Vancouver's Wild Side

Woman injured in latest coyote attack in Stanley Park

This recent Vancouver Sun headline immediately caught my eye as we had scheduled a trek through the park. Additional research revealed that a number of coyote/human contacts had occurred in Stanley Park and not ended well for either humans or Coyotes as stated in this Time Colonist headline 

Four coyotes euthanized after toddler bitten during walk in Vancouver's Stanley Park

Over the years it has been our sacred belief that “urban trekking” was a safe and stress free source of adventure free from preditors especially in city parks all though before dusk. They were high on our list of safe places to roam. The dangers that now lurk in Stanley Park have some what shaken this belief. Not to be deterred, we decided to continue on with our planned trek. Perhaps the headlines were embellished. 

Photo: Global News

A decision to pack bear spray was considered after a futile attempt to find and purchase “coyote spray”. We did find a product called “Coyote Piss” but it is an odorific used to scare foraging deer away from your flower garden and not to be worn as a perfumed deterrent for coyote attacks. Our thoughts were, if bear spray will scare a bear away, it should be enough to shoo a coyote. Our next question “Could bear spray be legally carried in Vancouver parks?” was answered by this headline from the Vancouver sun.  

 Vancouver police warn of criminal charges for carrying bear spray in the city

It seems that we were to go hiking unarmed.

We began the 10 kilometre journey from Lumberman’s Arch. A log arch structure that was first erected in 1912 at Pender and Hamilton Streets, to honour a visit by the then Governor General of Canada, the Duke of Connaught, son of Queen Victoria and was relocated to the park in 1913. 

We chose this as our starting point as Stanley Park is pet friendly and what dog wouldn’t take the opportunity to urinate on this big hunk of wood. Coyotes are a closely related species  so a bladder full coyote might want to hang out here. Not today.   

Our route through the Park was the iconic Stanley Park sea wall, well marked with separate paths for bikes walkers and coyotes. Despite the dangers, the park was very busy. The path has great views of Burrard Inlet attracting unwitting tourists.

 

Lots of  container ships today waiting their turn to load raw goods like sulphur and the much loathed Tar Sands oil.  

 

A busy park meant lots of tempting coyote prey. This played well into our strategy for protecting ourselves against any foraging coyotes.  The plan was to ensure we were surrounded by tourists, specifically those who looked weaker and slower than us. We wore our running shoes so should we be stalked by coyotes, we could out run those slower, weaker Croc wearing tourists.   

The half way point of our hike was Siwash Rock, one of the many scenic photo ops to be found in Stanley Park. The rock was created by burning hot magma from a nearby volcano and forced upwards through a crack in the Earth’s surface creating this interesting stack of basalt. The shape of the rock caught the attention of the local indigenous population, the Squamish who wove a family friendly creation history around the rock. Alas no coyotes yet.

 

Third Beach, Second Beach passed us by again nary a sign of coyotes. We found various piles of excrement evident here and there but neither Nonie nor I are conversant in Coyote scat but were suspicious that what we were seeing was actually left by indifferent and inconsiderate dog owners.  

Photo: coyoteyipps.com 

 

As we reached the popular beach at English Bay, we found the remnants of a whale carcass that could possibly have been picked clean by coyotes.  Perhaps it was lucky that we did not come across a Stanley Park Coyote. 

Feeling less invincible, we decided to exit the park into the equally wild West End of Vancouver. No coyotes here just aggressive vendors hawking Vancouver souvenirs and quite possibly rabid as one seemed to be foaming at the mouth. On a closer look, it was actually residual foam from a venti Starbucks latte. Inukshuks seemed to be the hot seller. 

With not a single coyote sighted, obtaining a trapper’s license for Stanley Park seemed it might be a waste of time. 

Photo: CBC News

So it was back to Penticton and our post COVID19 life or more fearfully a pre COVID19 4th wave lockdown.

For God sake people, get the frigging vaccine. 

Living Virally: Fungi, Ferries and Fingers

 Episode 9 Part II

Nakusp is small sleepy village situated on the shores of Upper Arrow Lake. The town grew from a sawmill serving the silver mining rush in 1892. The lumber industry continues to be the economic mainstay to this day. What drew us here was to hike the Kuskanax Creek Hot Springs Trail.

