10 riders left Selkirk Station right at 10 a.m. on a crisp December morning. 3 more joined us along the way for a total of 13, an excellent turnout for the time of year. We proceeded north on the Colquitz River trail system arriving at Viaduct Flats about an hour later to be greated by a flock of 20 or so aptly named Trumpeter Swans. They spend the summer in northern BC and the Yukon but spend their winters in the balmy Greater Victoria area.
Then it was on to Red Barn for lunch. (They make a most excellent and welcome chili.) The fields behind Red Barn are flooded in the winter and contain something close to 100...Trumpeter Swans. We just couldn't get away from the wretched things.
By the time we finished lunch the sky had cleared. We returned (with a couple of detours, planned and accidental) to Victoria with the sun in our faces and the wind at our backs, a warm end to a fine day - more like October than the middle of December.
From Ron E's amazing GPS:
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Video and pictures from Simon W.:
