Don’t tempt fate....

You know that feeling you get when you are somewhere you just shouldn’t be. That creepy sensation that maybe you should leave.... before something bad happens?!! We both had that feeling today at exactly the same time.

Wow! Did I ever have a great sleep last night! Almost 10 hours of sleep! Richard always says ”listen to your body”. I guess I have been pushing myself with my recovery, as well as with all of the hiking we’ve been doing, so that last night I just needed to sleep. It’s so nice not to have an alarm clock, or plans to wake up for!

After doing my long workout this morning in Newman, I started thinking about what should we do today? Richard had received an email about some potential work and wanted to know when that was going to happen, and I said “Why don’t we go to Saltspring Island for the weekend?” I found a nice spot on VRBO where we could walk to the Saturday morning market on Salt Spring, and we could catch the ferry later today from Crofton (1.5 hours south of us off Hwy 19). As we were discussing it Richard said...”we had better not go this weekend. There is 2-5cm of SNOW forecast for tomorrow night and into Sunday!” YIKES!!! We’ve not had snow in Fanny Bay since we’ve been here.

So we have parked the idea of going to Salt Spring until next weekend, when Richard has to do his small ‘trip directing job’, as it will work out much better for us too. We will probably have more choice of accommodation if we don’t go last minute, like we were trying to do this weekend. We really want to explore some more of the islands while we are here, and we are running out of time to do island exploration as some of the islands require overnight stays, rather than day trips.

My Cowichan sweater arrived yesterday at the Post Office in Union Bay. I LOVE it! It is so cozy and warm! And the wool is waterproof too!

After looking at a few places to visit today, all of which appear to be closed due to Covid, we finally landed on going to Horne Lake Caves Provincial Park and Horne Lake Caves Regional Park. Horne Lake is due south of us about 15km away, but on a very bumpy, pot hole filled, dirt road.

We arrived at Horne Lake Caves Provincial Park and there were NO other cars in the parking lot. Not a good sign.

The Caves are currently closed because of Covid19 but when the caves are open, there are year round guided cave tours where you can meander through a natural underground wonderland. The first reference to caves at Horne Lake was in a geological report from 1912. Two caves known as Main and Lower Main were thereafter known to loggers and public visitation increased after they were publicized in 1939. In 1941 a larger Riverbend Cave was discovered and became a popular tourist site. In 1957 the Province placed a 29 hectare reserve around the Horne Lake Caves, which by then had been stripped of many of their formations. Fears of vandalism in the recently discovered Euclataws Cave (discovered in 1963 but kept secret until 1969) led cavers to approach the Provincial government for protection. In February 1971 Horne Lake Caves became a Provincial park. Euclataws and Riverbend Cave were gated and guided tours commenced in Main, Lower Main and Riverbend caves. Four additional caves; Cougar, Eggshell, Andre’s Annex and Riverbend Trail Slot Cave have recently been documented in the park. The Horne Lake Caves Provincial Park runs along the Qualicum River.

To hike the trails we first had to cross another suspension bridge. Not our favourite thing to walk across!

After learning how much we didn’t like suspension bridges, we know now to go one person at a time, to stop the swaying!

We started hiking down the trail and after about 5 minutes of hiking we both looked at each other and said “I don’t feel comfortable out here, do you?!!” We were the only people on the trail and we had seen some signs about what to do if we encountered a bear.

So that was it for us at this park! We turned around and went back to Jerry to see what else we could see in the Horne Lake Caves Regional Park.

Doesn’t this sound like a theme? We go somewhere to do something and then we have to do something else instead? Oh well...it makes the adventure more interesting to be adaptable and flexible with our plans!

We drove back to the Horne Lake Caves Regional Park and we were happy that there was more ‘civilization’ at this park.

Horne Lake selfie!

We decided to walk through the camping area and little beach that is in Horne Lake Regional Park. We met some folks who were camping off the grid for $20 a night in the park. Their view was stunning!

Horne Lake.

We spoke to the guy camping on the far left of this photo. He had just grilled some chicken in a clay oven over the open fire, and his wife was making chicken, vegetable, jalapeño, cheddar soup! It sounded so delicious I think I’m going to have to find a recipe for that soup, so we can make some over this cold weekend we have coming up! They had a very cute little dog called “Dolly” who was only 8 months old and very friendly. They like to go camping in the back country near Campbell River, but they are exploring the island over the winter, in these little out of the way spots. He had his 2 solar panels out trying to catch some sunshine to power their RV, but he was also running his gas generator for power.

Dolly...

The camper guy told us that he had seen some big lake trout earlier in the day at the end of the road near the beach. We hiked past the 32 campsites, most of which were empty, and came to a deserted beach, where we sat on a log and just marvelled on how beautiful the setting was on Horne Lake.

Cliffs overlooking Horne Lake. Cottages on the shores of Horne Lake. When we drove by these cottages the road to get down to the cottage was very, very steep. Most cottages also had an RV parked on their land, probably for extra sleeping accommodations.

Just past Richard we sat on a log and stared down the Lake.

We saw one fishing boat all day. These guys said they had only caught 1 fish worth keeping today.

This couple were camping in one of the trailers we had walked by. This was their maiden voyage in their new canoe. The yellow colour of the canoe looks amazing contrasted against the beautiful blue Horne Lake. I didn’t even realize when I took this shot that they had their dog with them in a yellow life jacket in the canoe. I love the reflection of the people in the Lake.

I love the reflection of the birch bark in the water. The trees are nice too, reflected in the water.

As we were walking back through the campground area, we found another little secluded bay. The water was like glass and we loved the peacefulness of this beautiful place. We feel like we gave ourselves ‘permission’ today to relax, chill, take in the stunning scenery and not rush to the next thing on our agenda. Truly an invigorating day! We were so happy to go to the Horne Lake area and enjoy the scenery, before any bad weather makes the roads even more difficult to travel there.

The ‘new’ to me vintage Cowichan sweater which I found on eBay. It fits perfectly and with a down vest underneath it, I was very warm on our walk today. I’m glad I persevered to find this sweater as they are so hard to find in great condition if you are looking for a used one. Not bad for $140, when new ones custom made are over $1,000!

We arrived home to a another beautiful Fanny Bay sunset.

We’re happy we are here in Fanny Bay. It looked lovely on Horne Lake, but we are enjoying life with full hook ups of water, sewer and hydro. It’s nice to visit the Provincial Parks and sometimes that saying “Don’t tempt fate” is something we need to remember in our adventures!

And with that...onto the weekend! It feels like the rest of the week now, which is so strange!