 

Day 4 and again we woke to a thick fog and 4C. Not the most conducive start to our 8K trek up into the Selkirk Mountains. The weather person did forecast morning sunshine so we headed out with the hope that we would climb above the fog and get to see some of that promised sunshine. 

It took a few kilometres and a some pretty good elevation change before we got above the fog. Sadly too late to enjoy that promised morning sun. At least it wasn't snowing or raining

 

Nakusp is located in the Slocan Valley and just one mountain range east from our home in the Okanagan Valley. The Slocan Valley has a temperate climate with a definite rain forest vibe. 

 

The Okanagan Valley has a semi-arid climate making for a much drier environment than the Slocan Valley and a very different environment for a hike. 

As for example, this picture from our second attempt in June at summiting Nkwala Mountain just above Penticton. No Ewoks to be found here though perhaps they could be found bellied up at a winery somewhere.   

With the wet environment we found an extensive variety of different fungi and mushrooms along the trail. 

All at the same time they looked so tasty and poisonous. 

It was a magical hike. Not many grand vistas but the moss and lichen covered forest floor hid a myriad of mysterious shapes.  If you are a Star Wars fan, you might recognize similarities to the planet of Endor.   "Yub nub" or "party on" for those who don't speak Ewok. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tHOkQ3nV1c

The hike ended at the Nakusp Hot Springs Resort with a well deserved soak in the hot pools. The route was originally a pack horse trail to carry tourists up to the hot springs. We opted for a return trip with Nakusp Taxi. A perfect ending to a wonderful day without the smell of horse. 

 Photo: bchistory.com

Day 5 and another ferry ride that I failed to mention to Nonie. Shelter Bay Ferry is a 20 minute ride needed, to cross Upper Arrow Lake to the city of Revelstoke and a late lunch. Hunger won out over Nonie’s ferry phobia. From Revelstoke we traveled west on the famed Trans Canada to Three Valley Gap for an overnight.

 

Three Valley Gap located deep in the Rockies is a 200 room, resort hotel with a lake, historic ghost town and railway museum. It opened in 1952, with 7 rooms and a 7 seat restaurant. We have driven by it many times but never stopped. As we arrived the sky filled with dark ominous clouds along with a little rain. Checking in, we were told that this was the last day open and that we may be the only people staying in the hotel.

Wait a minute, didn't a couple horror movies start this way.  

It was truly a "Shining" like experience wandering the  empty hallways. Every once in a while we could hear voices droning in the distance but never saw a single person. We had the pool and hot tubs all to ourselves. That night our hotel room door was double locked and chained. But looking at the door, it would probably not cause much of a problem for Jack Nicholson armed with an axe. Just to be sure, skipped the morning showers as well.  

Despite the rain, a visit to the ghost town was necessary as it too was closing for the season. The town consists of 26 historic buildings gathered over the last 50 years from around the province and restored to house the thousands of artifacts collected by the owner.

Photo: Peter Sentjens

My plan for the train museum was to climb aboard the old steam engines. But I discovered that the museum was also home to a former Governor General’s railcar. In 1982, after repatriating the constitution, Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau borrowed it for a vacation trip to the Rockies with his three sons. One being a young Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

The car became infamous when Pierre gave the “one finger salute” to protesters while the train was parked in nearby Salmon Arm. It became known as the “Salmon Arm Salute”. 

 Cartoon: Paul Graham

It was reported in the Times Colonist that the protesters deserved the finger.

"They were directing inappropriate stuff about Daddy wasting money. The protesters were yelling at two young boys. I stood by a CBC reporter when a man came to the window and gave the protesters the finger before pulling down the blinds.The protesters were being rude, perhaps meaning the insults for the prime minister, but delivering them to the boys."

The railcar rekindled my own memory of when I first met Pierre. It was June of 1968 and I was walking home from school when I heard my name being called. I turned towards the voices and saw a large stake bed truck pull up to the sidewalk. The back of the truck was filled with cheerleaders and they were yelling at me to jump on. When a truck full of Cheerleaders pull up and yells at you to jump on, you don’t question it, you just jump on.

 

As we bounced down the hill from the high school, I was given an orange tee shirt and told to put it on.  Opening the shirt I found it was printed with a really cool picture of Pierre Trudeau. My pulse started racing, was this excitement my awakening to Trudeaumania?  Perhaps it was the truck load of cheerleaders. 

