpment up. There was a faded tape and some faint signs of a trail in the grass but we decided to follow the radar tower’s Mount Parke Road access back to the main road. Just before we reached the gate marking the Federal property boundary, a sign on the left said 180 metres Ridge View and a sign opposite said 90 Metre Loop Trail. We would have liked to explore these trails but time did not permit if we were to get to the gardens. So we continued down the hill and along Village Bay Road to the ferry dock.
At the ReMax office we asked the man if we had time to make it to the Japanese gardens and back before the ferry left. He said that he doubted we would have enough time to enjoy them but they were well worth a look and he would be happy to drive us there. We accepted his offer, bundled into his car and were soon there. I called the taxi to take us back to the ferry in 25 minutes and then we looked round the gardens. They are beautifully laid out and give a great feeling of peace and relaxation. We were sorry to have to leave but the ferry was on time and we had no alternative.
Two days later, I felt the need to find where the new summit trails led so Doris and I set out on the Wednesday ferry. There was no delay this time and we were at Village Bay by noon. We walked along the highway and up Mount Parke Road to the Mayne Island Parks 90 Metre Loop Trail just below the summit. I thought that a 90 metre loop trail could not take long and was intrigued as to where it would go. Perhaps to a viewpoint or a special tree? I could not have been more wrong. The trail led gradually down for 90 metres and then reached a sign saying Loop Trail, with an option of going left or right and a new distance estimate of 2000 metres. We soldiered on to the right on the Upper Loop, still wondering what we were going to see. Down and down we went, wondering when it was going to loop back but it never did. Eventually we reached the valley floor and found ourselves in the Regional Park by its Kim Road entrance from Felix Jack Road. To our right, a trail led off into Mary Jeffrey Nature Appreciation Park and its giant arbutus. At this point, we could have gone left to return to the top via the Lower Loop Trail but I decided to try yet another way up - the Old Gulch Trail. This was a steepish but direct route up to the ridge to the Halliday Viewpoint where we had the remainder of our lunch - having had a start on the ferry. Having made the ascent of Mount Parke twice that day, it seemed time to call it a day and head home. We went down the Halliday Trail to Montrose Road and called the taxi when we reached the road. There was no answer from the office but a message told us that we might be able to reach the driver on his cell if we were lucky. We got through on a fading line and were able to establish that he could come in 15 minutes. We carried on to the corner to the Wild Fennel and got two coffees to drink while we were waiting. We got back to the ferry in nice time with a few minutes until it rounded the headland.
As a final check, we went back yet again to follow the "Ridge View 180 Metre" sign just inside the federal gate at the top of Mount Parke Road. It was a well constructed trail with steps leading to a viewpoint just a few metres short of the ridge. This was marked as the edge of Mayne Island's Plumper Pass Park and iron pins and appropriate tapes marked adjacent private property. The ongoing few metres of trail to the ridge itself led to another view and the remains of the old escarpment trail leading up to the radar towers.
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