First of all, let me wish you all a Happy Girls’ Day. March 3rd is Girls’ Day (Hanamatsuri) and a Shinto holiday in Japan. It is traditionally a day where a red tiered platform is covered in dolls and a special rice dish is prepared and eaten. If you recall the pilgrim I did last year in Japan, there was a town where they still had the dolls out everywhere on April 3rd. This year, as usual, my mother made me the delicious rice dish. Thank you, mom. ❤️

This week’s walk was to Rithet’s Bog. I was joined by Ryuu-chan, Dragon-Kun, and R. (we are happy to have her back walking with us).

The walk is a 2.76km circular route around the 42-hectare nature sanctuary.

R. P. Rithet was a successful businessman in Victoria in the late 1800s. The bog was part of his farm, Broadmead, which you canny readers will remember from one of the first walks we did this year.

We parked on Dalewood Lane am headed in an anti- clockwise direction around the bog. We passed and we were passed by several dog walkers and families with children on the trail. Even with all the people out, there was enough space make it feel like we were the only ones on the trail.

The bog is home to several bird species and fish, as well as lizards. We mostly saw several ducks and a few cats… which is a bit alarming.

There is a group of volunteers who are apparently restoring part of the bog. We passed by a sign about the volunteers on a cordoned off area. The area had an area dug out and covered with a black tarpaulin like mat which as full of water and a wonderful variety of plant species.

A little further along there was a sign explaining the ecology of a raised bog. The dome of the raised bog is made up of living peat.

Side note: Peat, when healthy, is a great sequester of CO2. However, damage to peatlands around the world is responsible for 5% of global anthropomorphic (human impact) CO2 emissions.

We walked over a small bridge where there were several ducks in the clear water. Dragon-kun pointed out a yellow flower like object on the other side of the stream, and R. with her amazing knowledge of plants told us it was a Skunk Cabbage. Dragon-kun and Ryuu-chan loved the name of the plant.

Although, it was still too early to see the bog in its full boggy glory, it was a pleasant walk. Might have to come back in the summer to see the bog in its verdant splendour.

If you would like to do the walk, there is parking on Dalewood Lane. Or if you don’t mind a bit more of a walk, one could also park at Broadmead Shopping Centre (it is marked by the number 11 and wine glass on the map… the wine glass is where there is a BC Liquor store).