East Sooke Regional Park
East Sooke Regional Park is covers a vast 14.35km2 and is the second largest regional park. Acquired by CRD Parks in 1970, the park has over 50km of hiking trails including the famous 10km coast trail. East Sooke Park has an expansive history, shared by nature, Europeans and First Nations people, which I will cover in this Earthcache. Get the park map at http://www.crd.bc.ca/parks/documents/east_sooke_web_map.pdf
Geology
The rocks which comprise of East Sooke Park today were formed 60 million years ago deep in the Earth's crust. When the ocean floor spread and the plates shifted 20 millions years ago, the rocks were shoved into place. Dissolved minerals in water seeped into cracks and created the copper and iron deposits found in the park today.
Most of East Sooke's bedrock is composed of gabbro, a type of granite which can be dark green to black in colour. In some course varieties of gabbro, crystals of dark green pyroxene or light grey feldspar can be seen. On some faces near the old mines, look for dark green mineral, hornblende, which can have crystals several centimetres long.
Metallic minerals are found in cracks or as tiny grains in hornblende. These minerals are chalcopyrite (a soft yellow metal) and copper. The iron metals include magnetite (black), pyrite (fool's gold), and pyrrhotite (purple). Many rock faces close to the mines have iridescent and rusty coating that's green or bluish in colour as a result of the copper and iron deposits.
Mining
Historically, mining has played a crucial role in the development in British Columbia and Sooke was no exception. Sooke's mining history began with the discovery of copper in 1863 by Captain Jeremiah Nagle and later with the discovery of iron in 1876. Following the inspection of samples sent to England, mining began in Iron Mine Bay and on Mount Maguire. By 1914, there were several mines in operation and over the next four years, 2,000 tonnes of ore were shipped to smelters in Ladysmith and Tacoma. The mines held great promise with the resources seeming infinite, but the ore was too contaminated with copper rendering it useless for iron making and the amount of copper was so small that it was not worth the time and money.
It was quiet in East Sooke until 1947, when a prospector named Spud Huestis acquired mineral rights to East Sooke. Between 1969 and 1971, he made multiple attempts to find ore deposits but he came out empty handed for his efforts.
CRD Parks acquired most of the land containing mineral deposits and exploration no longer occurs. As is nature's way, she has already begun to reclaim the mine sites. Vacant mine shafts have mostly filled with water the open pit sites have grown over with vegetation. The only evidence to East Sooke's mineral deposits can be seen as iron and copper stains on rock faces near the shore.
Logging
Around the park evidence of selective logging practiced back in the day can be seen. Look for stumps 2-3 metres in diameter with a notch at the bottom, which shows how the springboard and crosscut saw technique was practiced. The large trees seen in the park ware considered useless because of abnormalities and thus were left standing to this day.
Fishing
The Coast Salish people (T'Souke) harvested an abundance of food from the local region. They reef netted salmon in the small bays and gathered shellfish, berries and roots to last the winter.
After the arrival of Europeans, the Sooke area was a jackpot for fisherman. This industry was by far the most successful of the three. From spring to early autumn, fishtraps were secured to the seabed just off shore. All that remains of this era is the trap shack on Cabin Point about midway down the coast trail (N 48° 19.479 W 123° 40.253). I won't make you go there but I highly recommend it (there is a virtual cache there also).
Archaeology
The Sooke/Metchosin area has a few remaining archaeological sites. The most famous one is the Aldridge Point Petroglyphs (N48 19.048 W123 38.273) where a drawing of a sea lion is etched into a rock face. There are also shell middens on the beaches which are basically ancient landfills. There was a fortification/village on Tower Point at Witty's Lagoon where some of the fortification remains are still visible. There are rumoured to be 700+ First Nations burial cairns spread out from Victoria all the way to Sooke and ranging from a person-sized pile to the equivalent of 18 dump truck loads of dirt. The DND property at Rocky Point has 333 alone. If any artifacts are found, you must not disturb them or else important historical evidence could be lost. You should contact CRD Parks or the Archaeology Branch, according to the Heritage Conservation Act.
Your Mission
To log this Earthcache, you must answer these questions and E-mail me the answers.
1.) Take a picture of yourself or group at either of the mine sites.
2.) What are the two dates listed on the sign at the cache site?
3.) What is the depth of the northernmost mine/cave? Bring a tape measure.
3.) What are the co-ordinates of the northernmost mines?
BONUS: Find evidence of iron and copper oxidation on the shoreline and take a picture. I highly recommend taking the coast trail back to Iron Mine Bay for an amazing view!
Bibliography
Journal Article:
Simmons, Matt J. and Richards, Jo-Ann. "Graves Regained." TORCH: The UVic Alumni Magazine Volume 28, Number 2 (2007)
Pamphlet:
Archaeology In CRD parks, CRD Parks
Pamphlet:
Mining In East Sooke Regional Park, CRD Parks
