In this Issue:
- GENERAL NEWS
- UPCOMING EVENTS
- 8th Annual Mycology Workshop – Sept 19 & 20
- 4th Annual Elders Memorial Hike – Sept 26
GENERAL NEWS
September brings a few changes to SWI.
First, we say farewell once again to our trusty cohort of summer students as they return to their studies at NIC, UVIC or beyond. They were kept busy helping visitors at the SPWC and Buttle Hut, or out in Paradise Meadows showing off the natural history of the Park.
And as a fitting grand finale for the year, six of them represented SWI, along with director Margaret Symon, at the MEC Victoria’s Film Night on August 22, for a showing of Far North Visual’s Strathcona: Stories from British Columbia’s first provincial park. Our students organized a table display and made a short presentation about SWI’s mission to inspire awareness, appreciation and stewardship of the natural world through research, education and participation. We extend our thanks to all of them for doing this and for their continuing commitment to SWI.
Now at the SPWC some of our veteran Volunteers holding the fort as the park will continue to be busy up until Thanksgiving. And over at Buttle, we have artist James McBeath who has for several years now been our amazing volunteer-in-chief at the Buttle hut, when not out on the water or in the high country on the west side of the Park.
We are also saying farewell to our Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator of the past 5 years. Jaron is heading east to live in Saskatoon. Many of you may not have met him since he worked so much behind the scenes – he is standing closest to the SPWC in the photo below, listening to Marlene speaking at our 30th Anniversary event last July.
We are deeply indebted to Jaron for his substantial commitment to SWI – he has added extensively to our website, he has undertaken various projects such as the refurbishment of the 3-D table map at the Centre or the production of our brochures, he coordinated the acquisition of the splendid 3-D map that hangs on the west wall of the Centre, he has organized the annual scheduling of the Volunteers to staff SPWC in the summer season and last but not least he was responsible for all the setting up and running of our winter season film events, all with quiet efficiency. We wish him all the best as he leaves the mountains and ocean for a totally different landscape in the prairies and returns to pursuing a career in environmental engineering in Saskatoon.
However, we are very fortunate in that, although we are losing Jaron, we do have a new person to step into the position. Mateo Jaeckel, who has worked for us over the past six summers as the Programme Coordinator covering our guided walks, hikes and Workshops in the Summer Season, will now take over Jaron’s position. Mateo therefore joins our team already very familiar with our programmes and our goals. This past winter Mateo completed his MA degree in Jazz Performance at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England, and has returned to live on the Island, and will act as our Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator, while also teaching and performing.
Out in the Park we continue to see signs of Fall. Many of the summer birds have flown south and the haunting calls of the Sandhill Cranes have been heard high above the Plateau as they group and regroup on their migration from their summer breeding grounds. This year’s tadpoles have developed into diminutive froglets, as this one seen in a pond on Mt Elma).
Some of the vaccinium and rhododendron bushes are starting to change colour, but we still await the final touches of frost to bring out the striking fall palette. Noticeable are how few insects there are now around the ponds etc. Hence many of the insectivorous birds are no longer in the area, and only the odd dragonfly can be spotted now – here are three in the Meadowhawk (Sympetrum) genus.
UPCOMING EVENTS
8thAnnual SWI Mycology Workshop September 19 & 20th
The third weekend of September marks the 8th Annual Mycology Workshop. A few weeks ago we had already reached our limit in the number of participants for this ever popular event. Now we look forward to a fine autumn weekend in the Park, with clear blue skies and no rain on the day, although we won’t say no to a little more rain a few days beforehand to maintain what has been a steady showing of many species this month, such as this magnificent Scaly Hedgehog (Sarcodon imbricatus) in the photo below.
Our next Newsletter will feature the results of the Workshop and Hike.
4th Annual Elders Memorial Hike and Tea
September 26th, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
This day is dedicated to long-time supporters of SWI and Strathcona Provincial Park as a fitting culmination to our busy Summer Season at Paradise Meadows and Buttle Lake. We first initiated the Hike in 2023 in honour of Chris Carter (1932-2023) for his decades-long association with the Friends of Strathcona Park and SWI, through his work as a volunteer for those two organisations, as well as for his dedication to raising awareness of Strathcona Park through his countless stunning photographs of the Park in every season.
In December 2025 Steve Smith, one of the founding directors of SWI, sadly passed away. Without Steve, SWI as we know it today, and the Wilderness Centre, would not exist. SWI came into being out of the protests staged by the Friends of Strathcona Park in the later 1980s to stop the impending changes to the Park’s boundaries and reclassifications that would facilitate logging and mining operations within it. Ultimately FOSP realised that in addition to their protests there had to be education of the public about the incredible biodiversity of the wilderness areas within the Park and the importance of protecting them.
Spearheaded by Steve, Strathcona Wilderness Institute was created in 1995, with a Board of directors devoted to ensuring public awareness of the natural history of Strathcona Park. Steve would remain a director for 21 years overseeing, with the help of Betty Brooks, the establishment of the core guided walks, hikes, workshops and courses, all led by Volunteers, to provide the public with naturalist programmes no longer offered by BC Parks.
We are immeasurably indebted to him, and it was a privilege for all of us to see him at the 30th Anniversary gathering held in July of last year.
So, it is fitting that our annual memorial hike should honour all our Elders (such as “protectors of the Park” Melda Buchanan, Ruth Masters, Steve Smith as well as Chris Carter), including a long list of environmentalists and advocates for the Park such as Marlene Smith, Betty Brooks, Kel Kelly, Karl Stevenson, Tim Penney and others still with us, who have in so many different ways dedicated their time and energy in support of the Park and SWI, reaching out to the public to raise awareness of all the reasons why this unique area has to remain a jewel in the centre of Vancouver Island.
The Hike to the “Chris Carter Lookout” starts from the Wilderness Centre, Paradise Meadows trailhead; it is a 13+k (6hr) round trip, following the trail to Croteau Lake (6k from the SPWC) and then up onto the ridge to the south of the Lake, which offers a spectacular view out over Ball Lake and the Plateau towards the Comox Glacier and beyond. It was one of Chris Carter’s favourite spots from which to photograph the Park (see photo at start of this event section). The hike would be rated easy/moderate with an elevation gain of around 250m. It will be led by SWI Research Director Loys Maingon, with the assistance of our long-standing hiking guide, Janet Beggs.
Please meet for the 9:00 am start at the Strathcona Park Wilderness Centre, Paradise Meadows Trailhead. For more information and to register please email us at strathconawilderness@gmail.com.
Everyone is welcome to participate in the day hike and at the end of the afternoon enjoy refreshments and goodies in the Ruth Master’s Nature Hall, lower floor of the Strathcona Park Wilderness Centre. No event is ever complete without “Tea and Cookies”.
About Us
The Strathcona Wilderness Institute (SWI) is a non-profit society whose mission is to inspire awareness, appreciation and stewardship of the natural world in general & Strathcona Provincial Park in particular through education and participation. The Institute embraces the goals of the Strathcona Park Master Plan: to protect the natural beauty of Strathcona Provincial Park while at the same time promoting public enjoyment and respect for integrity and completeness of the wilderness.
The essential role of the Institute, in partnership with other parties, is to serve as an interface between the Strathcona wilderness and the general public. The Institute aims to facilitate a co-operative effort to assure support for continuing environmental awareness through education and outdoor activities.
Strathcona Wilderness Institute operates two summer information centres in Strathcona Provincial Park, BC, Canada – one at Paradise Meadows and one at Buttle Lake, providing Park, nature & hiking information. Visitors to both Centres come from Vancouver Island, from across Canada, North America, and the world.
