OVER ON THE DARK SIDE!

Yes, that's right.  My brother in law John R showed me this neat area along the west side of the Nanaimo River yesterday.  It is known locally as the dark side since the sun hardly gets in under the rock bluffs.   There are lots of huge boulders, many larger than our motor home that have fractured off the cliff face.  It is a very popular climbing area and even on a week day, there were several climbers across the river from us.

We have a very sorry little puppy here tonight.  As is usual with little dogs in general and especially Shih Tzu's in particular, she has always had serious teeth issues.  Today, she had the remaining six teeth taken out including a badly abscessed tooth from a previously botched surgery.  We dropped her off at 10:30 and picked her up at 5:30 and she was still pretty groggy.  She won't be enjoying the next few days!  

While waiting for John to get ready, I took a self guided tour of their gardens and grabbed a few blooms.  I love these Iris.

I got below this Columbine so I could show the translucent petals 

These wild Iris grow in their swamp garden

The dark side isn't for the faint of heart or those with balance issues

Low ceiling in spots

Look closely, John is in the top third

John is in this one too

The ladder is one of the easier spots on the trail

Looking back from the top of the ladder

One of the few level spots under the bluff

John in mid leap

A tight spot where we had to take our packs off to get up

There is a house on the rock bluff above and he has installed this creative means of accessing his gazebo down on a rock above the river.  It is not a place for children!

A wild Columbine along the river's edge

We stopped at the old mining area of Grandby Mines where coal was extracted for many years.  Nature is busy reclaiming her territory.

I am standing underneath the above photo looking up at the holes the coal came through