Deviation

All photos taken on December 12, 2023.

Feeling bad about taking up the morning with chores and our visit to Granville Island, while Benji was penned at home, we opted for an after coffee hike at Pacific Spirit Regional Park. Another grey afternoon, but a quick walk in the forest should lift all our moods.

Initially, I was not a fan of driving anywhere near rush hour, but I was persuaded and it all worked out fine in the end.

Our route to Pacific Spirit

Our walk, while similar had some variations today.

For some reason, there seemed to be dog pandemonium here at this time of day. It seemed neither dogs nor their humans gave a flying fig about the leash rules on the trails we walked. Many large dogs simply explored well out of their human’s reach and we would have to pause to allow the humans to do the right thing before we walked on with Benji. Some of the dogs were on leads up to 30 feet long. We kept wondering WWBPD, (What Would Brad Pattison Do?) Our thinking on dog training had changed a lot in the last 4 weeks.

To avoid some of these confrontations, we turned right from Cleveland Trail rather than our usual left. We figured it would all work out in the end. Another nice walk filled with…

Tall trees

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all manner of stumps

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character bark

moss, lichen and leaves

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the red of the Western Red Cedar really stood out on this dull day

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these tree mushrooms looked like flounces on a dance skirt

The few leaves left looked rather sad

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Staghorn ferns were in winter slumber

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mushrooms like the hem of a lace curtain

nature threw a curve at this tree

Exploring the New Loop Trail

tree trunks were host to many symbiotic organisms

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I could not resist this shot juxtaposing creations of nature and man

Such a verdant forest

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At long last, back at Cleveland Trail, we crossed over on the Lily of the Valley Trail…

…where we enjoyed the greenery as if for the first time

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We would miss these huge trees when we returned home

One last look up. The golden leaves on this shrub augment the view nicely

At the end of the trail adjacent to West 16th Avenue, we opted to walk back along the trail paralleling the street. Only a 3.3 km (2 mile) walk today, but we felt rejuvenated.