Galloping Goose Trail

Anita and I have set a goal of riding the entire 60 kilometers of the Galloping Goose Trail. So today we rode the last few kilometers from the Sooke River Potholes Provincial Park to the end of the trail. This is an incredibly beautiful section that follows the Sooke River with views of the tortured rock formations, waterfalls, and swimmin' holes.

The dense, cool forest gave up many treasures as we rode along. I was constantly yelling, "Stop!!! I need to take a picture!"

As we were approaching a small bridge across a stream I caught sight of this Barred owl landing in a tree. I was so excited to see the owl that I turned to look back and ran into Anita's bike and we both went down in a heap of arms, legs, and bikes. We quickly got out the camera, changed lens, and Anita got up and took several pictures. The owl sat and posed. It had probably never seen anything so strange and was trying to puzzle it out. Luckily neither of us were hurt, so we dusted ourselves off, got on our bikes and continued down the trail. I promised to contain myself.

Soon I was shrieking again, "Snake!!!" Anita loves snakes, so we stopped to move this little Sharp-tailed snake off the trail.

Just passed the end of the Galloping Goose Trail is the site of Leechtown, an old mining town. Not much left there but a few rusty relics.