Sea to Sky highway north of Vancouver, south of Squamish is one of the most beautiful roads in the world, thanks to the snowy peaks to the west and numerous green islands in Howe Sound. Drove to Murrin Park. Its parking lot was full. So gave up. Drove to Shannon Falls Provincial Park. Busy, but I found a parking spot. The park is small, so there're constant people arriving and leaving. The waterfall is nice but lack of force. I didn't even bother to take a photo.
My objective du jour is Squamish's wind sport spit.
See my last visit in 2015, and Kite Clash-7.
It was such a bustling place, full of energy and beauty.
Now, washed out road, deserted, but still pretty.
Looks like the last event was 2019 before COVID.
We walked into the blocked road, over rubbles and seaweeds.
Had a snack break before coming back to the car.
At the parking lot just before the boulders that blocked the road, we walked onto Chelem Trail.
There's a nice foot bridge. The trail goes into the marsh of the estuary, but at least for awhile it was shaded by brushed on both sides. We were thankful for the shade.
Some flowers. Bird houses. Quite nice. But probably better in dusk or dawn. Not sure about bugs. In mid-day, no bugs.
The good thing is that it's always very windy here.
Continue driving upstream nort to Brackendale, home to one of the highest concentrations of wintering bald eagles in North America (from November to February).
We made a stop at Fishermans Park, by the river, where one of us napped.
Yes, saw maybe 1 fisherman. Most were chilling out by the water under a tree.
Very sandy, but you cannot walk right by water, except for a few spots.
Then, we made a stop on the dyke at "Eagle Run Vista Point". Need to come back in winter.
Large information panels on bald eagle.
Benches.
Driving back, trying Murrin Park a second time.
Dropped my passengers off, and I drove north to park on an abandoned road (Watts Point Rd), and then walked the hwy to the park.
The little Browning Lake was surrounded by picnicing families.
I opted for the Murrin Loop trail. Looks very short.
However, it's not a normal trail. More like a scramble. Took us a long time to negotiate the rocks and roots.
Many climbing groups. A lot of rocks here, with nailed anchor.
Made two more photo stops: Porteau Cov Road Lookout.
Lions Bay city park.
Our last stop of the day is Lynn Canyon Park.
Again, circled around until I found a parking spot.
Paid at a vending machine for parking.
The three of us walked to the suspension bridge, the highlight of this park, with the view of a nice waterfall.
Well, the bridge was blocked. A lot of people.
A ranger holding the fence informed us that someone who was cliff-jumping panicked, and the park called in a rescue team to fish him out.
According to her, this is a "routine operation", a couple of times a week in the summer.
She said she counted 30~40 jumpers today.
The rescue was in the way. The cry-baby was pulled up on the rope, then the rope was lowered for the rescuer to come back up.
A slow process, took more time to clean all the signs and blockage.
A 9 person team. Not sure why need so many people.
Had to wait for the people on the other side to come over the bridge first. A lot of them.
When we went over the bridge, we could see 6 young men below.
Watched 2 of them jumped down the waterfall, and continued swimming and jumping forward.
The other 4 chickened out, and walked back the river.
This is the first time we witness a cliff jumping. Interesting end of the day.
Dinner at a Chinese restaurant across street from Crystal Mall.
