@sahinmari Morgen segeln️ wir … #salishsea #comox

The stump ranchers: How #Merville lost its #trees. The #logging and #colonial settlement history of the #Comox Valley helps us understand why the coastal #DouglasFir #ecosystem is now #endangered.

https://thediscourse.ca/comox-valley/the-stump-ranchers-how-merville-lost-its-trees

Support #IndependentMedia bases in #BritishColumbia #Canada
I've been an annual subscriber of #WatershedSentinel for a few years & love receiving each magazine issue. Full of journalism that's relevant to my #environmental & #decolonization interests.
https://watershedsentinel.ca/

Published in #Comox on #VancouverIsland.

Please consider subscribing or donating to this #BCIndieMedia outlet.

Trumpeter swans on the lookout in K'ómoks estuary.

I used a telephoto lens and kept a respectful distance from them. I always do with wildlife. This is not about me getting the shot, this is about respecting wildlife. In this particular case, they spend the winter here so they need to eat and rest before they move on to their next destination.

The only #ruins left at #abandoned No.8 coal mine in #Cumberland. There used to be a huge building here but it was demolished in the 90s. Before it was torn down, it was a popular party place for local #ComoxValley teenagers. All the old mine shafts have been blocked off for public safety. There is still a large abandoned building that was part of this former large coal mine site but it's really deep into the forest & you need to bushwhack your way there. We had very limited time on this past road trip so I stuck to showing my friends the 2 easiest accesses to cool #AbandonedPlaces.

Eight mines used to operate at Comox, named No. 1 Mine through to No. 8 Mine. The workings consisted of boreholes, air shafts, mine entries, & underground network of tunnels. A rail network was also developed to link the ore piles with the town & Union Bay. Old rail bed remain in place today as public trails. A series of survey monuments also remains on the surface today. These have been tracked down, beginning with a concrete monument located slightly below ground in the vicinity of Cumberland Park & recorded to match the maps of the underground workings with the surface-level features today.

The mines at #Comox were technically advanced for their time, with partial mechanization & electrification well before 1900. The first documented use of electricity underground was in the No. 4 Mine in 1891, when four electrically-driven coal-cutters were installed.

Canadian Collieries (owned by #Dunsmuir family) Ltd. operated coal mines on Vancouver Island, including the Wellington Mines near Nanaimo & Comox Mines at Cumberland. Comox Mines had earlier been operated by Union #Colliery Company, the first of the mines being opened in 1888. The last of the Comox Mines, the No.8 Mine, was closed in 1953.

Power outages on #VancouverIsland forced locals into horrifying “face-to-face interaction.”

Residents unable to charge their phones reported making eye contact and even playing board games.

“We have to talk without emojis,” one man said. “It’s like we’re living in the Dark Ages.”

DM me if you want to meet up in #CowichanBay / #MapleBay area anytime from Feb. 1-4, 2025, for nature walk & nature photography with me & 2-3 galpals. We are up there for at least 3 nights for my 50th birthday getaway.

If you want to meet up with me up in #Comox #Courtenay areas - I'm up there from January 4-9 & have evenings open to meet up. We may stay an extra day to explore around the area more & for me to do more photography.

#ThrowbackThursday
2020.

#Laichwiltach Nation’s Hereditary Chief Tsahaukuse's (aka George Quocksister Jr.) traditional, #handwoven Chief's #hat. Made from yellow #cedar bark with beading & an #EagleFeather attached.
Sitting in front of the woven hat is a row of some #handcarved miniature canoe #paddles, carved from red & yellow cedar. Chief Darren Blaney of the #Xwémalhkwu aka #Homalco #FirstNation #carved over 100 of these paddles. They were carved in #honour of the many young Homalco lives lost.

On November 17, meet me at Crown Isle Christmas Market and get a signed copy of my photo book Wild Vancouver Island. I will also have beautiful fine art prints of nature and wildlife.

Log on the beach at Goose Spit in Comox, British Columbia. #cutlog #treerings #goosespit #goosespitpark #landscapephotography #britishcolumbia #comox #comoxvalley #visitbritishcolumbia #seashore #shoreline

Awesome news I got early notice that my application for 2025 VISSA program was processed & I've been accepted to participate. I'm participating in annual Herb Bradley Snowsports Festival - with all gear & lessons covered for Nordic. I haven't tried their Nordic program yet & am stoked to learn! I booked a day for more sitski training too - it's only $10 for program participants.

Ojistoh, my Mohawk sister-friend, is going with me as my support friend & personal assistant.

I am SO EXCITED!
It's been 4 years since I was last able to participate in adaptive snowsports!

These photos are from my lessons in 2020.

Hey #VancouverIsland - #Comox #Courtenay #CampbellRiver - I'll be up your way 2nd week of January for almost the whole week. I'll be doing some adaptive snow sports on Mt. Washington for 2-3 days, depending on how my body feels. The rest of the time, me & my sister-friend will be leisurely exploring & enjoying some Winter nature.
Let me know via DM if you want to meet up with us while we are visiting some up island areas

I'm browsing possible accommodation spots today.

I'll find out in November if I will get a spot at 2025 VISSA at Mt. Washington. I want to try out their adaptive Nordic program, if I get in. I also want to practice more sitski because I'm interested in doing races if I can get good enough to qualify for competitive racing in the future. I loved riding it down from the Eagle lift summit a few times when I was accepted into program in 2020.

I love Winter & being up on the mountains in snow. I just don't have many opportunities to go up mountains in snowy Winter.

Flight schedule for the final #HawaiiMars flight today has been released by the BC Aviation museum! Details for overflights of #PortAlberni #CampbellRiver #Courtenay #Comox #PowellRiver #Qualicum #Parksville #Nanaimo #GulfIslands #Ladysmith #Crofton #Duncan #Victoria #YYJ

It will have a number of escorts including at the final landing by the Snowbirds!

We will be watching from across the water from #yyj airport in Mill Bay!
#aviation #history #bcam #martinMars

My Summer edition of #WatershedSentinel #EnvironmentalNews #magazine has arrived.
Reading it, tonight.

https://watershedsentinel.ca/

Published out of #Comox in #BritishColumbia #Canada.