After living for a year in Ucluelet, on Vancouver Island's rugged outer shore, we decided to fulfill another dream and move to the downtown area of Vancouver. These are the adventures, in words and images, of a couple of retirees now based in Lower Lonsdale.

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Thursday 29 January 2015

The Wee Beastie in the Wild

I recently ventured out to my beloved Lynn Valley so that I could try out the 400mm Wee Beastie lens I recently acquired. The afternoon was intermittent overcast, with roving patches of diffuse sunlight tracking through the heavier clouds. For the first time, I tried the suspension bridge park, and chose to walk anti-clockwise, and headed for Twin Falls.

 

 

The wall of the "punch bowl" that the water has carved from the rock was brilliantly coloured, ranging from lighter umber to dark and vivid maroons and purples, all anchored by the dark greens of the water. Here's where the Wee Beastie brings it right in your face.

 

 

I have to note that this is not a trail overly suited for older folk. Regardless of your direction of travel, there are simply a pant load of stairs. Throw into the mix that the trails have many, many tree roots, and it can become a trial, rather than a trail.

 

 

The suspension bridge is a bit anticlimactic if one has done Capilano, but what it lacks in scale, it makes up for in sheer exuberance... the slightest movement sets it into prolonged and most exciting motion. (Minimize this by waiting until the bridge is your's alone.)

So, OK, I've done the suspension bridge and I wouldn't do it again for the reasons I outlined above: it tired me out and, really, it just didn't have the bang for the buck as far as being close to the river, which is primarily why we're there. At that point, I drove up to the headwaters and did my favorite Varley Trail which skirts right along the river, with just superb scenery.

 

 
 
 
 
 

And since you've all been so good to get this far, here's a portrait of the Wee Beastie, in situ:

 

Cheers!

 

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