Capturing the Art of Nature
Gary Point
Exploring Gary Point and the salt marsh of the Fraser River.
Category
Coastal Views
2006
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It was a pleasant day to be out exploring the back country and finding new sights but the morning got away from us and we soon realized that it was too late to be starting for the hills. So I checked over the map and noticed a nice point at the south-western tip of Richmond where the south arm of the Fraser emptied into the strait. I had never been to Gary point so we thought we would give it a try.
We arrived amidst the encroaching heat of the day and we could see that the park was a popular place which was starting to fill up with others. So we headed for the shore line and looked around. The first two pictures capture the Fraser River looking east toward Steveston then west towards the mud banks along Georgia Strait. It was an interesting view of the river, and as the tide was out, much of the mud flats were visible. We came across a sheltered and dredged out mooring area where this building on stilts was found. I liked to view of this building being suspended over the water.
We then headed out into the salt flats directly hoping to get a ways out. We found a small trail through the marsh grasses which helped us get some distance out. The ground was very soggy and was traversed with numerous small flowing ditch sized streams. Even though it was August and hot the area was quite wet. The variety of the grasses was surprising as was the density of it. The path was certainly appreciated, without it the going would have been much slower and the likelihood of getting soaked feet almost a certainty.
We weren’t able to get much further west than the trail in Gary Point Park proper due to a small channel. We could have crossed over to the other side by back-tracking but the ground was just too soggy to travel with the hiking boots we had on. So we enjoyed the view of the channel through the marsh for a while and turned back.
We went back to Gary Point and saw the coast guard hovercraft come ashore so the guys could get some refreshments and the local concession stand. My final shots were taken in a small Japanese garden where I found some manicured trees to be of particular interest.