 Art: Trudeaumania UBC Press

We were headed to the airport. Pierre was arriving for some electioneering. We were his mobile cheering section. Greeting him at the airport, to following him around town, always arriving before him to greet him with loud, lusty cheering and girly screams of “I love you”. Like a scene from the 1964 Beatles film "A Hard Days Night". 

 

One of the few Kamloopsians not wild about Trudeau’s visit was my father. As I walked in the door that night, proudly wearing my tee shirt, he yelled at me to get out and not come back in the house until I had taken off  that GD tee shirt. My Dad was a dyed blue Conservative. I think that was the moment I became a life long "left of centre" Liberal. It wasn't long before the tee shirt mysteriously went missing. 

Day 6 saw us heading home to Penticton and a return to our monastic viral life. It looks like things could  be pretty quiet till 2021. Assuming Biden wins the election, blog worthy events may be few and far between so stay safe and warm everyone.  

Living Virally: Where There's Fire, There's Smoke

 Episode 9- Part 1

Our COVID summer started wet and cool but finished with the heat that the Okanagan summer is famous for.  For the last decade that heat has also brought an increased danger of forest fires. Any fires in the Valley always brings with it stress along with smoke. The last weeks of August were spoiled by a fire occurring just on the southern border of Penticton. Thankfully the winds stayed supportive and the fire was brought under control after several scary days.  

What was unexpected was the huge fires that roared up the west coast from California, Oregon and Washington. With months and sometimes years of little or no precipitation, these states are dry as tinder. The smoke from these fires completely  blanketed the southern parts of British Columbia. Based on the vagaries of wind direction, Penticton with a north wind would have clear skies or with a shift to the south, the valley would fill with smoke So thick, we could not see across the street. 

 Photo: Penticton Western

 

Our COVID masks were seeing double duty. But, thanks to our years of training in Harbin, our lungs were up to the challenge.  Cough, cough! The day this picture was taken, the pollution levels were higher than the sensors could detect. 

Checking the weather for the last week of September, it looked like we had another week or two of summer weather before frost arrived and with COVID infections starting to climb to new highs, it seem like the time for one last adventure before hunkering down for the winter. 

 

The last day of September saw us on the road and a 5 hour ride to Nelson, B.C., the first stop in our 6 day ride and hike through the Kootenay’s located deep in the Rocky Mountains and just one valley over from our home in the Okanagan valley.

After an overnight in Nelson and a short 40 kilometre drive we arrived at Balfour ferry, the start of today’s adventure.  There are a number of ferry crossings necessary throughout the Kootenay’s, all free as they are considered part of the highway system.  Nonie's fear of ferries was awake and in full bloom. Thankfully once she saw the ferry arrive, her fears were somewhat calmed. It did not appear to be in danger of capsizing. 

It is a short 40 minute ride across Kootenay Lake to the Kootenay Bay terminal and the beginning of our two hikes in Pilot Bay Provincial Park. The first hike was a short 2K, steep hike into the site of the 115 year old Pilot Bay lighthouse. 

The mouth of the bay is quite wide and at night or in the thick pea soup fog common on Kootenay Lake, it could be entered mistakenly thinking it was main channel of Kootenay Lake. Hence the need for a lighthouse. For over 50 years, Kootenay Lake was the only way to transport goods around the area. GPS has put the lighthouse out of business. 

 

From the lighthouse we enjoyed our lunch and a great view of the Balfour ferry as it crossed Kootenay Lake and made its way to another landing at Kootenay Bay.

 

 

Next hike was a 6K round trip into Sawmill Bay. The trail map indicated no elevation change at the beginning and at Sawmill Bay. What was failed to be mentioned is that while the trail follows the shoreline of the bay,  it was sometimes necessary to can climb hundreds of feet up the ridge. Doing this numerous times during the walk made it much steeper than it looked.   But with the sun shining and a nice cooling breeze coming in off Kootenay Lake, we enjoyed the uppy-downy and were rewarded with a cute little rocky beach.

Then it was back to the ferry to Balfour and or our second night. Woke up to Day 3 and couldn’t see the lake from our lake view hotel window. Seems the smoke may be following us. 

Nope, it was just some of that famous Kootenay Lake pea soup fog.

 

First stop of day 3 was Fletcher Falls. A short 10 minute walk scored us a sweet view of another cute little B.C. waterfall.

