sookeslayer98
Member
has anyone fished it before. is there a dock or beach access. Or do you boat?
Crabapple and shields lake in sooke?
- Thread starter sookeslayer98
- Start date
SIRA
Member
Witnesses needed: court proceedings to reestablish road access to Sooke Mountain Park
With the saltwater crowd asking where the money from the Sooke boat launch fee is going, here's an example:
Since 2010 I have steadily constructed the supporting community planning foundation and lobbied for political support to regain road access to Sooke Mountain Provincial Park, which provides access to Sheilds, and potentially Crabapple & Grassy Lakes. Sheilds & Crabapple have been stocked with cutthroat three or four times since the CRD obstructed the road with a gate in 2001. Support for reestablishing road access is now written into the Sooke Official Community Plan and related parks plan, and two separate council directions have been passed telling Mayor & staff to make it so.
After four years of waiting, next week the matter goes to trial. The issue is whether the extension of Harbourview Road is a public road. A key element of our legal position is that it was historically used by the public, and we need witnesses that used the road to go tell the judge how things were.
An early success came a couple of weeks back when the province filed an admission of fact stating Glintz Lake Road is a public road from the highway all the way to Glintz Lake.
The trial starts next week. If you want to fish the lakes once again, or hunt in the provincial park, or just go there for the hell of it, the time is now to step up!
Contact me at 250-642-2917 or tm@tfmartin.net
or:
Michael R. Scherr, Partner
Pearlman Lindholm
Barristers and Solicitors
Shoal Point at Fisherman's Wharf
201 - 19 Dallas Road
Victoria, B.C., V8V 5A6
Phone: (250) 388-4433
Facsimile: (250) 388-5856
E-mail: mscherr@pearlmanlindholm.com
With the saltwater crowd asking where the money from the Sooke boat launch fee is going, here's an example:
Since 2010 I have steadily constructed the supporting community planning foundation and lobbied for political support to regain road access to Sooke Mountain Provincial Park, which provides access to Sheilds, and potentially Crabapple & Grassy Lakes. Sheilds & Crabapple have been stocked with cutthroat three or four times since the CRD obstructed the road with a gate in 2001. Support for reestablishing road access is now written into the Sooke Official Community Plan and related parks plan, and two separate council directions have been passed telling Mayor & staff to make it so.
After four years of waiting, next week the matter goes to trial. The issue is whether the extension of Harbourview Road is a public road. A key element of our legal position is that it was historically used by the public, and we need witnesses that used the road to go tell the judge how things were.
An early success came a couple of weeks back when the province filed an admission of fact stating Glintz Lake Road is a public road from the highway all the way to Glintz Lake.
The trial starts next week. If you want to fish the lakes once again, or hunt in the provincial park, or just go there for the hell of it, the time is now to step up!
Contact me at 250-642-2917 or tm@tfmartin.net
or:
Michael R. Scherr, Partner
Pearlman Lindholm
Barristers and Solicitors
Shoal Point at Fisherman's Wharf
201 - 19 Dallas Road
Victoria, B.C., V8V 5A6
Phone: (250) 388-4433
Facsimile: (250) 388-5856
E-mail: mscherr@pearlmanlindholm.com
Rum Buddies
Well-Known Member
why do they stock lakes that don't have public access?
Karma-Kazi
Active Member
They do have public access, just not vehicle access. Fishing is great. No noise. No trash.
No kidding! that is what is so great about those lakes. Its a day trip and you hike or bike in. Lots of fun!
-KK
Used to be one of the best 4x4 areas on the island! Camped up there all the time before they closed the gate. Unfortunately the place was trashed by people that couldn't care less about the outdoors. Burned cars, beer cans, trash everywhere. I'm sure the place is pretty clean now that people have to walk in. Too bad that the area had such a bad reputation for trouble and no one to keep the yahoos out. So much fun was had out there by good people too.
Still lots of people using the area. Hikers, runners and mtn. bikers. Always run into a few groups. Always cars at the "mail boxes", harbour view and Sooke river access points.
Not much game in there for those that think they're be denied good hunting. It's dry with few riparian area's. Haven't seen a deer in there yet, and I look.
Not much game in there for those that think they're be denied good hunting. It's dry with few riparian area's. Haven't seen a deer in there yet, and I look.
