Final Day Off in Vancouver

Monday morning dawned sunny and clear - a perfect day to visit the beach. I mounted my bike and started peddling toward Wreck Beach. I knew, generally, where I was headed but I didn't appreciate exactly how far it was. Vancouver is shaped, roughly, like your right hand: hold your right hand with your palm facing you and your thumb at a 45 degree angle. Downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park are on your thumb, the rest of the city is your palm and fingers with Wreck Beach out on the tips of your fingers.





Vancouver has a great system of bike lanes and trails stretching all over the city. I rode to Wreck Beach mostly along the water; first along the seawall and then on bike paths near the beautiful beaches of English Bay. The ride was really pretty. I stopped a couple of times both to rest and take in the view.

Looking back toward downtown from Kitsilano Beach.

Again looking back toward downtown, this time from Spanish Banks.

In addition to the people beaches at Spanish Banks, they had a big dog beach with all kinds of dogs frolicking in the waves.

As I entered Pacific Spirit Regional Park (part of the University of BC Endowment Lands) the bike lane left the water's edge and started to climb up a long hill. By the time I reached the trail that lead back down to the beach, I was exhausted. The trip was a little more than 8 miles. I locked up my bike and hiked down the trail toward the waters of the Georgia Strait.

Trail #3 leading down from the road to the beach.

The University Endowment Lands are 14 square kilometers of land set aside by the provincial government. Roughly half of that land is known as Pacific Spirit Regional Park and serves as a sort of greenbelt all around the University; both separating it from Vancouver and buffering it from the ocean. The park lands are mostly undeveloped. The Endowment Lands drop off dramatically down to the beach - some of the cliffs are as much as 250 feet tall. The hike down to the water was dramatic - passing through the woods on a trail made up mostly of wooden stairs. When I popped out of the woods, I was on a rocky beach known as Tower Beach.

Tower Beach takes its name from these WWII-era civil defense towers.

I hiked a little more than a mile along the beach to Wreck Beach proper (the whole beach is 4 miles long) at Point Grey. Here the beach gets wider and has big sandy stretches. It is a magnificent beach. The steep cliffs and their thick woods separate the beach from the mainland and lend it a secluded feeling. Vancouver Island separates the waters of the Strait of Georgia from the open ocean and keep them calm. From my beach blanket in the summer sun I could see the snow capped mountains in the distance - lovely.

I borrowed this aerial photo of the beach from the web - I didn't take any pictures of my own as it is a clothing optional beach and it seemed rude to walk around with a camera...

The tide was going out while I was there, so the beach kept getting bigger and bigger. The land slopes gently into the water, so I had to walk quite a ways out into the water to even reach my waist. That was fine, though, as - even in the strait - the waters if the Pacific were a bit chilly to swim in. There were several herons wading around looking for lunch and all kinds of seabirds circling overhead. Signs near the trails warned beach-goers not to disturb baby seals, but I didn't see any to disturb. Tiny crabs scuttled around the tide pools and mussels closed up tight as the tide receded.

The beach is outfitted with lots of giant logs to sit on or lean against. I set myself up leaning against one and looking out across the water. I could have stayed all day. I laid on the beach for an hour or so reading my book before the redness on my shoulders moved me back into the shade. As the sun rose higher, I enjoyed my shady spot and read a few more chapters. Around two, or so, I started the leisurely hike back up the beach and up the steps to my bike.

The ride back to the apartment went quickly - riding down the big hill was a lot more fun than the trip up had been. By the time I was nearing downtown again, I couldn't imagine peddling up one of the bridges so I rode around the end of False Creek instead of over it and stayed at sea level as long as I could. My whole trip was around 18 miles - not too shabby.

I took a brief nap and started the first of several rounds of aloe applications to my shoulders before I headed off to meet Roy for dinner. We had a relaxed dinner (and at a regular dinner hour - my favorite part of a day off) with a nice glass of wine at Joey's. After dinner, we met up with much of the Spamily at Christ Church Cathedral for a recital by our own Ben Davis. Ben performed a wide range of vocal selections in a variety of languages - he's a trained opera singer. The church was beautiful and it was so nice to hear an unamplified human voice accompanied by an acoustic piano. Michael Gribbin ably accompanied Ben on the piano and Michael was joined by Adam Souza for a couple of four-handed piano arrangements. Rick, our new sound associate, is married to a renowned player of the Chinese stringed instrument the pipa. Xiao Yu favored us with a traditional song on the pipa as a special guest at the recital as well.

After the recital several of us caught the end of the sunset over English Bay to conclude another wonderful day off in Vancouver.

JV