Squamish Estuary

Squamish is one of those towns you know of quite well, pass it on occasion heading to the more prestigious destinations of Whistler or the BC Interior but rarely stop for any more than a coffee or gas enroute.  I had read that there was an easy pleasant walk along the Squamish Estuary and this beautiful sunny Spring day seemed like a great day to try it out.

The drive to Squamish is always stunning along the Sea-to-Sky Highway.  Views here from near Lions Bay across Howe Sound towards Bowen Island, the Sunshine Coast ferry returning to Horseshoe Bay.

As we head towards the end of April it is neither peak Winter season nor has the Summer one kicked in so the drive along the newly improved Sea-to-Sky Highway is easy, mostly 4-lanes.

Once in Squamish we must pass through ‘Downtown’ to get to the nature reserve in the estuary.  I use the term ‘Downtown’ loosely although this is the official name for the area – it has a fairly sleepy main street with a good selection of independent stores while closer to the Highway the big box stores have dominated the open-air malls.  Squamish isn’t a particularly pretty town, although like many small BC towns it is helped significantly by being in a beautiful location !

The improved road access to Vancouver has increased pressure on Squamish to continue building more housing.  There are new developments springing up on each side of town. 

However it’s not long before we can abandon the car and get out walking.  Immediately West of the downtown core is the Squamish Estuary, 673 hectares designated as a protected wildlife management area due to the number of fish and bird habitats the location supports.

The view South along the estuary.

Views South East towards the Garibaldi Mountain range and Provincial Park.

The estuary consists of a mixture of open fields and marsh, ponds, creeks and light wooded copse such as the trails passes through here;

We cross a BC Rail branch line which leads down to the docks at the head of Howe Sound.

There is a lot of wildlife and particularly birds in this estuary.  Most were too quick or small and distant to photograph.  However, these two canada geese kindly stood patiently while being photographed.

Views to the North West towards the Tantalus Range and Provincial Park.

This hunting season sign has been here a while……still advertising the 2005-2006 hunting season ?

We reach the Squamish River, which is the main body of water passing through the estuary into Howe Sound.

Most of the first section of the walk was along Heritage Dyke, built in the late 1800’s by immigrant Chinese workers hoping to create usable farmland on the valley floor.  These old dykes now show their age as many trees have grown and taken over while the ‘trail’ in many places mostly consists of gnarly tree roots.

More great views to the South East towards Garibaldi

A brief panorama of the views in the estuary park.  It was a very blustery Spring day so lots of wind noise on the video, sorry !

The planned walk today was supposed to be a figure-of-8 using the trail network in place, unfortunately part of the Heritage Dyke had collapsed here, and while we were able to cross this section just a short distance later more had collapsed and there was too much water to get across.  We had to retrace our steps on this section.

One of the big old spruce trees growing along the Heritage Dyke.

 

We loop back onto the Forest and Swan Walk trails to complete the walk.  Views here towards Tantalus.

A short stint on a flat logging road

And we’re soon back on the trails again.

Mojo is pretty pleased with this walk – it’s somewhere new, plentiful supply of sticks and all the puddles, ponds and creeks you could ask for.

Finally as we’re turning back towards the town and our car we get these views North up the estuary.

A lovely walk and a refreshing change from the heavily forested North Shore.  There are many fantastic walks in the Squamish area but unfortunately most of them are within the boundaries of Garibaldi Provincial Park which as a major bear migratory route does not allow dogs.  I am still hoping to explore a couple of these hikes over the summer, if I can persuade Mojo to spend the day at home ?

Hockey Season is here again

Last night the playoffs arrived again for dedicated Canucks fans in Vancouver.  David and I were bought Canuck teeshirts as part of our citizenship gift from Stephen and Andrea and then last Friday we attended a fund-raising dinner event for disaster relief efforts in Japan and they had a limited number of donated jerseys one of which we bought. 

