Packford Covenant: Water Main and Walking Trail

The covenant conatins Garry oak rocky outcrops, Western red cedar wetland, and classic Douglas-fir forest. Photo Credit Torrey Archer.

Last week TLC monitored the Packford covenant, located on Glinz Lake Road in Sooke. The Packford Covenant is just over 22 hectares in size and contains at least three different types of forest: Garry oak rocky outcrops, Western red cedar wetland, and classic Douglas-fir forest. This covenant is particularly dense with vegetation and difficult to bushwhack through, but Torrey and George were able to traverse it with ease thanks to the old water main “trail” that runs through the covenant. This water main used to connect Sooke Lake with Victoria, but was decommissioned in 2009 as it was inadequate. The physical pipeline still remains though, and is a popular walking trail roughly 44 km long. As the trail passes through both public and private lands, we remind anyone wishing to hike it to be respectful of the area.

Torrey and George entered the covenant and used the water main to get to the other end before hiking upwards on the rocky bluffs dominated by Arbutus, Douglas-fir and Garry oak trees. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of Scotch broom on these exposed hillsides. TLC hopes to develop a restoration plan for this covenant in the near future to combat the persistent weed – stay tuned for more details.

As George and Torrey continued along the water main, they found one section where they could peek their heads into the tunnel. George couldn’t resist jumping in, and they couldn’t resist the photo opportunity! Don’t worry though – no Georges were harmed in the making of this photo. Further along the trail, an old portion of the water main lay beside the main trail, so Torrey felt this was her opportunity for a great photo – with more ease and less danger!

TLC’s Covenant Coordinator Torrey in a section of water main. Photo Credit George Van.

Continuing up the hill, the crew established a photopoint monitoring site, coincidentally in an area that provided a nice view of the Sooke Inlet, complete with glimpses of the ocean. After taking photos, George and Torrey headed back down the hill and attempted to bushwhack into the Southern portion of the covenant but did not get very far as the six foot high salal would not permit entry! Instead, they used their handy GPS unit to pinpoint their desired location, drove down the road until they were as near to the point as possible, and then proceeded to bushwhack their way in. Lo and behold they found their way through to the photopoint site and re-took the necessary photos. They also got to pick some blackberries along the way!

All in all, Packford was a beautiful covenant to visit, and as long as you stay on the water main trail, an easy one to traverse.

You can help TLC continue to protect important ecosystems sustainably across BC by supporting the monitoring and enforcement of our covenants. Please complete our online donation form to show your support today!