The Elder Cedar reserve has been in the news lately! This trail is popular on the island of Gabriola and features a number of large red cedar and hemlock trees. The star of the show is a large red cedar (one of the largest in the gulf islands, which were heavily logged at one point). As it points out in the article, this tree now has to be protected from the feet of the many people who walk this trail as the frequency of people using the trail was damaging the root system.

It’s hard to get a grasp of the scale without a person standing there for contrast, but I respected the boundary and didn’t approach the trunk. If you follow the link above to the article the image there shows someone standing beside the base of the large tree. It’s pretty impressive up close.

Here are some more photos from the trail, including some more mushroom photos.

^ I know this one! It’s a shrimp mushroom.

^ Woodpecker holes.

^ The one and only time I wore these boots before they fell apart. Boo-urns.