Kanaka Creek Park

This week Ralph and I decided we would do a photo session rather than operate our radios. Looking over the options we decided to go to Kanaka Creek Park where there’s some lovely waterfalls to enjoy. So, as usual, Ralph arrived at my place about 10:45 and we loaded up and set out for the coffee shop and then the park. It was about a 45-minute drive to the park. It was a lovely day; traffic was light and we made good time and soon we were pulling into the parking lot near the waterfalls. The area had a large sports field and a kids play area and around the play area a group of children were eating their lunch and later they would be walking the same path that we did.

Once parked, we got our lunches and set out for a bench across the field and there we sat down and enjoyed a quick meal before we set out for the walk. It was a bit hot in the sun so we left the bench and moved into the shade to finish our lunches. Once fed, we packed up, grabbed our cameras and started out on the trail. The initial part of the trail follows alongside the field and then drops down towards the first of two forks of Kanaka Creek. When we got to the first, we noticed that the views were pretty but they were quite obscured by overgrowth and the fences prevented you from getting to where the view was actually the best for looking at the waterfalls. It wasn’t actually a great spot for photography but it was a very pretty spot just to enjoy.

On the map we saw that there was a nice loop trail that followed along both sides of the creek which traveled upstream from where we were. We started off on the loop. It had some elevation gains and drops as it made its way along upstream, it was a pleasant walk and the trail well improved.  At the far end there was a bridge that crosses back over Kanaka Creek and at that point one can get down to the creek itself and walk along the rocks and the slowly moving current.

This time of year, the water is moving quite slowly but I can imagine in May and June it would be a pretty swift flowing creek and the waterfalls would probably be quite spectacular. But for today it was just meandering among the rocks. I took time to walk the creek bed, jumping across the little ponds and slow-moving water, grabbing a few pictures as I came across them. While we were there a lady with her dog came by. The dog was enjoying the water, swimming and keeping cool.

Having finished taking pictures along the bed, we crossed over the creek on the bridge and continued our way heading back towards the car. It eventually comes to the north fork of Kanaka Creek and there we had some more lovely views of the creek bed and little rapids. There were a few trails down and so we made our way down to the water again. He I was able to take some more photos. It was another lovely scenic spot to enjoy and gather some photos.

 We continued along the trail and soon we reached the area below the parking lot which we could see from the lot. The loop was almost done. We both enjoyed the time out there a great deal - enjoying the water, the views, the fresh air. It was well shaded and for a hot day it was quite pleasant on the trail. The loop was a nice length and a great resource for walking dogs and enjoying some scenery.  

Soon we arrived back to a trail fork where we met the trail that we came in on. We turned up that short leg and soon were back to the car. Once rested a little bit, we set out for our favorite Starbucks at 240th and Dewdney Trunk Road. There we grabbed a cool drink for the drive home. The drive home went smoothly and before long we were back at home a bit after 3:00 PM.

It had been a lovely day out and we both enjoyed taking time to do photography rather than take our radios. The spot we walked actually is on the Pota list so we could have used our radios there but I’m glad we took time to do photography instead and next week perhaps we’ll do some radio work again.