A Reunion Kicks off Our Stay in Manning
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| James, Dianne, Cathy and Doug |
The big guy in the photo is James. He and I have been friends for fifty years. Along with a couple of other Canucks from the Comox Valley (the centre of the known universe - if you aren't sure about that, follow the link and collapse the side panel 😉 ) we set off for the South Pacific in December of 1976. James and Kevin went home to Canada; Terry and I stayed in Australia.
The lady to the left of me is James' wife Cathy. They live in South Surrey, a quiet corner of greater Vancouver. Dianne and I had always planned to see the two of them before we set off for the return journey but it occurred to us that they might like to come and spend a few days with us in Manning Park. When we punted the idea to them we were over the moon to hear back immediately from each of them - independent of one another - that they would be delighted to do just that. We've seen the two of them on all our visits to Canada and they visited us in Tassie with their two kids about fourteen years ago. We hadn't seen them though since our last visit to The True North Strong and Free in 2012. We had visits to Canada planned for 2018 and, when that fell through thanks to some inattention and an imposing bollard, and another in 2020 that was scuttled by COVID. Needless to say we couldn't wait to finally reconnect this time around.
A Note About the Park
Officially E.C. Manning Provincial Park, but more colloquially Manning Park - or even just "Manning" - by all those who know and love the park, this is a very special place. It's a magnificent venue for outdoor recreation year round. Downhill and cross-country skiing in the colder months; hiking and mountain biking in the summer. The twitchers love it here, as do the wildflower enthusiasts. There's plenty of wildlife in the park, including rare species like Mountain Beaver, Wolverine and the Cascade Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel. Its western and eastern portals are 58 kilometres apart along the Crowsnest Highway and the park encompasses almost 84, 000 hectares, making it bigger than 24 countries scattered around the globe! It's the northern terminus for the Pacific Crest Trail, and contains beautiful lakes and lush forest amidst its towering peaks. It's a wonderful refuge for those wanting to escape the busyness of Vancouver and the summer heat of the Okanagan, being only about two and half hours drive from each of them. So that's my general rave about the park itself. I guess it's pretty clear what I think of the place.
An Evening Walk
James and Cathy arrived from Kelowna where they'd spent the weekend attending a wedding. They were both keen to get out amongst it when they arrived. James used to spend time here as a kid but I don't think Cathy had previously sampled the pleasures of Manning.
We wanted something short and close by so the Canyon Nature Trail seemed perfect. Only a bit over a kilometre and a half long, it starts just across the road from the lodge where we were staying and serves as a good introduction to the Similkameen River which is an important centrepiece of the park.
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| A sturdy bridge withstands the fluctuations in this swiftly flowing river |
It was a slow wander as we started to catch up on what's been going on for each of us over the past ten years. Between gasbagging and taking pictures it probably took us about ten minutes to cross the bridge ...
This is a moveable environment, especially with the amount of rainfall southern B.C. has experienced over the last six months or so and although we discovered that a number of bridges had been washed away in the park the trail was in excellent shape. There was a slight bit of erosion along one slope ...
There were ever-changing views of the river, in shade and sunlight as we travelled along the canyon ...
By the time we finished we all agreed that it was quite a nice way to start our visit to the park.
My Last Ride in Canada (😢)
I'm not sure that we will be making another trip to Canada, or even if we do whether we'll have bikes with us so I was pretty keen to have one last ride before we set off for Vancouver and the big bird that would take us across the Pacific. The forecast for the following morning was pretty good so I thought I could sneak in a ride before Dianne and I met Cathy in the morning for another walk. I thought it would be fun to ride west (well, nor'west really) to Allison Pass then back past the Lodge and eastwards alongside the Similkameen before returning to base. An early start meant that traffic on this busy highway was, as hoped, fairly light.
It was all about the riding although I was conscious of having something to share so when I spotted these roadside flowers I pulled over ...
... and likewise this scenic bend in the river ...
The water travels pretty swiftly in most places ...
It was gorgeous riding along beside this artery of nature especially with the sun flashing between the tree tops ...
The Lodge
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| Lodge entrance |
I was pretty chuffed with the start to the day and was looking forward to breakfast and then another outing with the other three, but before I talk about that I thought I'd share some images from Manning Park Lodge, which was built fifty years ago in 1972 and is part of the Manning Park Resort. Dianne and I have always admired the lodge when we've passed through and it and the adjacent cabins are the only place in the entire park where one can be accommodated unless you're travelling with a tent, camper or caravan.
There is a big fireplace in the lounge just inside the entrance, but what really sets the tone are all the great carvings. Here is better detailing of the two as you're coming in ...
... and a couple closer to the front door ...
... and finally two more inside the foyer ...
Something else that brought back great memories of a previous visit was this map on a wall by the reception desk ...
This picture is of the Gibson Pass ski area. The following day we'd walk past the base. Dianne and I haven't skied here but back in 1992 when we took a year off from work to come to Canada, we were joined by our friends Adrian and Mary. They came to Manning with us early in our trip to do some back country skiing and stayed on for a few days to ski at Gibson Pass while we went further west to do some back country touring in the Rockies.
For Dianne and I to be able to spend a few days here in the summer inside the lodge after a brief winter visit thirty years ago when we were camping in very cold conditions was just brilliant!
Lightning Lake
Before setting off for our day's walk we dropped into the Visitors Centre to get the good oil on various walks in the park. Because of the amount of late snow access to the higher elevation walks was still not possible and a late start with James and Cathy in full chill mode meant that a walk out past Lightning Lake and up a little higher sounded good. And it was.
The lake itself was gorgeous ...
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| Conditions were a little overcast early on |
Picnic shelters in the park tend to be built so that they are bear-resistant 😉 - oh, and of course to be able to carry a big snow load ...