We spent the evening at Sig and Helens.  Their friend (and equally dedicated hockey fan) Sharon came over but the kids were over at their dads.

It was a quintessentially west coast Canadian evening…..hockey, sushi and beer !

David, Sharon, myself and Sig.

 

Myself with our hosts for the evening Sig & Helen.

It was a great game with Vancouver winning 2-0 over Chicago.  We play them again on Friday.

However, the excitement eventually became too much for little Missie who had to snooze on the sofa next to us, snuggled warm by her own little Canucks blanket !

Lighthouse Park, April ‘11

Last week on the only pleasant sunny day that I had time to get out with Mojo, Mojo was unfortunately sick.  So, it seems a long time since we have been out walking in recent weeks.

Today however Mojo is fighting fit again, the weather was a blustery, bright and sunny Spring day so a great time to visit Lighthouse Park where the coastal trails enjoy plenty of sunlight and the sea breeze will be refreshing.

It’s still early in the season so despite being a nice sunny day there is still loads of room in the parking lot at Lighthouse Park.

It only takes a few minutes of walking and you are soon immersed into the forest, away from all the sights and sounds of West Vancouver.

Sheltered from the noises of both the city and the coast the only sounds are the birds and the occasional rummaging of squirrels and the like on the forest floor.

More views in the interior trails as we head for the coastal path.

Mojo demonstrates the enormous size of the trunks on some of the old growth trees

The sunlight pours through this rare tract of old growth coastal rainforest.

Soon we reach the coastal pathway and take the trail down to Starboat Cove.  En route down to the cove a detour takes you to a cliff edge overlooking the cove with a bench.  A perfect spot to stop and have lunch, or in our case drink our coffee and soak up some sun and enjoy the views.

Views of the Lions Gate Bridge, Stanley Park and Downtown skyline from Starboat Cove.

Starboat Cove

After our coffee we walk down to the beach area in Starboat Cove, Mojo has raced ahead and is already paddling.  Everytime we visit this cove the route is a little different as with each storm the huge pile of driftwood increases or decreases or just gets moved around and you have to pick you way over and around the wood.

Mojo decides there isn’t enough driftwood already on the beach and he needs to rescue some more he’s seen lying underwater.  The trouble is he is just a little scared of waves.  Even these little tiny waves lapping at his feet are a disturbance as he attempts to bring the driftwood to dry land.

Views of Starboat Cove from the beach.

It seems to be the waves breaking around his feet that upsets Mojo the most, he’s more than happy to race off and swim in the sea to fetch his sticks.

Eventually however it’s time for us to move on.  We continue past the Lighthouse viewpoint which has attracted what visitors there are in the park and about 20 minutes later reach Shore Pine Point. Views here along the coastline from Shore Pine Point.

The Bowen Island ferry returning to Horseshoe Bay.

Water access at Shore Pine Point.

Finally the lovely views to the West across the entrance of Howe Sound towards Bowen Island.

Toronto, Columbus & San Diego

A couple of weeks ago David had to travel to Toronto in Ontario, Columbus in Ohio and San Diego in California with his work.  It was a whirlwind tour of Children’s Hospitals in just a few days so virtually no leisure time.  Nonetheless he managed a few snaps of the three cities.

The first stop was Toronto.  They had really no ‘free’ time in Toronto at all.  Views across the city skyline from the hotel.

Toronto Sick Kids Hospital where David was visiting is the brick and glass building in the centre. While Toronto is still a little chilly, it was at least sunny which was more than could be said for home !

   

Inside Sick Kids the building is architecturally interesting but the overall feeling was that there was ‘too much going on’, the walls and open spaces were too cluttered and busy and it actually took them sometime to fine the Emergency Department, something that should have been the first signs you see.

They did eventually find it…..luckily it wasn’t an emergency !

 

The outside of the building.

After a whistlestop visit to Toronto they were on a flight to Columbus, Ohio.

Now, Columbus doesn’t usually figure on many tourists itinerary.  It’s a harmless enough city, if not a little dull.  The weather didn’t help either, cold and grey.

