Capturing the Art of Nature
Western Shore of Lighthouse Park
I love hiking Lighthouse Park as does my son Nick. So that was our destination for the day.
Category
Coastal Views
2011
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It being Good Friday, my third son, Nick, had a day off when he could join me for an outdoor adventure. He doesn’t get many chances to go with me as he normally works the week-ends. So today was a rare opportunity for him to get out in to nature with me and he wasn’t going to miss it. I hadn’t originally planned to go out today but Nick was keen and so we picked an easy day hike to enjoy the sunshine in. The park being close by, we left a bit later than normal and we made our way to the trans-canada highway and on to West Vancouver. The drive went smoothly; we were both quite amazed at the changes to the highway that have taken place in preparation for the new bridge.
Once off the highway we stopped in at the small mall near the park and picked up some food for the hike, then it was down the windy road to the park. As it was late morning the park was already quite busy and finding a parking spot for our truck was not simple, eventually we found a wide section of the lane and parked along the roadway. We weren’t even out of the truck before another pulled in behind us. By the time we returned later in the day there was a line of parked vehicles including in front of us!
So the parking was settled, we started off for the bluffs, I really enjoy the western coast of the park so our first stop was Juniper point. When we arrived there was just one young couple enjoying their time on the rock, they looked like they would rather have been alone, but it wasn’t long before the crowds started arriving. Nick and I stayed for a while enjoying the view and sun, I got a number of photos of the sights. When it was time to head back to the trail and on to the next point Nick had an interesting idea. He wanted to try and make our way to the next point by clamoring over the cliff faces! I wasn’t sure we could make it as the rocks were quite steep and rugged but I was willing to give it a try.
So we found a little used path off of Juniper Point and made our way down to the next minor point along the shore. We had to try a few alternate routes before we could get to the water and a good view but we did find a path and had a lovely view back towards Juniper Point. The rock face had signs of other hikers but it definitely wasn’t a well-travelled area. After enjoying our success for a period we started on to the next point. This one required us to move further in-land to where we could find a passable crevice to scale that led to the top of the next rock face. We made it with only minor back-tracking and soon we were enjoying another great view of the water and the other points.
We were able to continue along the shore line in this way and soon came to a spot where we made our way down to the beach - the tide had gone out a decent amount by this time and we had an easy route the remainder of the way to Shore Pine Point (Jack Pine Point). Along the way we spotted a collection of various starfish that I was able to get a few photos of. They do come in an interesting array of colours. Once at Shore Line Point, Nick made his way to the very point and felt quite good about his achievement. But it was still early and we had time to continue on south to the next few points. This area was more commonly traversed but it still was fun to pick a path through the cliff.
The final view point is almost as high as Juniper and has some steep cliffs dropping to the sound. It is a great place to soak in the sun and sounds of the ocean and a number of pairs were doing just that when I arrived. After gathering a few more photos, we left the cliff face and made our way onto the interior trails. We selected the Song Bird trail to take us back to the truck. This was one I hadn’t been on before so it was another new experience for me in the park. Eventually it joined up with the main interior road and we continued along it to the parking area.
So though I have been hiking the park many times over the years, today we found two new adventures that brought renewed interest to our day. The bluff scramble was fun and very scenic. The trail proved restful and quiet. Once back to the truck we considered the tight fit that we were now in with a car behind us and a truck in front and with a third car impatiently waiting for our spot! That was too much for Nick so I took over the drive and got us on to the road and soon we were back on the highway heading for home. It was a lovely sunny day and we both had a fun time in the old standby park!