How a desire for a short hike became an interesting day Sunday Oct 11, 2009

I originally was planning on heading up the Sea to Sky Highway to Squamish for a little late season hiking but I didn't get any further than just north of Horseshoe Bay when traffic came to a standstill - an accident had closed the highway - so after about a slow 15 minutes I turned around at Ansell Rd and heading back to the City - what to do - Lighthouse Park came to mind but that can be done in the winter as it is near sea level so I headed up Cypress - headed into the Nordic area with an intent to hike into the Hollyburn Lodge - First lake area - did this and then met another gent who was just out for some exercise and we got to discussing the various problems in society and basically ended up talking and walking our way around to the Baden Powell and then down the Powerline Trail and back to the trail head - thanks Jim for the company and opportunity to discuss life with another like minded person.

Old cabin near First Lake and Hollyburn Lodge

First Lake

Old Hollyburn Lodge - used in the ski season as a cafe and a warm up place.

West Vancouver's Ranger Station

Fourth Lake

Bear scat - there is a mother and a cub in the area but didn't spot them although this scat is fairly fresh - not seaming but that day's product.

Mt Baker is visible from the viewpoint on the drive up/down the road.

Cheers

Dennis

More fall colors around False Creek Oct 10, 2009

Saturday after doing the usual morning chores - Internet surfing and some work on a surprise 60th birthday party I went for a walk around a portion of the seawall on the north side of False Creek from the foot of Hornby to about the foot of Homer and then up through Yaletown and into Pacific Center for lunch and finally a well deserved steam and shower at my fitness club before heading home.

My camera was with me and these a just a sampling of some of the great colors that are now on display along this route.

Cheers

Dennis

Finally some fall colors in the City Oct 9, 2009

With all the recent warm weather the changing of the colors here on the West Coast has been slow to happen but we are finally starting to have much cooler overnight temps and even some light frost so the change is now occurring - today I got on the bike and headed down Hornby to the waterfront and then along the seawall and through the park and ended up at Second Beach where the most recent version of Vancouver's art deco program has been unveiled. This in photos is the story of that 15 km ride - the weather was cloudy with some sunny breaks and there were a fair number of people out for a ride, walk or roller blade.

Cheers

Dennis

A walk through Minnekhada Regional Park Sunday Oct 4, 2009

Another nice sunny fall day and not wanting to sit at home and not being a NFL football junkie I headed out to the Tri-Cities to visit Minnekhada Regional Park - it is an interesting piece of BC history as it contains a Lodge once owned by a Lieutenant Governor of BC which sits on a bluff overlooking the Pitt River and Fraser River marsh lands but today I went to explore some of the other parts of this regional Park.

Check out this link for more info on the Park:

http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/parks_lscr/regionalparks/Pages/Minnekhada.aspx

This in pictures is the story of my approx. 5KM loop walk through the forests and marshes of the park.

Cheers

Dennis

A bike ride across the new Canada Line into Richmond Oct 3, 2009

One of the items on my outdoor to-do list before the weather turns nasty for the winter was to check out the bike ride across the new Canada Line bridge from the south foot of Cambie St over the North Arm of the Fraser to Richmond - so I packed the bike into the truck and drove to my starting point - it is a short ramp ride up to the main catwalk like double track across the bridge.

You get some great views of both looking towards Richmond and the Airport as well as back to Vancouver - on this day you could see the Lions in the far north distance sporting their first significant snowfall of the season.

After crossing the Bridge I head for the River Rock Casino boardwalk and views from there of the Marina and River. From there it's over the middle arm bridge and a ride through Burkeville and onto to the old or South Airport and some more views of the Fraser River.

Oh look it me - I return across the Middle Arm on the #2 Rd bridge - ride pass the Olympic Speed Skating Oval and it's art deco display and then back across the bridge to my truck.

In all about an 19 km ride under sunny but pleasant ride and with the usual winds that always seem to occur here.

Cheers

Dennis