The view from Davids hotel room over a grassy plaza in the centre of Columbus.

 

Columbus is the capitol of Ohio and as such has an impressive capitol building.

The main purpose of the visit of course was to visit the still-being-built childrens hospital – Nationwide Hospital.

Some parts of the construction were further ahead than others.

The new hospital is not far from Downtown.

After touring the new hospital the group had the chance to see a little more of the city.  Initially they walked through the Historic District, defined by the brick buildings, sidewalks and roadways.

Some of these views would no doubt be greatly enhanced in the Spring or early summer when flower and trees are in bloom and there’s some blue sky and sunshine !

The high-rise buildings of Downtown loom over the Historic District.

The Downtown core of Columbus is a mix of new and older architecture.  Here on East Broad street was the New Hayden Building (rh of the two tall buildings in centre of image).  Built in 1901 it was an early ‘skyscraper’ and is mostly original in appearance except for the 3rd Floor limestone detailing which was extended up from the 2nd floor in 1921 to give it a more classical appearance.  The small building to the right is the original Hayden Building (4 storeys with limestone clad exterior) and is the oldest commercial building remaining on Capitol Square built in 1869.  It was designed by one of the architects who designed the Capitol Building.

This is the Ohio Stadium – home of the Ohio State Buckeyes.  Built in 1922 for $1.3m it was renovated in 2001 – for $194m !   It currently seats just over 102,000 football fans and it is estimated over 34m people have passed through its gates since it was built.

 

Opposite the hotel David stayed in were a couple of interesting older buildings.  At 100 South 3rd St a home for a legal company while to the right of it the Central Presbyterian Church.

100 South 3rd Street illuminated at night.

Also downtown was the art deco LeVeque Tower.  Built in 1927 at 47 storeys it was the 5th tallest building in the World when it was first constructed.  Still an attractive addition to the downtown skyline.

A close up of the detailing on the LeVeque Tower in Columbus.

The LeVeque Tower is illuminated at night.  While the colours of the lights were white on Davids visit they change the colours for different events – red & green for Christmas, all green for St. Patricks Day, pink for Breast Cancer Awareness and red, white & blue for a number of weeks after 9-11.

David in front of the Capitol Building.  The Capitol Building was constructed between 1838-1861 with delays caused by politics, a cholera epidemic and labour difficulties.

A statue of Christopher Columbus, the cities namesake.

They also have a statue of William McKinley, who was the 25th President of the United States. McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo, NY in 1901 but he was an Ohio native and still takes pride of place in Capitol Square.

A newscast is being recorded outside the Capitol Building at the time David passed.

The streets of Downtown Columbus were hardly `bustling` – particularly after 6pm when like many other North American cities the downtown core became something of a ghost town.

Some nice old row homes in the Downtown area.

Views of Downtown across the Scioto River.

Finally, the Columbus Dispatch building at 34 South 3rd St – looks like something straight out of the 1930`s.

The next day the group were off to San Diego, California.

They were here to visit Rady Childrens Hospital.

Views from the hotel, over suburban San Diego.

The palm trees, blue sky and 85F temperatures definitely made a pleasant contrast to Toronto and Columbus !

The group had a few hours of `free` time in San Diego so they visited La Jolla and did a little shopping before heading for the Old Town.

The Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in San Diego is a victim to the West Coasts ability to extend the meaning of OLD and HISTORIC.  This church was built in 1927, but sits on the site of the the 1542 landing of the first European explorer to the region Captain Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo.

The Casa de Pedrorena de Altamirano is a home of a pioneer California family from Spain.

Tolers Leather Depot.

More views around San Diego Old Town.

Weird and wonderful vegetation abounds – they look like giant asparagus !

The Cosmopolitan Hotel, built in 1869 by stage master Albert Seeley for his travellers.

Then the group took advantage of the beautiful West Coast sunset, before heading home the following day.