Kinsol Trestle

Some information I grab off of a few sites about the Kinsol Trestle:

In 1911, the Canadian National Pacific Railway dedicated a line on Vancouver Island to connect Victoria to Nootka Sound.  By 1918, only 6 km of track had been laid. The Federal government took over the line as part of the CNR and work continued. The steel was finally laid in April 1920. The completed trestle, at 187.6 m long and 38 m high, is the largest Howe truss, bent pile wooden trestle left in the world. The old CN line passes through some of the smaller communities on Vancouver Island and, for many years, provided a transportion link for the local logging industry. The line never reached Nootka Sound.
The last train crossed the trestle on June 20, 1979. The rails were removed in 1983. In the early 1980’s, advocates of the trestle tried to have it restored and/or designated as a heritage structure.
Fires, vandalism and neglect took its toll on the structure. Eventually, the north and south accesses were removed for safety reasons.
The CN line and the trestle are part of the Trans-Canada Trail. Finally, after years of campaigns to save the trestle, rehabilitation work began in 2010. The official reopening of the trestle was July 28, 2011.

The Kinsol Trestle is a significant wooden railway bridge that crosses the Koksilah River on the decommissioned CNR Cowichan line. The Kinsol is the highest wooden trestle remaining in the Commonwealth and with over 1.2 million board feet of timber, it is one of the largest wooden bridges in the world.


The Kinsol Rehabilitation Project has given new life to the historic Kinsol Trestle, Canada’s tallest wooden rail trestle, completing a key part of the Trans Canada Trail on Southern Vancouver Island.

The rehabilitation included the replacement of unsound timbers, minor refurbishment of a Howe Truss substructure and rebuilding of 17 structural piers to support a new 614-foot walkway atop the structure for hikers, runners, cyclists and equestrians. The Cowichan Valley Regional District undertook the project with joint Provincial and Federal funding.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hb_mKT5lP4

Bev and Carol were in town to see Tara.   On the 3rd.  we were invited to join them for lunch at the Merridale Orchard and Bistro in the Shawnigan Lake area.  After a nice drive, while keeping a lookout for the roads to follow to find it, we made it there at the same time they arrived.  The food is scrumptious, and the atmosphere is abundant atmosphere.  After lunch we decided to go see the Kinsol Trestle.  We walked ... must have been at least a mile until we got to the trestle, and then walked it end to end, and back to the parking lot.  There are picnic tables and trails under the bridge, but we did not go down there,  Was a fine day!

Butterflies and things

 this is the Lorquin's Admiral Butterfly that was puddling in my garden, as I watered.  This butterfly must be desperate for a place to drink in our recent warm weather.  So, I am watering more often, especially in the spot where it was puddling.  It was by today, as I watered.  But it just did a fly by; at least, I did not see it stop.  There were also two whites flying around too.  I loaded this to Megashot for our Butterflies are Free Community.  We are getting quite a collection.

 This is a photo from our China trip.  I played with it in photoshop to give it that infrared look.  What do you think?  Does it look IR?  I loaded it to my JB account on Megashot.  JB is Just Bearly, one of my teddy bears.  Have a look at it on Megashot.  This is my referral code.  If you use it I will see when you join Megashot.  Its free at the moment, and will be very competitive rates if we ever get our fee schedule and Version 2 on line.  ..  communities, contests, critiques, comments, ratings, and much more... all settings at your own discretion.  Oh yeah, customization of your own page where you upload to your photos and create galleries to sort them. Oh, and megamail for keeping in touch with your contacts, friends and family.    See you there.

This is rim lighting, with the newest teddy bear, the fruit bowl and the rum pot.  The teddy bear was at the museum shop, calling my name, when I bought the Butterfly Book.  I had to go back and get the bear.  The rum pot?  yes, I have started one, this year.  I have 500 g of strawberries, a cup of sugar and about the same for brandy, covered and waiting for the next addition of fruit, sugar and brandy.  I think I will want to use cherries.  Our B.C. cherries are now in the stores and I should get some, and pit them and add to the pot. 

Exploring leaf forms and shapes

 I liked how mother nature arranged these 3 little leaves on the bark of the Liquid Amber tree.  This tree gets some spectacular color in its leaves in the Autumn.  More on these leaves, then.

 This is one of my hostas.  The broad leaves of the hosta and the thin leaves of the ferns make a nice combination in the shade garden. 

 This swiss chard is rather pathetic, but it has its own built in contrasts.

New oak leaves on the pin oak.  This tree has good color in the autumn also, so more on it later.
Today was a fine day.  In the morning, from about 10 to 2 I did more weeding and watering.  I have 11 of the 15 germinated lupines transplanted out to the front garden, so far.  I should have room for the other 4 in the front too.  I have a few more hours of weeding to get the front finished and looking good.  The tilth of the soil is getting quite good, with this care and attention.  Some people actually screen their garden soil.  What a great fuss!  But their gardens are show places!  My clay soil is getting fairly nice, at last.  And once plants get established in it, they really grow well, despite my neglect.    There were a couple of butterflies in the garden when I was watering, but no pictures as they did not seem to settle.