MY BACKYARD

I recently read a short guide book written by my friend, Mike Sweeney of Zero to Cruising, about hikes he and his wife have gone on in the various Caribbean islands.  Although I felt that most of the ones that are in the book would be way too hard for me and that I am too out of shape to hike at all, I was inspired to get out and do some exploring in my own 'back yard'.

Since my move to North Vancouver last year, I have sharply felt the disadvantages of living so high up the mountain; far more rainy than in Langley, temperature regularly 10 degrees colder than 2 minutes down the road, in the snow line, in the CLOUDS - foggy a lot up here, lots of tree canopy so not much sunshine, mould growing in all the crevices of my car due to all the rain and said tree canopy... I could go on and on. But what I haven't really even thought about much is the advantages.  One of the obvious ones is that I am now a short drive from my new granddaughter and thus get to see her a lot more often than if I lived over an hour's drive away (and lately I am getting to see her almost every weekday).  One of the not-so-obvious advantages, to me anyhow, is that there are some amazing trails to either walk or hike in these mountains.  I am not at all inclined to 'hike'.  But a nice walk is something I can really get into so, with Mike and Rebecca in mind, I set off to explore my backyard a bit.

Down my street is this gorgeous red maple.

I loved the raindrops on the leaves.

At the end of my street, these stairs lead down to the road that will take me to the headwaters.

This is my house, buried in the trees, looking up from the road that runs behind it.

The asphalt on this road reminded me of Tortola; not in the best condition but at least there are no killer hills!

Yes, the mountain is not always friendly.

Lynn Valley Creek comes into view.

The water is high and moving really fast.

Down some more steps to take me off of the road and onto a trail.

I leave the trail to get closer to the water.

I am not much of a 'bush-wacker' but will brave any spiderwebs to get a bit closer.

I can't believe the volume of water rushing down-stream; no wonder I can hear it from my house.

Same spot as above, just looking to the left.

I get back on the trail and continue on my way; this boardwalk is over a shallow rivulet of water headed to the creek.

Oops.  Better stay on trail from now on.

Because, yes, it really is steep!

The entrance to the park.

Standing here looking at the trails, I was really thinking about Mike and Rebecca and how much they would love it here.

Standing on a small bridge, overlooking the creek running down-stream.

The churning waters under the bridge.

I think I just found a perfect spot to come and read in the summer.

The view from the bench.  Without the clouds I am betting it is amazing.

Unfortunately there is no sound, thanks to my iPhone mike not working.

So now I am wondering if Mike and Rebecca might be interested in a 'house swap' some time in the future?  That way they can explore even more trails and waterfalls in Beautiful British Columbia, and I can lie on the trampoline of their boat and pretend I am sailing the Caribbean!  ;-)

Here is a link to Mike's Book.  It really is a great read, even if you aren't planning on hiking the Caribbean any time soon.   If you are, I consider it a must-have.