Getaway day in Vancouver

I don't like you and I shall scream in your ear

After our visit to Vancouver's Capilano Park, we hopped into the car and returned to Stanley Park. We drove around the park's peninsula shoreline, stopping at several beaches where we observed crows and gulls napping, feeding, and wading.  There were geese in a small park there and while we were taking pictures of a goose couple, up comes a goose striding purposefully and carrying nothing but bad attitude. There was much honking, squawking, and feather pulling. My guess is that the bad goose was the jilted husband.

So this goose walks into a bar...

From there we drove into the downtown area and ate Lebanese food, a rarity for us Roseburgians as most Roseburgians think Lebanon is a small town in Oregon with no cuisine of note. Nearby was a collection of odd little men statutes. Well, not all that little, each one was several feet taller than me. We had stumbled on the A-Mazing-Laughter whose little men are dedicated to the power of laughter, frozen forever in time guffawing at the latest off-color joke involving a bad goose.

I felt right at home

Fore!

But this is a hiking blog (allegedly) and we would be remiss if we didn't start walking at some point. Beginning near Science World, whose building resembles a giant golf ball waiting to be smacked by a 3-iron club, we set out on the bike path on the seawall alongside False Creek. I'm not sure what was false about False Creek, but the "creek" was way too wide to be considered a creek, no matter how many beers had been imbibed.

We walked by Rogers Arena, home of the Vancouver Canucks (hockey!). I yelled out "Go Portland Winterhawks!" and no one paid attention, apparently our Oregon team is too minor league. A "Go Sharks!" did the trick and drew dirty looks.

How many apartments does a city need?

I swear Vancouver must be the apartment tower capital of the world;  tall towers sprung up like weeds on both sides of the creek, false as it is. At any rate, we passed a bunch of tall buildings before ducking under the Cambie Street Bridge and coming upon a Time Top.

Maybe this is where President Obama was born

Yes, it really was a Time Top and I have no idea what a Time Top does. But there was one there, looking all the world like an alien artifact. A nearby plaque identified the contraption as a Time Top. Actually, after doing a little bit of research I found out the Time Top made its appearance in the Brick Bradford (yes, that Brick Bradford!) comic strip and the artist came from Canada. So the Time Top found a home, randomly placed, under a bridge in Vancouver.

The next item on our agenda, which was as random as the Time Top's final resting place, was the iconic Canada Place. Passing the Olympic Flame cauldron (flame extinguished when the Olympics left), we strolled on the wide promenade on the Place. Canada Place is adorned with distinctive "sails" above the businesses, hotels, and promenade walkers.  The net effect is that it feels a lot like walking a deck on the Love Boat, not that the Love Boat ever had sails on it.

Paging Captain Stubing

We had spent most of the day in Vancouver and only scratched the surface of this interesting and beautiful city. But we had a long drive to return us to the interesting and beautiful city of Winston, Oregon (sarcasm intended). On the plus side, this blog will return to the more familiar theme of hiking on trails.

Get that camera out of my face, now!

Capilano Park

Capilano Park, straddling both sides of the Capilano River canyon near Vancouver, is billed as "extreme nature" or something like that. For Dollie and I, who spend many a weekend on the various goat paths, cliffs, and mountains in southern Oregon; Capilano comes across tame and a little bit cheesy, just like fondue.   Actually fondue is quite a bit cheesy and Capilano still is a fun way to spend a frosty morning.

Dollie brings her Oregon brand of culture to Capilano Park

Dollie, on the Cliffwalk

There are three main attractions: The Cliffwalk, the Treetop Adventure, and the renown Capilano Suspension bridge dangling 230 feet above the Capilano River. As we started the Cliffwalk, a huge chunk of canyon wall broke off and tumbled into the river with a loud crack and roar, just like my dad stretching after a good night's sleep. Since the Cliffwalk is a spidery set of catwalks, seemingly frail and delicate, clinging precariously to the canyon cliffs, a landslide across the canyon was disconcerting, to say the least.

