#3-5 ...Not exactly what I had planned. .......

Well just when I think I have things all sorted out life comes and beats me up. I was behind in posting a couple of qualifying walks but planned to do a blitz update but then I got sick. Really sick. A virus worse than any I have hosted in the last decade....maybe almost two decades. More than a month later and I still have some coughing fits. So I make my posts about walks #3-5 about friends. Walk 3 and walk 5 are about the same destination but 2 different friends.( I have been in the same park since but won't count those walks as the goal of this was to expand my walk locations). Mount Douglas Park is a gem of a park here in Saanich. I have no way of even guessing how many times I have walked or ran or occasionally waddled through the myriad of pathways in that park. Hundreds at least...possibly more. And I cannot begin to explain how different it can be EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Depending on my mood, fitness, the weather and of course the company. Walk # 3 was with one of my 'oldest friends'. THis was a more purposeful walk in the sense that she had limited time and a preferred route and we went as fast as my starting to get sick lungs would permit. The surroundings were more in the background and the walk was really about catching up on some big challenges we are each experiencing and between breathes saying "that sucks" and "I here you". On that walk the beauty of the setting was that it was unobtrusive. Despite all the cars in the lot we barely encountered a soul and the dogs and we got a little moving meditation in. THe other walk was also with a many years friend but was the other kind. My lungs were really starting to betray me with the bug that was about to take over my life. The pace was slow and despite how many times we had been to the park we debated over this path and that path, had to back track a few times because certain areas were too slippery to navigate. A little bush-wacking ensued as well resulting in a hefty tick count at the end (fortunately none on the people-only the dogs). I have been through that park so many times and every time I see a different tree fungus, meet a funny person or a strange one, marvelled at the view, had some colossal wipe outs resulting in a number of scrapes and bruises and once a broken finger. Love Mount Doug!! Walk 4 was with another friend and another dog. This time we picked one of the routes from my new walks around Victoria book. THis one was at John Dean Park. We chose the short route for this walk up to Pickles Bluff and winding through the woods. We had the dogs and it was hard as they need to be on leash there and with the slippery stairs and things it was a bit tricky. When we do the long route (3 hours) soon , we will take cameras and no dogs. My husband swears to me we walked there many times years back and one of my old running crew lived right next to the park so I imagine we jogged through but I don't really remember it. When we got up the fire road and around the radio towers and then down to the bluff edge I was just blown away by the view. Everywhere you walk around the south island you get this different angle which creates a whole unique experience of our surroundings. Another thing I enjoy about walking is history. Some parts of this walk reference the old cabin that was here. I looked online to get some more history but it was pretty limited. Might have to find a book on that part of Saanich to find out a bit more. So now I hope to get back on track. I need to get a few extra walks in there to a few new places and I hope opportunities to walk with some different faces. But almost always the dog! Best, Liz