 

Next stop, the town of Kaslo. To quote British Columbia magazine, “a vintage silver dollar in the West Kootenay’s pocket.”  117 years old, first the site of a sawmill that provided timber for the late 19^th century silver boom. Today it relies on forestry and tourism. Kaslo is home to the S.S. Moyie, a steam stern wheeler the carried freight and passengers up and down Kootenay Lake from 1898 to 1957. In 1958 it was beached in Kaslo to become a national heritage site and museum. As a retired power engineer, I'm always up for anything steamy. An old power engineer joke.

From Kaslo, we were off to the ghost town of Sandon. Built in the 1890’s to serve the miners arriving to work the rich deposits of silver-lead ore, the town was home to over 5,000.

 There is not much of the old town left but volunteers are working hard to maintain the few building that remain.  

Photo: Selkirkloop.org

Again as a retired power engineer, what most intrigued me about going to Sandon besides ghosts was the 104 year hydro powerhouse that is still operating today and feeding power into BC Hydro’s electrical grid. The plant was the most technological advanced system of its day providing electricity to the town and Silversmith Mine. It is currently the oldest continuing operating plant in Canada. 

 

After a quick wander through the village of New Denver, Day 3 ended in the town of Nakusp, home to the Nakusp River Hot Springs and our home for the next two nights. 

Living Virally: It’s Baaaaack

 Episode: 8

 Thirty plus weeks in and are things getting better?

 Define “better”. 

Indicating that somebody, something, or an action is superior in some way to something or somebody else or is an improvement upon a situation.

 Define “worse”.

More unpleasant, difficult or severe than before or than something else that is also bad.

Based on the above chart and definitions “better” has left the room. According to the latest statistics we have entered the scary realm of worse. Now worse is a relative term, with values set by the speaker based on present and past situations. Each speaker sets his own values based on his personal convictions.  

Example: For me, if Donald Trump were to be elected for a second term that would be the worst result but for some mouth breathing MAGA hat wearer, that would be way betterer. (his word not mine)

 

Speaking of the Donald. he has reset the bar for “better and worse” several times since the virus started. In February, he stated that at worse, 10,000 people might die from COVID19, in May at worse, 50,000 to 60,000 would die and today he stated that thanks to his superb handling of the virus things could not be better with only 200,000 dead Americans.   

 

As of this episode; in BC, Canada and the USA, viral infections have seen a dramatic increase. Leading the charge with most infections are the 18 - 34 year olds while the 50+ age group continues to lead in deaths. Go seniors!

 

Despite these tribulations, we continue to live our almost normal lives along with a few spicy bits. One spicy bit saw us finishing our goal of exploring Myra Canyon and its trestles along with another overnight at Chute Lake Lodge. A 70 kilometre out and back from Chute Lake. 

 

Leaving Chute Lake, we experienced a little deja vu from our previous trip with a 25 minute, torrential downpour that left us a little soggy.

 

But the clouds broke up and we were rewarded with some solar drying along with great views of Kelowna and Okanagan Lake.

 

Myra Canyon was as we remembered, despite 14 of the trestles having been replaced because of a forest fire that happened after our previous trips. They have been rebuilt with remarkable accuracy.

Along the way we ran into a few friends. Meet Chip or maybe Dale, two frisky chipmunks that would not leave us alone while we tried to have lunch. They zipped around so fast that at first we thought there was only one of them. They ran circles around us gazing longingly at our lunch fare. 

We have a rule that we don’t feed wild animals but broke it for these two little guys. They earned it.

Not sure if this is Chip or Dale enjoying some fresh Okanagan apple.  

 

Nonie ran into another friend as she rode over his tail while he peacefully sunned himself on the trail. We left him quickly behind, a little pissed and with Nonie a little shook up as she is deathly afraid of snakes. An unexpected end to which up to then, had been a wonderful adventure. We finished with a quiet snake free evening at Chute Lake Lodge then back to viral reality the next day.

 

This last week was spent in Victoria catching up on a few chores with our Island family. Pruning, weeding and minor repairs kept us busy. I did manage to get in a round of golf on our last day. We left the Island with stiff and sore muscles with a stop in Abbottsford for a short visit with family.  While in Victoria, we stayed in a hotel and for the most part maintained the proscribed social distance from all family and people we met on the way.  

It is becoming quickly apparent that our viral life style is going to continue for the foreseeable future causing a major rethink to our travel plans for the next year. Canada beckons perhaps.