Walk in the Woods

5

I love living in North Vancouver. Partly because I need to be near the ocean, partly because…. it’s not quite Vancouver … I am separated from Vancouver by the water and a large forest (Stanley Park). But also partly because I am so close to the real forest. North Vancouver is sandwiched between the mountains and the ocean and dissected by many, many rivers and creeks. I love that all I have to do is take pretty much any road in North Vancouver and head up…and eventually the road will end…and the bush will start…and invariably there is some kind of a trail that leads into the depths of the rainforest.

I think some people lose the respect for the forest (if they ever had it to begin with) that should inherently be in all of us. Yes, it is close to the city and is therefore accessible to all…. but it has it’s dangers too.

The North Shore Mountains are home to all sorts of creatures, from squirrels and skunks and raccoons and coyotes…to the more dangerous (not that I’m saying those four don’t come with their own dangers) many black bears and mountain lions that reside close by.

I needed to get out of the condo yesterday and took a drive out to Deep Cove. But it was crawling with tourists and I was seeking some solitude. As I drove back down Mount Seymour Parkway I realized I had never driven up Berkley beyond Belloc (where my Uncle used to live) and turned the corner on a whim.

I drove up and up and, what a shocker..eventually the road ended and there was not one…. but three trails to choose from. I wandered into the cool forest and was instantly enveloped by the kind of quiet one only encounters when they stuff earplugs in their earls. I could hear a Stellar’s Jay a ways off and eventually it flew out of range. There were no other birds in the area, or if they were they were having a siesta. There was no breeze, so not a rustle was heard in the tall cedars. I love cedar forests for the floor, it is dense and would put most sound recording rooms to shame with it’s ability to muffle any noise. Walking heavily produces a dull thud at best…. and silence usually.

I didn’t go very far as I only had my flip flops on. But it was enough to just stand in the shadow of the massive cedars and breathe in the peace.It felt like the forest was tired. The greens were dark and full, that late summer green that generally foretells of the impending fall just around the corner. The sunlight barely trickled through the tight canopy.

Eventually a jogger came through the woods and my solitude was broken, but the short peace had been a welcome reprieve, and enough to reassert the hold this place has on my being.