North Delta Greenway

Saw this Cyber Rock ... interesting

Shared use bike/walking paths are great. They offer us the opportunity to take long walks on a generally level, easy to navigate, surface. The Surrey/North Delta are is full of bike and walking paths, including many going through the various watershed areas, but for a nice easy walk, look for the ones that are along a dike or railway track.

The North Delta Greenway Path runs from Planet Ice just off Nordel Way, to as far south as Cougar Creek, on Westview Drive, just off 72nd Ave. Right across the tracks to the west from the greenway trail is the Delta-South Surrey Regional Greenway, which runs all the way to almost the far west end of Colebrook Road, at the BNSF tracks near Hwy 99. There are a few places to safely cross the railway tracks between the two trails, but it is safer to pick one side and stay on it. Along with the private property of the tracks, there is also a creek that needs to be crossed, which can be very full during the rainier days (of which we get a few!)

Speaking of rain, even with the wet weather we've had the last couple of months, the walkway is pretty decent, with only a few mud holes and puddles to traverse, so rubber boots are certainly not necessary. The trail is up the hill from the railway track level, and well away from the bog. The only real water issue comes from the drainage from the upper streets and properties, so the occasional
mini-creek could run through the trail.

The scenery is great, with the creek running through, the occasional Amtrack zipping by, and the trees are full of birds. The banks are not too overgrown with thorns and brush, so getting the geocaches along the trail is fairly easy. Not much bushwacking is requires, although a quick scamper up the bank might be!

This walk can be rated as easy to moderate, and depending on how much energy you have, can be either a short or long walk. Remember to share the road, as it is a multi-use bike/walking trail. The walkway is wheelchair/walker friendly for the most part, but you might have to clean your wheels off before putting the chair back in the car!

For more information on North Delta trails, visit This website.

Whatcom Falls Park

We were in Bellingham, Washington this weekend for a concert, and wanted to go early to do some ... yup, you guessed it! Geocaching! So we thought we would check out Whatcom Falls Park!

Stefani with one of the geocaches we found

According to the Washington Trail Association website, there are three and a half miles of trails in the park, with loops and trails leading along cliff and ravines, through open meadows, and seemingly huge forests. The parking area is off Electric Ave, just off Lakeway Dr, in south east Bellingham, not far from the I-5. We took the Silver Beach Rd entrance, and drove straight into the parking lot near the end of the road, where there is a park, washrooms, picnic tables, and the beginning of a few trails. Continuing farther down the road would lead you to the hatchery.

1939 Stone Bridge

The falls

A short easy walk down the trail from the parking lot brings you to a stone bridge; actually Chuckanut sandstone, built in 1939 as a Roosevelt Works Progress Administration project, according to Kulshan.com. From there you can go to the right, to the upper falls and Whatcom Creek's higher level, or left, to the loops trails, and off-leash dog area.

Great Photo Ops!

The trails are numerous, and many different types. Where we went, the elevations were okay, not too steep or long. The trails themselves are well-used, for the most part, and even with all the rain we've been having, our footing was stable. Actually, I don't think I slipped once, and I am a klutz! Through the trees, the trails are mostly narrow and rocky, with some close to the edge of the ravine, or just up from the edge, with some good viewpoint pull-outs. There are many photo opportunities of the falls, bridges, and creek. We didn't see a lot of wild life, but there was evidence of woodpecker or flicker activity, and a lot of berry bushes to feed on. I would say that with the off-leash dog area nearby, and a lot of dog walkers in the park, coyotes and rabbit would likely make themselves scarce. Being later in the season, squirrels and such would also be scarce.

1939 Stone Bridge

In 1999, a major fuel leak caused a massive explosion and fire in the park, killing three people, and destroying a large part of the park. Almost twenty years later, some of the park is still closed for rehabilitation. The pipeline runs right through the park, even crossing over the creek in one part. The open access are that the pipeline runs through makes up a large part of the walking and off-leash area.

This park is worth exploring more than once, and I think we'll be back for more!

PDF Map of the park

Wikipedia of Whatcom Falls Park

South Chilcotin Holiday

Last weekend, we decided to something a little off the wall, but appropriate for this kind of blog. So, in the spirit of Backyard Adventures, we set off for the South Chilcotin.

I had heard about a ranch outside of Gold Bridge, BC, 2 hours west of Lillooet. From Vancouver, we have a choice of 3 ways to get there. The first way is to drive up the TransCanada Hwy (route 1) to Lytton, then west on the 12 to Lillooet. From there we go west on route 40, a rough back road highway that runs along Bridge River and Carpenter Lake. The second route goes from Vancouver up to Pemberton on the Sea to Sky Hwy (route 99), and continue to Lillooet, then follow route 40. The third, and likely the most interesting of the 3, is the Hurley River Rd Forestry Service Road. This route is not for the light-hearted, occasional traveler. FSRs are affected by weather, floods, slides, and washouts. They are rough gravel trails, at best. These are not the roads you drive a car on. So we didn’t. Next time?

On the way up, we took the TransCanada Hwy. Along the way, we decides to stop at a couple of geocaches. Nothing major in numbers, but just something to break the monotony of the drive. As it happened, we chose a few roadside stops that had waterfalls.

The drive up to Lytton was pretty much uneventful, but the road between Lytton and Lillooet? That was another story. Not a bad one; just a really long one. We hadn’t driven this highway since before we were married – that’s over 26 years! – and I must say, I did not remember much of it at all, and even wondered if maybe we went the wrong way? It is a narrow road, winding around the hills, with some especially narrow corners that only one car can safely navigate. To make it even more fun, we got stuck behind a student driver … in a semi with trailer! There were corners that did not register on our speedometer, and there were no safe places to pass. Finally, a safe place made itself shown, and a few of us roared past, hoping that no one was coming around the next corner!

From Lillooet News

Lillooet has grown considerably in the last 2 decades. I remember it being a depressing little village, full of sad faces, no employment opportunities, and everyone was leaving the town and not coming back. Now, it is “guaranteed rugged”, advertising eco- and adventure tours mountain biking, river rafting, and winter sports. There are a number of cute shops on Main St that have a historic flair to them, including a couple of restaurant and hotels.

From Lillooet, Route 20 took us winding through a few passes, down some great switchbacks through Moha, a small community along Bridge River, and down to the dam at the east end of Carpenter Lake. From there it is due west along the lake to enjoy some beautiful scenery; huge mountains sloping sharply down to the lake, and a road that seems to be literally cut into the slide area of the mountainside. As the driver, I had to watch for rocks on the road, but what worried me more was the chance of seeing rocks coming down the mountain! We were fortunate, and we managed to miss all the big ones!

Wildlife?

Carpenter Lake was created by the completion of the Terzaghi Dam in 1960[1]. The dam itself doesn’t create power, but the water is diverted through a tunnel in the mountain to the Seton Lake dam. What to dam does create is a 50km long lake with water in various shades of greens and blues, stunning vistas and reflections of mountains and skies, and beautiful waterfalls and creeks, perfect for wildlife viewing. We saw none. Typical. Well, we saw some people in a tent.

Tyax Lodge

The turnoff to our eventual destination came sooner than we thought it would. The Tyaughton Lake Road leads to Tyaughton Lake, and to Tyax Lodge, a year round getaway for city folk that want to hunt, fish, ride horses, and just sit in the spa for up to thousands of dollars a day. The road also leads to Gun Creek Road, and up a windy mountain trail to Chilcotin Holidays, an adventure tourism wilderness ranch. This was our destination. (to be continued!)

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_River_Power_Project