Cernek.org Blog

We are off to Capilano today to walk across the suspension bridge. Wendy has found a free shuttle ride; so we are meeting in front of the Blue Horizon Hotel on Robson. The shuttle will drop us off at the entrance and bring us back when we are finished, all for free.  What a smokin’ deal!

Capilano Bridge all began back in 1889. The following excerpt from the www.capbridge.com web site tells the beginning: “In 1888, George Grant Mackay, a Scottish civil engineer and land developer, arrived in the young city of Vancouver in Canada. Mackay purchased 6,000 acres of dense forest on either side of Capilano River and built a cabin on the very edge of the canyon wall. The bridge, and Mackay’s cabin, became a popular destination for adventurous friends, dubbed Capilano Tramps. After his death, the hemp rope bridge was replaced by a wire cable bridge in 1903.”

For more history on the bridge, click on Capilano Bridge web link.

The First Nations were invited to place their totem poles or “story poles” in the park in 1935. Today we have a member of one of the First Nations to tell us how to look at a totem pole.

The bridge is pretty amazing. The people who work here keep making an announcement to not jump up and down or cause the bridge to swing. Some of the folks on the bridge must not speak English! There are those who are definitely attempting to get this thing swinging!

There are fun things to do on the other side where we are headed. The walk in the trees is definitely on the agenda. We are lucky enough to get our own private tour.

We have seen these in forests all summer.

Those clever raccoons.

That’s not me holding that slug. Our guide was right in there to pick up this guy so we could see it up close.

Even though this picture turned out a bit out of focus, I still love that face. He was all squinched up in the photo above, but as he became more relaxed, he came out to see us.

Those are coins on this fallen log. The log has been left to become a nurse log in time. However, people have taken to tossing coins on the log and presumably making a wish. ??? Do these wishes come true? The park would prefer these folks not throw the coins as they will have an effect of the natural ways of nature.

I am as tall as a 13-year-old red cedar.

Wendy is as tall as a twelve-year-old red cedar. The red cedar is known as the tree of life among the First Nation Peoples. It is used for everything from totem poles to baby diapers. Yep. Baby diapers. Apparently the inner layer of the bark can be made to be very soft and supple.

This walkway is hanging out over the canyon. In the middle is the glass panel that allows one to look straight down. That’s a bit spooky!

Looking closely at the rock below the dripping water, it is possible to see what water will do to rock over time.

It has been a very fun morning. It is now time to head back to the city on our free shuttle bus.

Once back on Robson, we start walking in search of a place to have lunch. We happen to stumble on a huge market with wonderful things already prepared and seating for us to sit and eat those wonderful things. After we have each found what is interesting to us, we meet at the table. What a fun, interesting place for lunch. Offering an excellent selection of foods, this establishment is very affordable. The company is certainly pleasant as well.

This has been a great four days of sharing great adventures with good people. It has also been a tiring four days. Tomorrow we are taking the day off to get chores done around the RV and leave Wendy and George to enjoy their time together without having us tag along. Stay tuned. We will be back at it on Friday! Life is good!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 14th, 2011 at 19:28 and is filed under North by Northwest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.