Best Places to Visit in B.C. - Steveston

Steveston is a beautiful historic fishing village

which has long been a salmon

canning centre in British Columbia.

Steveston was the world's busiest
deep water fishing port
at the end of the 20th century, dotted
with 15 fish canneries, hotels, saloons,
and gambling dens.

The Gulf of Georgia Cannery is now a

preserved canning facility that can 

be toured to gain a better understanding

of our Pacific Northwest fishing history.

The Britannia Heritage Shipyard is

another must see site in Steveston.

The boardwalks here reflect the voices of
Japanese, Chinese, Native Indian,
and European immigrants, as well
as sailors from around the world.
 

As you slowly wander through the sights 

and sounds of Steveston

you can hear
the cries of seagulls, eagles,
and hushed echoes of the past.
Or was I only imaging the past
cries of fishermen who loved the
sea and make their homes along
her shores? 

Squamish River, BC, Canada

Anytime you need to bond with Mother Nature
and see some pretty amazing sights to boot,
the Squamish River in British Columbia,
Canada can offer you all that and more.
This is where bald eagles by the dozens
come to feed on salmon that spawn up the
rivers during the fall and winter.
Brackendale Eagles Provincial Park lies
along the river, and is a perfect place to
spend time just watching the whole scene
unfold before you.
Besides bald eagles, there are several
other species of bird that visit this area.
The day I was there, 2 coyotes
chased off several eagles and seagulls snacking
on a salmon, and soon made sushi out of it for their own lunch. They were
sleek and fat, and a joy to watch in their own habitat
doing what coyotes do.
I come away from areas like this totally renewed
in my faith that nature can take care of itself, if we
humans let it. To be privileged to glimpse
even a few minutes or hours of this
spectacular place is an honor.
And when the sun pokes through the
clouds and lets you see the first dusting of snow
on the coastal mountains, it is nothing
short of breathtaking.

DeBoville Slough, Port Coquitlam, B.C.

I needed to get out and bond with Mother Nature today. Too much indoor time can drive you a bit stir crazy after a few days. But that's life in Vancouver, you end up going out in the rain, or you don't go out at all.

I am still trying to connect all the various dikes and trails in the lower mainland of Vancouver together in my mind.

DeBoville Slough empties into the Pitt River. It's part of the Traboulay PoCo Trail, in Port Coquitlam, B.C. Its an urban treasure, with lots of wildlife and some pretty dynamic scenery.

I actually like the moody, rainy skies and the threat of rain. It adds some intrigue to photos that would otherwise be the usual scenery shots. I ended up going past the end of the trail and hiking partways up a mountain. With no one else around, I felt I have touched nature again, even in a small, urban way. But the threat of rain was real, so reluctantly, I returned to the land of eagles eyeing the salmon spawning in small streams, ospreys napping in hunchbacked trees, and ducks paddling their days away doing duck things.

I am renewed.

The Coquitlam River, B.C. Canada

The Coquitlam River is a tributary for the Fraser River in the lower mainland of British Columbia.

The whole Coquitlam watershed has a fascinating history. In the late 1800's, an engineering firm called Hermon & Burwell came up with an ingenious scheme to build a tunnel connecting Coquitlam Lake to Buntzen Lake, with the idea of producing hydoelectricity. Now, you have to remember, this is 1898, a wee bit more than 100 years since Ben Franklin was out flying his kite and had his hair raising experience. A pretty big leap of technology for the time.

And of course, far thinking people were jockeying to get control of such a huge undertaking and potential money making endeavor. Let's not even talk about how the different levels of government get all involved and twisted up in this.

The tunnel took 3 years to build (1902-1905) and is 2.4 miles in length. The men working on the tunnel were paid 25 cents per hour. Fishways were installed to help and preserve the spawning of the salmon that inhabited these waters. Unfortunately, like so many things in life, this never happened and the salmon spawn was devestated. Some have reported recently that the salmon have returned. 93 years later. That's what I love about Mother Nature. She just never gives in or gives up.

Today, Coquitlam River is a serene and peaceful waterway gurgling its way through forests and condo developments, with bears regularly patroling her pathways for juicy ripe blackberries. Crows and children spend time along the banks looking for river treasures, and the occaisonal cry of an eagle can be heard far in the distance, searching for the lost way of life that happens when urbanization meets nature.