Kildonan
Well-Known Member
This is one reason why these gates get locked.
http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/Dude-we-found-your-car_22930800.lite?
http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/Dude-we-found-your-car_22930800.lite?
Been years since I went in there, tons of memories from 80-90's with my kids. Used to be good fishing and hunting, plus the trail in was a challenging trail if you did not take the detours. Garbage, beer cans, and junk is a problem all access areas have. Would be nice to again go in. I think the US idea of trail sponsorship, cleanup and supervision could be a good way of treating our trails with respect, keeping out drunks and garbage dumpers. I leave Friday for my 5 week BC safari so will not be available as a witness.
HM
HM
fshnfnatic
Well-Known Member
Used to go up there quite a bit as well in the 80's,early 90's when I lived in Sooke.Seemed like I would always run into
some yahoo tossing beer cans out the window or other crap.Doesn't surprise me one bit they eventually gated it off.
Probably best they leave it that way too!
some yahoo tossing beer cans out the window or other crap.Doesn't surprise me one bit they eventually gated it off.
Probably best they leave it that way too!
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
The mountain biking group in there used to be fairly involved until this I want to go ATVing thing came around under SIRA. If you need to get to a lake stop be lazy and bike and walk. Its not like there is no place to ATV. Bikers and hikers were there first, and most don't support motorized vehicles there. Is there tons of areas to go past Sooke?
wolf
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately a few bad people ruin everything for us to enjoy... these days people think there "entitled" to close things down keep for them selves etc etc.
I grew up here and harbour view is where I shot my very first deer with my Dad and used to love going up there until the BLOCKED it off. All I hear is "its mine " now by certain user groups.
I used to take out truck loads of garbage up there every time I went to shields etc and YES i miss that area especially now that im only about 5 mins away from it.
I have fond memories of going up there catching Cutties and tossing them back having a fire and then leaving, YES it got bad up there from stupid people but look anywhere up and down this island its a epidemic dumb people breed more dumb people!!!!!! Basically its called lack of RESPECT for surroundings these yahoos wouldnt dumb garbage and such in there own backyard NORMAL people take garbage to a dump or call a tow guy to take a vehicle away these people are lazy and disrespectful.
So I ask as a tax payer why am I not "entitled" to drive my truck or Quad up there to enjoy as well? NO i cant walk that far this right knee just cant handle it. in 2 months time after surgery maybe but i shouldnt have too......
If you want to use it and they want to keep it shut FINE but maybe issue keys and you have to rent it at a cost and a screening process..
Wolf
I grew up here and harbour view is where I shot my very first deer with my Dad and used to love going up there until the BLOCKED it off. All I hear is "its mine " now by certain user groups.
I used to take out truck loads of garbage up there every time I went to shields etc and YES i miss that area especially now that im only about 5 mins away from it.
I have fond memories of going up there catching Cutties and tossing them back having a fire and then leaving, YES it got bad up there from stupid people but look anywhere up and down this island its a epidemic dumb people breed more dumb people!!!!!! Basically its called lack of RESPECT for surroundings these yahoos wouldnt dumb garbage and such in there own backyard NORMAL people take garbage to a dump or call a tow guy to take a vehicle away these people are lazy and disrespectful.
So I ask as a tax payer why am I not "entitled" to drive my truck or Quad up there to enjoy as well? NO i cant walk that far this right knee just cant handle it. in 2 months time after surgery maybe but i shouldnt have too......
If you want to use it and they want to keep it shut FINE but maybe issue keys and you have to rent it at a cost and a screening process..
Wolf
SIRA
Member
The CRD is obstructing a provincial park, adjacent crown land, and Ragged Mountain is private property. We oppose the free for all (except legitimate organizations) that is the current CRD management plan. Anyone that wants to go in there right now can, except an organized event. We have requested a key for the gate and a permit to use the road.
I have eight kids. All of them have learned self reliance and respect from me, not a gate, and certainly not officious government employees, politicians, or people with opinions like this: "Bikers and hikers were there first"
I have eight kids. All of them have learned self reliance and respect from me, not a gate, and certainly not officious government employees, politicians, or people with opinions like this: "Bikers and hikers were there first"
sammyslabber
Active Member
Let's face it the world is a on pay for view basis;the hidden motive is always power and money.
sammyslabber
Active Member
Do we really learn from history or do we build on its crumbled remains...
