There’s a certain sense of deja vu about this month’s Looper walk on Bowen Island, as in “Have we not been here before, in a previous November?” And yes, we had been, last November, looping the same loop, as this blog post will confirm. Call it a tradition if you like, but why fix something if it ain’t broke?

This year there were fourteen of us on the 10:35 ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Bowen, on what seemed a perfect day to circumambulate a lake. The ferry ride is always a nice way to begin a Looper walk: 20 minutes or so of leisure, eating leftover Hallowe’en candy and watching the world go by.

Dave was the leader for this month’s walk, once again demonstrating his effective (and patented®) method of leading from behind. By now the route is so familiar that we could almost do it in the dark, the only question being: “clockwise, or counterclockwise?” — a decision that must be made where the path forks at the south end of Killarney Lake, just after a stroll through the meadow (always a highlight of this walk).

Tradition has been to circumambulate the lake in a counterclockwise direction, so this is what we did again — contrary to standard Buddhist practice — with the exception of two rebel Loopers who headed clockwise, in part to avoid the hillier sections on the lake’s east side.

About halfway up the east side we spotted a colony of what Google identifies as Sheathed Woodtuft mushrooms — theoretically edible, though those considering such a meal should know that the Sheathed Woodtuft “strongly resembles the deadly poisonous Galerina marginata.” This mushroom colony demanded to be photographed, which was done, though not without incident, one photographer tumbling slowly backwards off his log to disappear into the underbrush beneath a layer of sword ferns. Fortunately the only damage was to the photographer’s dignity.

Our snack break was taken at the viewpoint 2/3 of the way up the lake’s east side, following which we continued on our counterclockwise way, eventually meeting the rebel twosome on the boardwalk at the lake’s north end.

After meeting up at the boardwalk, we continued down the lake’s west side to complete our circumambulation, finishing about 2:00. This allowed just enough time for coffees at the Snug Café, or a hurried bite at Doc Morgan’s, before catching the 3:15 ferry back to Horseshoe Bay.

Six Loopers, however, chose (or, perhaps, were forced) to catch the following ferry. Three of them filled that time with a second hike, to Dorman Point, returning just in time to catch the 4:40 ferry.

And a good time was had by all!

Photo credits to: Jon, Angela, Adrienne, Carol, Michael.