Trip Report by Caroline Penn On September 22, 2022, nine members of Nature Vancouver gathered at the Snug Cove Library / Info Centre on Bowen Island at 10am to hike around Killarney Lake. It was a perfect early fall day with a slight breeze. We took the counterclockwise route. It is not clear whether Killarney Lake was initially man made or natural, but a dam built in the 1920’s increased its size and caused the ghostlike trees that we see…
Trip report by Christine Thuring From Thursday to Saturday (June 16-18), a small group of five backpackers enjoyed the trials and tribulations of early summer in Garibaldi Provincial Park. The wildflowers were quite behind schedule, there were 5 active bears in the area and the snow line was surprisingly low. Still, we had a fantastic time. Our home base was the Cheakamus Lake Campground (at 850m elevation), where we occupied two sites, separated by a thicket of dogwood and hawthorn….
Report & Photos by Helen Baker On April 30, Ryan Regier, a tree enthusiast and UBC librarian, and Laura Cottle, a forester, guided a group of tree-lovers through Jericho Park, an urban forest with a mix of deciduous and conifer trees. With Ryan and Laura’s help, we learned to identify some common trees by examining bark, leaves, needles and cones. Starting at the east side of the park, we followed a path that runs by the duck pond and into the forest. Ryan…
Trip Report by Jane Srivastava Sometimes it’s good to slow down and look at what’s at your feet. On April 26, eleven of us enjoyed an easy walk to see many delicate wildflowers and other delights along the chain-link shaped trails on the bluffs in the northwest portion of Whytecliff Park in West Vancouver. We met in the overflow parking lot. Then, passing red flowering currant in full bloom we followed a path from the far end of the parking lot,…
Trip Report by Janet Snell & Lyn Grants This hike on, March 21, 2022, was scheduled to see the early evidence of spring emerging from the snow in the Yew Lake / Bowen Lookout area of Cypress Provincial Park. Instead, we were treated to 20 cm of new snow on top of another recent snowfall. All evidence of spring was obscured, and winter’s grip stayed strong. The creek leading from Yew Lake was nestled in a canyon-like cradle of snow….
Trip Report by Helen Baker On March 16, Sally McDermott led a group of 13 on a four-hour loop hike through Lighthouse Park. Together we gazed up – way up – at the Douglas Fir and Red Cedar giants and made stops to look out at the ocean at Eagle Point and Juniper Point. Signs of spring were everywhere – bald eagles flying into the treetops with sticks for nest building, salmonberry buds getting ready to burst and skunk cabbage poking up…
Trip Report by Janet Snell Photos by Janet Snell, John Martin & Caroline Penn On 30 August and again on 9 September, 2021, two groups of hikers explored different routes to Blue Gentian Lake on Hollyburn Mountain this past month. The goal of both hikes was first and foremost to see the beautiful Blue Gentian flowers in bloom at the small lake of the same name. The first hike ascended from upper West Vancouver using the network of trails that…
On August 16 2021, six members hiked from Buntzen Lake to Sugar Mountain (South of Diez Vistas trail). It’s a beautiful forest, with most of the trip on easy to follow pleasant trails. After 2 months of hot dry weather, we were delighted to get some much needed rain.
Trip Report and Photos by Caroline Penn Fifteen members of Nature Vancouver enjoyed a day hike to Echo Lake near Harrison Mills on 21 August 2021. Access was graciously granted by owners of this privately owned land which is in the traditional territory of the Sts’ailes First Nation. Echo lake is circled by old forests. On the South side, 60% were protected in a 2012 campaign by the Ancient Forest Alliance group as an Old Growth Management Area (see protectecholake.com), but the West…
Text and Photos by Caroline Penn On July 10th, 2021, I photographed a beautiful mallow flower that I found growing on a rocky area that extends out from the beach area on Southern Salt Spring Island. I was curious about what type of mallow it was and so did some searching and discovered it was a Henderson’s Checker-mallow (Sidalcea hendersonii), also known as Marsh Hollyhock. It is currently quite rare and is blue-listed. See species summary on BC Conservation Data Centre…