Sooke Mountain Park: a Brief History
All old timers in Sooke have stories of SOOKE MOUNTAIN PARK — many have photographic support for the tales they spin. Some can remember the area (now called a provincial park), when it was just a playground outside the protection of the government. Actually, protection is not the right word, as it has not really been protected—more like mismanaged—by the civil servants charged with the responsibilities of land control.
Sooke Mountain Park came into existence June 6, 1928. It is suspected that at that time the Province thought it was getting three lakes and the watershed for those lakes. If one looks at the present map and repositions it just slightly up as a surveyor might do, one can see that the enclosed area is notched and angled to cover all those three lakes. However, the sad truth is that today, by using modern GPS equipment, we can see that none of the lakes are in the park.
How this came to be is speculation at best as no one who was there for the official survey is still alive to defend their actions, and the present civil minions quickly shy away from any discussion on the subject. One interesting explanation I’v heard is that when the logs were taken off the area, some of the land got out of the provincial holdings, leaking, one supposes, into private hands just as air leaks from an ignored spare tire. Out of sight, out of mind. There is some evidence that Sooke Mountain Park was somehow connected to some shady dealings around the province getting title to what is now called Portland Island, which was confiscated from Canadians of Japanese descent who were then shipped to the prairies for “safe keeping”.
Suffice to say, today Sooke Mount today Sooke Mountain Park is a shadow of what everyone using it thinks they are using. Most people do not know where the borders are, and some think that when they travel up Harbourview road a ways onto the rough gravelly part, they are in the Park. Truth is, they have to travel through lots of the private holdings before they enter the Park and they leave it soon afterwards.
The history of the park includes a time when it was considered by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company as a destination wilderness holiday area. It was frequented by eastern city dwellers, who were sold a travel package including rail to Vancouver, ferry to Victoria, wagon to the lodge at the end of Shields Lake, where they spent a few days or weeks relishing the “wilderness”. This story was told to me by a lady who also connected the Four Mile, Six Mile and 17-Mile pub to the adventure. She said that these and others like them were used as stopping places after a stay in the Empress Hotel ... 17 Mile being the jumping off place for the Park.
The lodge went through a succession of owners both private and public, ending its days as a Boys and Girls club destination, when it burned in the ’60s. The big cement blocks you find scattered around there today are all that remain of the lodge at Shields Lake ... unless you find someone with family photos of the place.
Some say the Park is Old Growth Forest, but anyone visiting today will not find this to be true. While they may find a very few Old trees, most of the Park is covered by 2nd or 3rd growth trees with little or no evidence of reforestation. Still, there are old spectacular trees on the summits of the four mountains from which the Park takes it name. Empress, for Queen Victoria (some say the name derives from the Empress hotel), Manuel Quimper, named for the engineer on the first white Spanish ship to arrive in Sooke Basin, Mount Shepherd and Ragged Mountain complete the circle. The names for these last two are even more obscure as to origin. There is a story that Shepherd moniker came from a fiasco between two sheep herders over a woman. The body of one of the shepherds was apparently found on this mountain.
Whatever the folklore, the Park has all the usual problems associated with any recreational area. The roads leading into the Park all traverse private property, giving the province the excuse that the area is landlocked therefore unusable for recreation. They are unable or unwilling to secure the trails and gazette any roads to the Park. Even with the long history of hiking, hunting, fishing, and extensive off-road use by both rubberized vehicles and equestrians, the Park remains a poor cousin to the many other provincial parks in the system.
Sometime in the 1950s an enterprising logger devised a plan to get the trees off the Park, in exchange for paving the road now known as Harbourview all the way to the base of Empress Mountain. Included in the plan were trees from the adjacent properties. The deal included labour provided by the residents of Wilkinson Road Crowbar Hotel, and materials from the Gagliardi Hardware Store nicknamed Flyin’ Phil’s Place ... or so the story goes.
There are really four lakes associated with Sooke Mountain Park. Shields is the largest and the deepest...it used to have the lodge mentioned earlier. Crabapple Lake used to have a cabin on the side next to the dock, which burned in the early ’70s. This was a private cabin open to whoever could take pride and care in its use. Grass Lake (called Grassey) completes the three at the top side, while Peden Lake, named for Victorian Olympian Torchy Peden, is much closer to the Pot Holes Provincial Park. It is sometimes considered to be in Sooke Mountain Park, partly because there is no vehicle access from Pot Holes to Peden Lake.
