West Coast Wonderlust : The Sea Wall Sights: Vancouver, B.C, Canada.

Today Aaron and I decided to get up early and spend our day off walking the entire 9 kilometers of the Stanley Park Sea Wall in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Aaron made some wonderful Irish Breakfast Tea with cinnamon for the both of us. This is my favourite tea to have on an early morning. We quickly packed our day bags and hopped in Aaron's Outlander and headed to Stanley Park.

Lionsgate Bridge

We headed West on Highway 1 and took the Lions Gate Bridge straight into the massive Stanely Park.

We parked right at the 0.5 km marker along the Sea Wall and the parking cost us 11$ for the day (Ouch). The air was still crisp in the shade, but the sun was shining bright with warmth. This was the first time I have ever walked the Sea Wall and Aaron has only ever done bits and pieces, so it was wonderful to be able to walk it all together. When we arrived the tide was exceptionally low, and it didn't take long for Aaron and I to ditch the nicely paved walk way for the rocky, mussel-covered beach running parallel with the Sea Wall above.

The bridge to Deadmans Island off limits to civilians

Due to the low tide we were actually able to walk under the fenced bridge leading to the naval reserve base located on Deadman's Island, which is closed to public.

Interesting Historical Side Note about Deadmans Island

Sourced From Google Images

Info Sourced from :http://theparanormal.ca/haunted_islands.html

Deadman's Island is located in the Vancouver Harbour in

British Columbia, Canada. Discovered in 1862 by John Morton, the island was the tree-burial ground of the indigenous Squamish. Morton discovered hundreds of red cedar boxes hanging from the top of the trees and one that had fallen down, broken with a skeleton inside. The island was considered a "dead ground" by the natives where bloody battles took place between rival tribes in which over 200 warriors were killed. Many women, children and elders who were hostages by the Southern Salish tribe were also slaughtered during the wars. Settlers continued to use the island as a cemetery and between 1888 and 1892 it became a quarantine site for victims of a smallpox epidemic and a burial ground for those who did not survive. In 1942, the federal government gave the island to the navy and a year later, it became and is still the site of the HMCS Discovery, a Royal Canadian Navy Reserve. With such a gruesome history, Deadman's Island is unsurprisingly considered very haunted with its first documented haunting dating back to 1909. - See more at: http://theparanormal.ca/haunted_islands.html#sthash.VBbxAoOl.dpuf

Sourced From Google Images

This is where we began our walk along the Sea Wall. Within the first 10 minutes we began seeing all sorts of amazing wildlife along the way, which was a theme that continued throughout our day.


Van SkyLine 9 O'Clock Gun, shot every night at 9pm. 12 pound naval cannon that was cast in Woolwich England 1816

At about the 1.5 km marker along Hallelujah Point, we found ourselves just below the 9 O'clock gun, which was once stolen by UBC Engineering students and held for ransom until a large donation was made to Children's Hospital in Vancouver. We contiuned are walk along the beach until stumbled upon a large chunk of terracotta covered in barnacles laying amongst the rocks.


37-67 year old piece of Terracotta

I had picked it up thinking how odd it was to see this in amongst the rocks, and by pure chance I had turned it over and saw some writing on it which said "The Port Haney Bric.... Made at Port Hanny BC....anada...co, inc." I decided to move some things around and put it in my bag.

When we got home hours later, Aaron and I looked it up and found out this particular chunk of terracotta is from the formally named Port Haney Brick and Tile Company located in Maple Ridge, which was established in 1907. After further research we found out that the company changed its name to Haney Brick and Tile Company in 1947 and closed down in 1977 putting this piece of terracotta between 37 and 67 years old. How it traveled about 62 km to Hallelujah Point in Vancouver, BC nobody knows. As of now, it's sitting in our windowsill overlooking Indian Arm. For more information you can check out this website:

http://www.mapleridgemuseum.org/08_community/04/08_04_02_08_phbrick_tile.html

We continued walking along the beach below the sea wall for about another 2 km and hopped back onto the sea wall for a while. Both Aaron and I were surprised at how few people walked along the beach and how the majority of sea wall goers stuck to the path, must be a city thing......

We had come up on the 4.5 km mark of our 9 km walk just before Lions Gate Bridge and we stopped to look out across the Burrard Inlet, just before Prospect Point. Looking towards North Vancouver/ West Vancouver we saw three river otters playing around and fishing for crabs. Aaron and I stopped and watched these incredibly goofy creatures for at least ten minuets and we were also able to get some awesome photos. Both Aaron and I have rarely seen river otters in their natural environment. I have only seen a few in Shuswap Lake near docks, but it was very fascinating to see a group of them playing and snacking.

The River Otters

Hunting Crab

After watching them hunt and play in the water they eventually disappeared under the ocean. Aaron and I contiuned walking, passing under Lions Gate and the sound of cars and trucks filled our ears.

We stopped at the 6 km marker at Siwash Rock to eat our lunch. By this time our feet were starting to get a bit sore so we decided to stop and rest. Aaron packed some apples, cinnamon buns and Cliff Bars for us to eat. After our break, we continued walking all the way past Third Beach to Second Beach and cut across to Lost Lagoon.

Siwash Rock

Both Aaron and I loved Lost Lagoon. It was filled with wild life! Within a short half kilometer we saw a couple dozen Canada geese and their adorable fluffy goslings, lots of mallard ducks, turtles, a swan, squirrels and a very bold raccoon who showed very little concern for our presence, much like the other animals whose paths we crossed. Shortly after Lost Lagoon we came full circle and were back to the beginning of the sea wall. After 9 km of sun and sea wall, Aaron and I were slightly (turned out to be more than just slightly) sun burnt and were ready to head home. Over all we had an amazing day along the Sea Wall and will soon be heading back to run the whole 9 km.

-K