A Nomad in North Vancouver

 

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This Saturday dawned slightly overcast with a promise of clearing skies for later in the day. That was enough of a tease for me to prompt me to check the charge on one of my camcorders and one of my cameras and ponder where we should go for a drive today. The "we" changed into a "me" as Annette was not up to a day of wandering aimlessly in the car. Funny, that sounds exactly like something I would like to do!

With the crew dwindling to a singular person I decide to return to one of my favourite haunts as a young man - North Vancouver.

NOTE - ONLY A FEW PICTURES ARE POSTED HERE. SEE THE LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TRAVELOG FOR ALL THE PICTURES ON THE DAY

North Vancouver is located on the north shore of Burrard Inlet, across the water from Vancouver, hence the name of North Vancouver. My love of exploring the forest on a rainy day was enforced by many a rainy fall day wandering around the older original communities like Dundarave, Dollarton and Edgemont Village. Linear parks encompass major rivers which run down off the flanks of the Coastal Mountains and empty into Burrard Inlet. These parks provide the public access to what is, for many of them, an awe inspiring experience. No other experience fills the senses like the sounds of a heavy rain falling on the ancient trees comprising the temperate rainforest of South Coastal BC. All the water falling from the skies continues its trip by flowing from the forest floor into creeks, streams and eventually raging rivers carving deep canyons through the local mountains. And we get to experience all that on those rainy days if you have the will to get Out and About

Strolling along a riverside forest trail surrounded by enormous trees it is hard to believe most of North Vancouver was practically cleared of trees in the 1800s and early 1900s to supply wood for the fast growing Vancouver city and fledgling suburbs At the turn of the century most of these outlying suburbs required a tram ride or even a train ride on the Inter Urban BC Electric Railway to be reached.

Red Cedars, Douglas Firs, Western Hemlock and Pacific Yews all grow to incredible heights in the mild and rainy environment. Sadly, you have to look hard to find a few remnants of these 500-800 year old legends.

I started my day visiting the sleepy village of Edgemont located in the upper realms of North Vancouver near the Capilano River. As with any area you have not visited for a long time, things change. The sleepy village was no longer so sleepy - new grocery stores had been built, along with a few medium size condo blocks. There was now even two stop lights in the three block long village!

Even with the new buildings and obvious growth you could see the municipality was taking pains to maintain the integrity of the small communal village which was rewarding to see. I snapped a few pics off  main street but the original small town charm I remembered could not be captured on camera as the lens always tells the truth.

I left the village and headed a mile or two away to enter Capilano River Regional Park, which is the location of the Capilano Fish Hatchery. The hatchery complex has excellent sheltered self guiding information boards complete with a viewing section where you can watch the salmon jump up as they travel along a man made fish ladder back into the hatchery complex. The fish ladder is chest high enclosed behind thick glass which allows the public to experience the actual size of the salmon just inches from their face. Needless to say it is a huge hit with the kids.

Unfortunately, like many locations the facility was closed due to Covid concerns - the good news is the wild river was right there to enjoy. I snapped off a few pictures of the small dam built to moderate the water flow for the benefit of the salmon as they approach the fish ladder. In the distance of the above picture notice the tell tale mist along the river surface and the canyon-like terrain. We'll talk about that in a minute 

I wandered around the immediate area but not wanting to be diverted by the beckoning forest trails I pondered my next moves. I formulated a haphazard itinerary for the next couple of hours and decided my next obvious tour stop was half a mile upstream.

The Capilano Watershed area provides 1/3rd of Metro Vancouver's drinking water and the 91 metre (300 feet) high dam built in the natural river gorge is an excellent place to visit on any day. Apparently 100 other people thought so as well as it took me 10 minutes to score a parking spot in the small parking area.

Staring directly down a spillway's 300 foot drop is mesmerizing and has the effect of a magnet just holding you in place watching the water cascade down to the bottom lip of the spillway and exploding into a mist in the canyon below.

During this tour stop a few drops of rain had started to land on me, forecasting an end to any future photo ops I had planned. I made my way to the lower slopes of North Vancouver closer to the water of Burrard Inlet. The lower slopes around the Lonsdale Avenue corridor is where the rich moved from the common neighborhoods near the water. As North Vancouver prospered, there was a demand for prestigious neighbourhoods where the newly rich could showcase their wealth.   

Grand Boulevard running north-south to the east of Lonsdale Avenue, is a garden subdivision built in 1906 as the premier neighbourhood for those newly rich folks. The one mile long Garden Avenue is highlighted by a 345 feet wide grass area between the east and west legs of the street. This provided the wealthy residents the best sight lines down to the water front and to Vancouver City across the water. The wide boulevard also acted as a fire break, which was a major consideration as the same year as Grand Boulevard was coming into existence, there was a disastrous fire in San Francisco as a result of an earthquake.

Keith Road acts as the southern terminus of Grand Boulevard, and just a few blocks west on Keith Road we can see this wide boulevard idea repeated in what must have been a neighbouring garden subdivion for the wealthy.

My last tour stop was to be high up the mountain in West Vancouver - there is a lookout on Cypress Road which leads up into the Cypress Mountain ski area. Sadly, while I was wandering around the old timey rich neighbourhoods, the clouds had descended down the mountains blocking out any views to be had of Vancouver City from on high. And minutes later the rain started in earnest, putting a definite end to my day tripping. As much as I enjoy playing in the rain, my ambitions for my photo taking required clear vistas, and my open window to enjoy the break in the rains was now over.

I stated the journey home, happy that I had another chance to go out and explore and only slightly disappointed the day was not longer. There is always a next time and plenty of beautiful parts of our local to visit, so I'm not concerned with an abbreviated day - you roll with the flow !

ALL PICTURES ON THE DAY CAN BE SEE ON MY FLICKR PAGE HERE      

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