All these lakes have been stocked at various times and harbour good eating rainbow trout among other fishes. Although a license is needed to fish here, little else is required, but if you go it helps to carry a personal flotation device and lots of fly's.
The features of interest on the mountains include a long burned ranger lookout on Empress, which also has geodesic survey marks where they measure the 1 1/8 inches of movement per year of the Island Plate towards the city of Vancouver. The dishes are for forest company communications. Shepherd also has a ranger fire watch tower, unused for many years, except, for hikers shelter and message center (graffiti) ... but has spectacular views. Manuel Quimper is my personal favorite as it takes much longer to climb and features wildlife instead of evidence of the wild life (parties).
Ragged Mountain could soon support a dish farm ... but at present has some spectacular views of Sooke, Victoria, and the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, USA.
In recent times there have been gates and threats of closure hanging over the trails leading into Sooke Mountain Park. There is presently a closure at Leechtown making a round trip through the park unavailable since the River Road exit off Harrison trail (also known as Highway 117) has also been gated, beamed and ditched.
Over the years, the Park has been made inaccessible to 4X4s on several occasions, with the battle to keep it open being taken up by users of all descriptions, leading to the clearing of the obstruction eventually, but with many hours spent at meetings and in negotiations to have the area designated as a 4X4 and off-road destination. To date, May 1999 this effort seems to have fallen on the desks of non-understanding civil servants.
Some successes have been recorded, with gates being removed and promises given by politicians and civil servants that Sooke Mountain Park will remain. One needs a healthy sense of humour and an understanding that nothing is permanent in any land use issue to survive the struggle to keep this 101 year old park available for its traditional use.
Off-roaders must enter this struggle with vigor.
http://www.sookeharbour.com/articles/sooke_mountain.htm
<tbody> </tbody>
Sooke Mountain Park: a Brief History
All old timers in Sooke have stories of SOOKE MOUNTAIN PARK — many have photographic support for the tales they spin. Some can remember the area (now called a provincial park), when it was just a playground outside the protection of the government. Actually, protection is not the right word, as it has not really been protected—more like mismanaged—by the civil servants charged with the responsibilities of land control.
Sooke Mountain Park came into existence June 6, 1928. It is suspected that at that time the Province thought it was getting three lakes and the watershed for those lakes. If one looks at the present map and repositions it just slightly up as a surveyor might do, one can see that the enclosed area is notched and angled to cover all those three lakes. However, the sad truth is that today, by using modern GPS equipment, we can see that none of the lakes are in the park.
How this came to be is speculation at best as no one who was there for the official survey is still alive to defend their actions, and the present civil minions quickly shy away from any discussion on the subject. One interesting explanation I’v heard is that when the logs were taken off the area, some of the land got out of the provincial holdings, leaking, one supposes, into private hands just as air leaks from an ignored spare tire. Out of sight, out of mind. There is some evidence that Sooke Mountain Park was somehow connected to some shady dealings around the province getting title to what is now called Portland Island, which was confiscated from Canadians of Japanese descent who were then shipped to the prairies for “safe keeping”.
Suffice to say, today Sooke Mount today Sooke Mountain Park is a shadow of what everyone using it thinks they are using. Most people do not know where the borders are, and some think that when they travel up Harbourview road a ways onto the rough gravelly part, they are in the Park. Truth is, they have to travel through lots of the private holdings before they enter the Park and they leave it soon afterwards.
The history of the park includes a time when it was considered by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company as a destination wilderness holiday area. It was frequented by eastern city dwellers, who were sold a travel package including rail to Vancouver, ferry to Victoria, wagon to the lodge at the end of Shields Lake, where they spent a few days or weeks relishing the “wilderness”. This story was told to me by a lady who also connected the Four Mile, Six Mile and 17-Mile pub to the adventure. She said that these and others like them were used as stopping places after a stay in the Empress Hotel ... 17 Mile being the jumping off place for the Park.
