This was one of those days where I wake up early, brushed my teeth, took the ferry to Sunshine Coast and complained about the $40 fee.  All of this just because I wanted to do a hike on Tetrahedron Provincial Park.  Well, surprise, not a freaking sign around to show me how to reach the damn park.

Where am I?

The final result, Juan got lost.  The "Juanmobile IV" -- if you are new on my newsletter, this is how I call my old Honda CRX -- doesn't have a lot of clearance and I was driving very carefully because the last thing that I want to do is to drive without a muffler.  It was already 10:30 a.m. and very frustrated I decided to invent a trail that I called "No me crea tan pendejo Trail"

Deactived bridge

With my GPS on, bear spray on one hand and rain given me the shower that I didn't take during the morning I started walking around. 

There are a lot of deactivated roads, a paradise for hardcore 4 wheelers, mountain bikers and maybe hunters.  I was able to see the impact of logging on my way up.  Unfortunately the clouds were very low and I didn't have as many views as I was expecting to see.

Something that many people don't know about this area is that is an excellent place for cross-country skiing.  Snow often remains in the forest well into June, a time where most people are heading to the beaches.

This area is an important watershed and some logging operations around this area have raised concerns about the security of the Sunshine Coast's drinking water.  

Almost to the end of my hike, I saw a lot of grouses.  I am not really sure but I believe that this one is a Spruce Grouse  -- because of the long square black tail and the grey colour --.  Other characteristic of Spruce Grouse is that they will often remain still even if approached within a few feet and this happened to me. 

Short statistics:

Round trip: 16 km (10 miles)
Elevation gain: 670 m (2198 ft)
Time: 4.5 hours

After my hike, I decided to spend some time on the beach.  On my way back I decided to spent some time on Porpoise Provincial Park.

In this place, an organism called Protogonyaulax is know as 'Red Tide' and it produces one of the strongest natural poisons in the world.  Filter feeding animals, as butter clams, littlenecks, cockles and mussels, act as storage depots for this poison.

For that reason, you should contact Fisheries and Oceans to check if this area is closed to shellfish harvesting.  

In other words, you can bathe but stay away of shellfish.