Capturing the Art of Nature
Redwood Park
A visit to the regions less travelled
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2019
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I have lived near the park for over 35 years and when the kids were younger we would visit it on a regular basis. But even then we stayed on the upper trails and in the grassy play area. The park is known for its imported selection of trees many of come from distant places and are not local to the region. Also, the park boasts a large treehouse that when the kids were young one could climb up to and sit in. Today the treehouse is locked up. Later we did cycling through some of the trails but never did I venture into the more southern section and the lower trails.
Today Nick wanted to take advantage of the long week-end and go hiking through something nearby. It was still quite cold out with snow on the ground so we didn’t want to be out long and thought that the park would be a nice walk after a quick lunch. So we packed up a few items and left for the White Spot Restaurant. Though it was only 11:30 there was already a long waiting line so we decided to do our walk and return after the crowds. We made quick time to the park only to find the main road in gated off! People were parked along the road near the trail entrance where we previously cycled in. So we found a spot to park and made our way to the trail.
The trail was snow covered but it was well trodden and easy to walk. We encountered numerous groups meandering along the trail taking photos like us of various items, others were jogging along followed closely by their dogs. We found a number of items of interest to shoot as we made our way south to the main area and the treehouse. We followed a main trail but it missed the treehouse to open up on a secondary field area. It had interesting sights and trees so we followed along the footsteps in this area gathering images as we made our way to the western edge of the park. The trail turned back across the far edge of the clearing and entered the trees once again as it descended towards the south. We were onto trails I had never travelled before and it was interesting to see this area of the park. The trails were less travelled but still packed enough to show use.
We continued down and south through the open forest until we came by a further fence just up from 16th avenue. We decided not to bother going all the way down to the road and instead followed the trail back up the eastern side. Here we found some interesting trees to look at and even a view of the Hazelmere Valley below us. This time of year with the trees bare it isn’t too enclosed but I can imagine that in summer this area would actually be quite secluded and pleasant. Continuing on, we eventually came to the bottom part of the grassy play area and there we walked up the slope to the main trail. We stopped by the giant redwood tree that makes its home in the play area before continuing along the trail to the treehouse. As expected it was locked up.
We continued past and chose to head along a minor trail more to the west of how we entered. This one continued to an open field. I’m not sure if it was park land or a neighbour’s field. We followed along some foot tracks and started back towards the car and road. We got most of the way but the fence along the road showed no openings so we walked back towards the main trail in the park proper and then followed it back out to the road. It was a pleasant walk in the snowy field but we were definitely starting to get chilled so it was a good time to head for the car and go for lunch.
We made for the White Spot restaurant again but this time the lineup was even longer! So we decided to try a new place that we hadn’t been to before and wanted to give it a try. We drove to the C-Lovers restaurant on King George and there we found a mostly full room but there were a couple of tables open. We chose a spot and soon we were eating some nice seafood. Once full and warmed up we paid the bill and made for home. So in the end we explored some new trails and a new eatery, a good afternoon of adventure and we were ready to settle back in at home for the evening.