James was keen to walk up hill a bit to see what we could see so we deviated from the original plan of just circling the lake and our route ended up looking like this ...
As it turned out we didn't get any expansive views but we walked through some more lovely forest in dappled shade ...
... but it was the views alongside the lake that really made the walk into quite a lovely excursion ...
Back at the start of the walk the Cascade Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels were out of their burrows and surveying the scene with curious eyes ...
By this time it was pretty warm and we all decided to go for a swim. It was surprisingly warm - both Cathy and I even dived in off the pontoon! - but not quite warm enough for anyone to spend a lot of time in the water.
The Three Falls Walk
A highlight of the short to medium length hikes was said to be the Three Falls Walk so we thought it would be a fitting way to spend our final day. Mostly flat with a bit of descent/ascent at the turnaround point, it was meant to have great views. As it turned out there was the added bonus of some nice flowers and more great forest to enjoy tramping through. Right at the start of the walk we were cautioned that there might be bears wandering around ...
Cathy and James had brought their dog Rosa - a Lagotto Romagnolo - with them on their trip. Full of fun and energy, she has a penchant for finding and carting around sticks, sometimes quite large ...
The first of the three fall you'll encounter along this walk is Shadow Falls, which I thought got its name because it is pretty much shaded throughout the day. It is located just past the parking lot for the ski field. I thought the falls must have got its name because it is in the shade throughout the day ...
... but in fact the falls drain a lake not far away called Shadow Lake. As we proceeded along the valley we started to see more flowers which were not numerous but quite beautiful in the isolation of the dry sides of the track ...
The second waterfall is Nepopekum Falls, and Rosa was very happy to pose for a photo with the water cascading in the background ...
After she'd trotted off to find another playmate I was able to take this little video that brings the cascading water more to life ...
There was quite a good lookout for the next waterfall so we posed for some photos ...
I'm not usually big on dogs roaming around the bush, especially if they aren't on a leash because more often than not they will go tearing after wildlife. It was different with Rosa: despite having an incredibly keen sense of smell (Lagottos are used as truffle dogs in Italy) she showed no interest in chasing after critters, even back at the start of our walk where there is a ground squirrel colony. No, sticks are Rosa's thing. I reckon that she picked up at least half a dozen sticks on our walk and carried each of them for at least a few hundred metres, often back and forth along the track as if she was showing them off to each of us in turn. A very quirky but absolutely gorgeous pooch.
Occasionally we'd pass a dead or dying tree covered in long, stringy moss that was quite pretty in its own right ...
Towards the end of the walk we came to a point where we were high above the river and there had been previously avalanches on both sides ...
At just this point the track had been closed because the slope ahead where the track descended to the river had become quite unstable, so we turned around and had some snacks at a point where there was good views across to Derek Falls, the last of the trio for which the walk is named ...
A Very Special Gem Hidden in the Forest
While we were staying in Manning we'd heard about a spot at the eastern end of the park called Rhododendron Flats and had decided to stop there on our drive back to Vancouver. This little ecosystem is tucked away in a place where the road flattens out briefly after a long descent about 30 kilometres west of the lodge.
It was a brilliant decision to pause as it afforded us the privilege of seeing something quite rare and very different from where we'd been exploring further east where it was drier. But above all it was very, very beautiful.
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| Douglas Firs surround and protect the rhododendrons |
Of over 600 naturally occurring rhododendron species spread around the world, only 27 varieties are found in North America. And the Pacific Rhododendron is one of the rarest of them all. This little pocket is at the extreme northern end of their range, with two other isolated populations on Vancouver Island. The rest are found across the border in Washington State.
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| Some of the bushes here have been measured at over 8 metres high |
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| Douglas Fir bark detail |
We were lucky to catch this natural garden at its peak, with lots of showy flowers throughout the site. It's only a tiny area, taking about 10 minutes to walk through which poses two questions: how did this minute and distinct phenomenon come to be in the first place, and how does it continue to survive?
Our Last Day
The few days spent in Manning did Dianne a world of good she slept well and starting to move much more freely which augured well for the journey home. But we had one more wonderful day to spend with our great friends on the southern fringes of Vancouver.
It was dry when we arrived at James and Cathy's place in South Surrey where we were staying the night before our flight the next day. Consequently, we made the decision to get the bikes packed up and into the car straight away, leaving the next morning free to spend with our hosts.
After a leisurely breakfast a walk on Crescent Beach with a loop through the adjacent community garden just below Cathy and James' house was the perfect finish to our trip. The location is brilliant both from a perspective of being insulated from the big city hubbub but also the ease of getting to the airport its proximity to the Tsawwassen Ferry terminal. And, because Vancouver effectively sits on what is the delta of the mighty Fraser River, there are great views across to the coast range to the north.
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| Crescent Beach location |
I think I'll just let these photos speak for themselves ...
... and here's another short video which perhaps gives a great sense of the relaxed pace of life down on the strand on the last day of June ...
Having the community garden just behind the beach is an absolute boon for locals who are lucky enough to have a plot of land to cultivate ...
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| Berries abound |
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| Lots of brassicas flourishing too |
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| Bees buzzing |
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| Sometimes it's the simple things that give the most pleasure |
A aesthetically building building houses machinery that controls gates to manage tidal flow into a lagoon behind the beach.
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Just the perfect way to pass the morning with friends before making our way to the airport before the long flight home to the Land Downunder! 😁😁😁
Spoiler Alert
In keeping with a pattern I started with our trip across Australia by bike, I intend to do a short review of the trip in a week or two, shining a light on special moments - good and bad - from this trip. Maybe. Depends on how many cold and wet days we've got over the next little while. So don't be surprised if another email pops up in your inbox.
Or not.
Cheers!
