Burgoyne Bay

John and I have periodically visited Burgoyne Bay Provincial Park on Saltspring Island over the years, mostly to indulge my fantasies of what life must have been like on the farms that once existed there.  Oh, to look out from one of those old wooden barns, where the ghosts of long-gone cows still linger, onto a golden field surrounded by bucolic lanes and stately mature trees! To make a short walk down the hill to the serenest ocean bay imaginable; to look up over your shoulder at Mount Maxwell, surrounded by its own clouds. Could any farm have ever existed that brought together so many beautiful different elements? Every once in awhile, it's a pleasure to be reminded that the answer is yes. 

On Saturday evening, John and I and our friends Andre and Margo, who are moving to the island from the city, walked some of the trails around the park. Here are some photos from that excursion, all taken by John Denniston:

Burgoyne Bay is where you want to be during winter storms on Saltspring Island. Protected and serene, it's long been a place for houseboats and small-vessel live-aboards.

Bucolic lanes bordered by trees meander through the old farm-sites. Here, Andre, Margo and I provide some live bodies for John's camera to focus on. 

Margo and I walk what once have once been a farm field, cleared in the late 1800s. 

Over our shoulder, Mount Maxwell looms.

A Burgoyne Bay version of a root cellar, so much more elaborate than the one I remember on the prairie farm where I grew up. Built in 1901 partly of stones, it backs into the hillside behind it.

One of the old farm buildings, built of fieldstone and wood between 1900 and 1910 for storage of farm equipment. 

A barn and workshop from the original farms. Lofts and mangers in the barn still hold the ghosts of the animals that once inhabited it.

A hike takes you to this peaceful spot to watch the sun go down.