11th July Barrow bay and Gilhespy side trail.

This was a great one………this one was a recommendation from a local. We likely would not have found it without direction. The GPS was totally confused…couldn’t find it….but that may also be due to the seriously sketchy network connection (or lack thereof..) that exists up here.

Be warned this is going to be a long one with lots of pictures….it was a terrific day out..!!!

We set of on what promised to be a 10k+ hike with a couple of side trails thrown in to the mix….Nice little free parking lot ( bonus)…and the hike starts out on the road……..and then heads off in the direction of the coast….

Nice easy terrain…( or so we thought ) the first couple of kilometers were nice and flat…almost a groomed trail.

very different again…..

There are a couple of side trails on this section, The John Appleton and the Beth Gilhespy side trail that join together to make a more interesting loop.

Once we got in to the foresty bit, it became a lot more interesting….thankfully the local mosquito population seemed to be having a bit of a holiday today…..Either that or the new bug repellent lotion I bought at Can Tire works better than the old stuff…..!!!!

We had a couple of days of heavy rain so I was hoping to find some fungi about…

I was not to be disappointed.

And some interesting natural sights along the way……

………and then……..we get to the Beth Gilhespy side trail……which…on reviewing the description after the fact…….does say that it has a ‘challenging element’…………….

AAAAAaaaaargh…!! 47 steps down……( I counted them on the way back up.. .!!! )

….and then……

Well…..you just have to give it a go ….don’t you…!!!

Its definitely a bit of a challenge,,,,,,but great fun……our legs were definitely a bit on the wobbly side when we made it back up…!!!

And even after that there was still a bit of scrambling round cliff faces….not too many pictures…because by that time we were on tired legs and a bit more concerned about falling off…..

Oh boy we were tired at the end of this one…….and it looks sooooo unimpressive as a workout…!!!

So we trudged back in to Barrow Bay…..

…and then……we realised why Barrow Bay is so difficult to find………