When we woke up on Thursday (3/5), it was raining. We had losely been talking about going on a hike that day, but due to the rain the others weren’t really sure anymore. That was when I put my foot down. I said: “I want to go hiking. I don’t mind the rain. If you want to stay in the city, that’s fine. But I’m going to the park.”
I guess that’s just what they needed to hear, because half an hour later all of us met up in the hostel lobby and walked to the bus stop. We were going to Goldstream Provincial Park.
It’s a small park about thirty kilometers from Victoria, with a couple of trails and Highway 1 going straigt through it. The trail we chose was narrow and went up and down the mountain, with huge trees and moss and ferns in the valleys and smaller pines and firs up on the higher ground. Once we got into the forest, the canopy gave us shelter from the rain – but it was still wet, and I was happy for my outfit consisting of the yellow rain jacket I got from Morena, rain trousers and Goretex shoes. Some of the others weren’t as lucky.
And I’m sorry if I’m boring you with all these pictures of trees and moss. The thousands shades of green just keep on amazing me. I am in awe of these trees. And I’ll probably keep on being amazed by the trees I see on this trip and taking photos like crazy and writing about them here. The amazing trees will probably just keep on coming until I reach Arizona, and that won’t be until the middle of July. So, get used to it.
Of course, I was always the last person in the group. Oh, this trail was amazing.
The end point of the trail was this approximately twenty-five meter high waterfall, called Niagra Falls. Not THE Niagra Falls, but pretty enough anyway.
On the way back on the much straighter trail to the bus, I met this beautiful little thing. A wild orchid! In cold Canada. I know it’s a rainforest, but still. I didn’t expect orchids too. This is such a cool place!
Once we reached the bus stop, the bus had just left and the next one was late. So when we finally reached the hostel, we were all wet and freezing and tired enogh to go to sleep right away. We had walked about ten kilometers through the pouring rain, you know. But we didn’t, though. We all had hot showers, and then we went to a nice restaurant and celebrated our last night in Victoria.
Katja Malmborg 