Art in the woods

Replicas of squatters’ cabins were sculptured along Maplewood Flats off the Burrard Inlet in the exact location where they  originally stood during the 1940s. Hovering over the tidal mud flats, the cabins on stilts housed a community of squatters who, by the 1960s, were hippies, artists and displaced loggers who craved nature and self-sufficiency.

Sandy Cove trail

Past the source of Harrison Hot Springs, was Sandy Cove Trail. Because it was the tail end of autumn, leaves covered the path making it difficult to find the way in some sections. Alder and broad leaf maple leaves were strewn up the slope of the rising path.

The source

From the hotel resort, the source of Harrison Hot Springs was only a couple of hundred metres away. When I’d walked to the spot twenty years ago, it had appeared as nothing more than a rocky smoky pool of bubbling water not much bigger than a king size bed; at least that’s how I remembered it.

Along Harrison Lake

It was a miserable one degree when I arrived at Harrison Hot Springs. Before the sun set, I walked along the frigid shoreline of Harrison Lake. I couldn’t see the lake’s end because it was a long narrow body of water with the Lillouette River flowing into it from the opposite end.

Held up on a highway

Once I passed the blueberry farms on the way to Harrison Hot Springs, I drove back on to the road, but a train I thought would never end blocked the highway. I joined a long line of waiting cars before I noticed the slough that I’d peeked at from the opposite side to the blueberry farms.

Retracing steps from two decades past

After more than two decades, I headed to Harrison Hot Springs, the well known B.C. resort. I planned two nights of pampered relaxation as an early birthday present to myself.

Deer Lake — a city hike

On many of the hikes I take around the Lower Mainland, it’s easy to forget I’m in a city. Winding trails through tall trees give the illusion of being in a forest. But Deer Lake is different. This Burnaby picnic area has trails around the lake, but it soon encroaches on suburbia.