The precarious Cliffwalk

However, I am glad to report our side of the canyon stayed intact long enough for us to enjoy the Cliffwalk experience. The walk is exposed and high up there and would send any acrophobe into a panic attack similar to my wife finding a garter snake in the garden.  For us however, it compares to maybe hiking the cliffs on the Rogue River Trail, with one exception. There is a glass enclosed "diving board" jutting out into the airy void, causing me to utter a queasy "eeh" as I walked out to snap a few pictures. 

The Capilano Suspension Bridge spans the canyon and is, as mentioned, 230 feet above the river. I quickly found out there are stern-faced staff (not to mention, a stern-faced wife) posted nearby to tell certain tourists not to play on the bridge.

Capilano, himself

The Treetop Adventure

On the opposite and apparently landslide-prone side, a series of wooden catwalks and suspension bridges took us from tree to tree. Now this was cool and no one told me not to play on the bridges. It reminded me of the old computer game Myst or maybe the elf city in the Lord of the Rings. Gollum Dollie enjoyed the Treetop Adventure, also.

Hi, Mom!

The trails underneath the Treetop Adventure wound their way alongside the canyon rim in beautiful and pristine boardwalks in what was quite a change from our normal trail tread. Our feet and eyes were grateful. 

A small  creek on its way to the Capilano River

We enjoyed dangling on the various catwalks and bridges above the park but by this time we were cold (it was below freezing) so we headed back to the car, in search of warmer environs in Vancouver.

Vancouver (Day 1)

February 26, 2012

The original plan was to ride our bikes in the Chilly Hilly ride on Bremerton Island.  That is in the Puget Sound / Seattle area for those not familiar with the Pacific Northwest. At any rate, we opted out of the Chilly Hilly for two reasons:  Chilly and Hilly.

Vancouver skyline at Coal Harbour

Dollie and I haven't ridden much lately because the weather has been so wet, cold, and miserable since what feels like 1963. It's been a long winter. So, we were unwilling to subject our pee-pee legs to the rigors of a challenging 35 mile ride. The chilly part was very obvious as we left home in a driving snowstorm. Since we were heading 500 miles north, getting up to Vancouver (our Chilly Hilly replacement destination) was most certainly in question.

Not off to a good start!

However, we need not have worried as the snowstorm in Winston was as bad as it would get, we dealt with rain and intermittent (but harmless) snow flurries on the drive up to Seattle where we overnighted with Roy (Dollie's brother).

Sun and clouds at Coal Harbour

Arriving in Vancouver the next afternoon, we immediately drove over to Stanley Park and began walking the seawall bike path next to Coal Harbour. Vancouver has to be one of the most scenic cities in the entire world. Mix in a spectacular day with clouds, sun, blue sky all competing for dominance over the cityscape, harbors (excuse me, make that harbours), marinas, bays, inlets, and some magnificent snowcapped mountains and you have one special walk and two very content walkers.

Magnificent scene at Burrard Inlet

Rounding the Stanley Park peninsula at Brockton Point with it's red-striped lighthouse, we headed towards Lion's Gate. The gate is a narrow strait on Burrard Inlet with a seemingly spindly bridge spanning the strait in what is Canada's version of the Golden Gate Bridge. Or vice versa.

Girl In A Wetsuit

Along the inlets edge was perched a small statue a la Little Mermaid, the famous Copenhagen statue. From what I read in Wikipedia, the original idea was to make a Little Mermaid replica but when permission to do so was not granted, a wetsuit and legs were slapped on the mermaid and the statue is simply called "Girl in a Wetsuit". 

Man in a wet suit

The sun was getting pretty low so we left the water's edge and headed overland via one of the many trails in the park. I got to see my first rugby pitch which looks a lot like a field from the neanderthal football played in my country.  Arriving back at the car at a tranquil Coal Harbour reflecting the cityscape nicely, we drove across the Lion's Gate Bridge and found a place to spend the night in North Vancouver.

I am a camera god