The lodge went through a succession of owners both private and public, ending its days as a Boys and Girls club destination, when it burned in the ’60s. The big cement blocks you find scattered around there today are all that remain of the lodge at Shields Lake ... unless you find someone with family photos of the place.
Some say the Park is Old Growth Forest, but anyone visiting today will not find this to be true. While they may find a very few Old trees, most of the Park is covered by 2nd or 3rd growth trees with little or no evidence of reforestation. Still, there are old spectacular trees on the summits of the four mountains from which the Park takes it name. Empress, for Queen Victoria (some say the name derives from the Empress hotel), Manuel Quimper, named for the engineer on the first white Spanish ship to arrive in Sooke Basin, Mount Shepherd and Ragged Mountain complete the circle. The names for these last two are even more obscure as to origin. There is a story that Shepherd moniker came from a fiasco between two sheep herders over a woman. The body of one of the shepherds was apparently found on this mountain.
Whatever the folklore, the Park has all the usual problems associated with any recreational area. The roads leading into the Park all traverse private property, giving the province the excuse that the area is landlocked therefore unusable for recreation. They are unable or unwilling to secure the trails and gazette any roads to the Park. Even with the long history of hiking, hunting, fishing, and extensive off-road use by both rubberized vehicles and equestrians, the Park remains a poor cousin to the many other provincial parks in the system.
Sometime in the 1950s an enterprising logger devised a plan to get the trees off the Park, in exchange for paving the road now known as Harbourview all the way to the base of Empress Mountain. Included in the plan were trees from the adjacent properties. The deal included labour provided by the residents of Wilkinson Road Crowbar Hotel, and materials from the Gagliardi Hardware Store nicknamed Flyin’ Phil’s Place ... or so the story goes.
There are really four lakes associated with Sooke Mountain Park. Shields is the largest and the deepest...it used to have the lodge mentioned earlier. Crabapple Lake used to have a cabin on the side next to the dock, which burned in the early ’70s. This was a private cabin open to whoever could take pride and care in its use. Grass Lake (called Grassey) completes the three at the top side, while Peden Lake, named for Victorian Olympian Torchy Peden, is much closer to the Pot Holes Provincial Park. It is sometimes considered to be in Sooke Mountain Park, partly because there is no vehicle access from Pot Holes to Peden Lake.
All these lakes have been stocked at various times and harbour good eating rainbow trout among other fishes. Although a license is needed to fish here, little else is required, but if you go it helps to carry a personal flotation device and lots of fly's.
The features of interest on the mountains include a long burned ranger lookout on Empress, which also has geodesic survey marks where they measure the 1 1/8 inches of movement per year of the Island Plate towards the city of Vancouver. The dishes are for forest company communications. Shepherd also has a ranger fire watch tower, unused for many years, except, for hikers shelter and message center (graffiti) ... but has spectacular views. Manuel Quimper is my personal favorite as it takes much longer to climb and features wildlife instead of evidence of the wild life (parties).
Ragged Mountain could soon support a dish farm ... but at present has some spectacular views of Sooke, Victoria, and the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, USA.
In recent times there have been gates and threats of closure hanging over the trails leading into Sooke Mountain Park. There is presently a closure at Leechtown making a round trip through the park unavailable since the River Road exit off Harrison trail (also known as Highway 117) has also been gated, beamed and ditched.
Over the years, the Park has been made inaccessible to 4X4s on several occasions, with the battle to keep it open being taken up by users of all descriptions, leading to the clearing of the obstruction eventually, but with many hours spent at meetings and in negotiations to have the area designated as a 4X4 and off-road destination. To date, May 1999 this effort seems to have fallen on the desks of non-understanding civil servants.
Some successes have been recorded, with gates being removed and promises given by politicians and civil servants that Sooke Mountain Park will remain. One needs a healthy sense of humour and an understanding that nothing is permanent in any land use issue to survive the struggle to keep this 101 year old park available for its traditional use.
Off-roaders must enter this struggle with vigor.
http://www.sookeharbour.com/articles/sooke_mountain.htm
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<tbody> </tbody>
I'm not a civil servant. Don't want vehicles in there as I know a fraction of the operators are slobs. Unfortunate for the rest but that is the way it always is. All those special users that have the privilege of owning specialized motor vehicles are still very welcome to leave their toys at home and join myself and others on a good hike into the park areas.
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