Fraser Valley: When the rain lets up a bit you see stuff

15 September through 15 November 2014   Aldergrove Regional Park

During this time we stayed at Eagle Wind RV Resort just north of Aldergrove in the Fraser Valley. Neat modern and small. No place to walk or hike nearby and way too close to the TransCanada (Highway 1). Since we were in the official rainy fall season we eschewed the mountains and looked for nearby places to get in our fill of daily walk.

Aldergrove Regional Park, just 15 minutes away, is beautifully maintained. It includes a combination of walking trails through mature forest and riding trails through both forest and meadows. Our only ponies are under Smiley’s hood so we stuck to the forest trail. Kept the slightly used oats off our shoes. A 3.5k round trip with enough ups and downs to wake up our hearts – twice around paid off our daily snack debt. Here’s a little tour on a sunny day (there is a monthly allotment of 3) in early October:

Time for a touch-up - somebody's roots are showing

Lush rain forest growth

Leaf size BC style

Seemed a lot steeper than it looks

We did see larger waterfalls in BC

 

Pepin Creek

29 October to 2 November 2014   Coho Salmon Run

Did not expect to see salmon struggling up Pepin Creek in Aldergrove Regional Park. Heard splashing beside the trail and found these hardy souls making their way up what is mostly 1-3’ deep water. After up to 5 years in the Pacific this seems like a lot of work for what turns out to be a first and last date. Glad we don’t have to try this hard – although this method for humans might fix the overpopulation problem.

Getting good pictures of these fish is a challenge. Everything on the way to the water is mossy, wet, muddy and slippery. And they are a bit coy – always moving and underwater so clear sharp Coho photos are elusive. Sure, you could take better pictures than the stuff below. Please do – these are the product of 3 sessions and about 100 snaps so I quit. And Norene was starting to accuse me of obsessing. Not so – well maybe a little bit. If I just had some hip waders…

Yes that swirl is a fish

No, I did not draw this with a crayon

Bright red male (a least part of him)

The pale female on the right has 4 male suitors

One of the guys is going in...

26 October 2014  The Bates Motel

Even the "concrete" stairway is plywood

Norene mentioned this looked a lot like the place in the Fox(?) series. Explains the sign. We spoke with the woman in charge of the set and she confirmed it is the place and that they were just about to start filming a new season. Both structures are mostly empty boxes except for the filming sets. Did not meet any stars. Wouldn’t know them if we had since we’ve never seen the series.