May08_2008

Botanical Glossary - Home - References Cited

This area is the traditional home of the Sechelt Indians. The first recorded visit by a European was in 1791, when Captain Navaez, from the Spanish fort at Nootka sailed the coast. Next came Captain Vancouver in 1792. There was some fur trading along the coast in the following years. In the 1860’s, logging became an industry along a narrow strip of the coast.

Photos - Clack Creek at a magical time of day when the sunshine passes directly overhead and shards of sunlight passes through the forest upper canopy to provide shafts of golden light like jewels on a crown.

Roberts Creek is Area D of the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD). It covers 3000 hectares including a 300 metre offshore zone, approximately 15% of which is Agricultural Land Reserve and 16% is Managed Forest Lands or Provincial Forest. Geologically, it falls within the eastern section of the Georgia Depression, a coastal trough extending from Alaska to the Gulf of California and consisting of numerous straits, the Georgia Lowland and adjacent Coast Mountains. Elevation varies from sea level to 375 metres. There are three major habitat areas: Woodland, Streamside and Coastal Waterfront, each of which supports a variety of unique animal and plant species. A total of thirteen creeks cross the region, flowing into the Gulf of Georgia.

Photos - Viewing Clack Creek Falls from the wooden footbridge at Cliff Gilker Park which is on the east side of Hwy 101 in Roberts Creek; 600m south of Roberts Creek Road. It is adjacent to the Sunshine Coast Golf & Country Club.

In 1889, Will Roberts, an Englishman, settled at the mouth of Roberts Creek and brought his parents and two sisters out from England. They were joined by a brother and made a living logging, trapping, fishing, hunting and market gardening. They built and operated the first store and Post Office in Roberts Creek. There were, by this time, several families settled in the area. By 1912 tourists from Vancouver came on the Union Steamships which made daily runs all summer. The picnic area was established as a park in 1947 and the campground in 1954.

Photos - Plenty of moss hanging off trees and draped over rocks making this park typical of a Pacific Northwest Rainforest. This is second growth forest since logging in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Frame right: Ischnoderma Resinosum (Resinous Polypore) oozing juices from it's stump perch at trailside. Resinous Polypore is usually found on logs and stumps of deciduous trees. It is recognized by a thick, round margin and exudes water drops when young. It has an ochre to dark brown colored cap

Click here for more photos of Cliff Gilker Park for this day.