Camping Adventures

 Hullo! We have finally arrived after our epic road trip! I'll let you guess where we are... And we are camping...

In a trailer! That is much more civilized than a tent... this bear is moving up in the world.

And we have a good supply of firewood...

Cause despite all of the fire bans in the rest of the province, this forest district has no campfire bans!

We went for a nearby hike and found Sande the Rock Snake!!!

Let's check it out! How long can a rock snake be??

It starts here... and goes...

And goes...

And goes!!!

OMG!

It's still going!

And... we finally found the end of it! Whew... thought it was going to go on forever.

Now we can go for our hike.

We walked through the forest...

And relaxed by the river.

And then came here...

To the Sandy Point... there are a lot of things named Sandy (or Sande) here!

There are a lot of cool rocks here as well...

We found a cool carved bench. One side has a forest gnome(?) and the other side has a little stack of chanterelle mushrooms. Cool!

After stretching out our legs... we went for another hike (I know... 2 hikes in one day!!). This is a creek and...

The salmon are spawning!!!!

How cool is that!

We think it is pretty cool...

And it is cool... more salmon for the future.

We came across this cluster of trees, all growing together in some sort of harmony - a hemlock, cedar and spruce... wish humans could do the same.

It's quite lovely on this trail.

And we took a pic with the mega spruce...

And then ended up at the lake! I mean... there are other lakes around here... but everyone just calls this "The Lake"...

And yes... there are dead salmon at the lake as well...

So we won't get our toes or wing-tips wet (did you notice Blueberry has like... zero feet??).

And enjoy the view...

Which is really quite lovely.

Then we came back to camp...

And had some snacks.

And... of course...

Made a campfire!!! Yay!!!

This little bear has bee campfire deprived this summer (2025).

This little squirrel came by but it was interested in smoked salmon...

And then we crashed in our bunk...

And dreamed of salmon and campfires... and long rock snakes!

Holding Back the Water... The Cleveland Dam (Part 1)

 Hullo! Over the summer I went to Vancouver and we went on a little adventure to the Cleveland Dam! It's on the same road that goes past the Capilano Suspension Bridge and goes up to Grouse Mountain.

Why here you ask? Well.... we were going to go to Grouse Mountain and take the gondola up with Auntie Pam who has a Vancouver Tourism Pass (get in for freeeee!!) but it was only good from 5 pm to 9 pm and... it was 9 am. So... we were not paying $90/person (plus a bear!)...

Same with Capilano... so... we are here! Cause.... it's free!!!

You can see the gondola over there on the mountain.

Well, phooie on them... this little bear can have an exciting adventure anywhere!

And it could get super exciting if we ever hear a siren. There is a long (and sad) story behind this sign... will tell you later.

Sooo... note to self... if you hear something that sounds beary strange (0.50 mark)... run up slope fast!

Alright... enough safety talk!! Let's go!

This is Capilano Lake (or Reservoir). It is what is behind the dam and it is off limits to people (and little bears). It serves as one of the three reservoirs for Metro Vancouver. It's looking pretty full right now!

There's a tiny hole in the chainlink fence along the dam where you can get a good photo!

That's one of the sirens up there...

The Cleveland Dam was finished in 1954 and is named after engineer Ernest Albert Cleveland.

There's a gauge here on the dam... they measure distances, so here... between two blocks...

And down here, on the down slope side... oooohhhhh...

That is a lonnnngggg way down!!!!

The dam is 299 feet high... wow.

This is an impressive engineering feat!!!

That's the Capilano River down there... and this narrowing is called the Capilano Canyon...

In case we forget... these signs are everywhere...

We could hike for a long time here! But we are just going to do a small loop!

Are you ready!? Let's go!

Oh, and the 1:30 pm sticker on me... that's from my Britannia Mines adventure!

Oh look... this part of the trail is part of the Trans Canada Trail! Cool....

We are going down... and down... and down... which means later... we will need to go up... and up... and up... sigh...

To Be Continued