A walk almost around Stanley Park at Vancouver
Tuesday, July 27th, our second full day in Vancouver, was a recovery day for Cathy. I stayed with her until early afternoon, then went on an 11-km walk to see a part of Stanley Park I’d never seen in the 40 years I lived in the Vancouver area. Most of the 28 photos in this post, which is post #1,333 since I started 15 years ago, are from the walk.
By 06:30 we had the curtains opened and our 30 feet of windows showed another gorgeous day starting.
I took quite a few photos of St. Paul’s Hospital on this trip, as our room I took quite a few photos of St. Paul’s Hospital, as our room offered some excellent angles on it. At 07:35 the main (and oldest, I think) block was nicely lit up – I think this is from the 1914 expansion.
The hospital’s Teck Emergency Centre is a busy place.
A new St. Paul’s Hospital is being built about a mile away, at a cost of $2.174 billion – see details here.
At 1:40 I headed out of my walk. What I thought was a Rolls Royce was parked in our hotel courtyard. We had a Rolls in the Yukon 50-odd years ago (owned by miner Al Kulan of Faro) but I don’t think there is one anymore. This isn’t a Rolls, though, it’s a Bentley, about a 1990. When we arrived there was a much newer Bentley convertible there.
In 15 minutes I was walking along Sunset Beach on English Bay at the mouth of False Creek.
All the beaches I walked along were pretty quiet on this spectacular day – this is English Bay Beach. The temperature was about 26°C/79°F.
“A-maze-ing Laughter” is a 2009 bronze sculpture by Yue Minjun, located in Morton Park on Beach Avenue. The characters were modelled after the artist’s own face.
Much of the shore of English Bay is not recreation-friendly.
There are many memorial benches along the beach trail, and some of the plaques, like this one, are wonderful. “Edward Desmond Allen. You always came back to this place, the place that gave you the most peace and joy. Welcome back.”
The Second Beach Pool, at 2:50.
There are a few interpretive panels. “Survivors Along the Shore” describes the intertidal animals living between low and high tides lines. Low tide this afternoon, at 3:28, was very low, at 4.3 feet.
Although most of my photos from this walk show few people, crowds of people, especially people on bikes, came in waves. At one point about 40 bikes came to a stop when one person stopped on the path. Some went around her, on the walking path, but most waited patiently and politely. Because Canada? 🙂
“Vancouver has the world’s longest uninterrupted waterfront path. The 28 km Seaside Greenway is an uninterrupted pathway, including the Stanley Park Seawall, that extends from the Vancouver Convention Centre to Spanish Banks Park. Perfect for a walk, cycle, or jog, it is the most popular recreational spot in the city.”
Third Beach is one of the two largest beaches (English Bay Beach is the other).
At 3:20 I was in new territory – in the 40 years I lived in the Vancouver area, I had never seen this part of Stanley Park. The gates close the seawall paths in the event of rockfall danger from the impressive cliffs ahead.
“Construction of the Seawall began in Stanley Park in 1917. Much of its incremental progress was overseen by Park Board master stone mason James Cunningham from the late 1920s until his retirement 35 years later. A plaque commemorating Cunningham’s work can be seen in the rock face above the Seawall at Siwash Rock.” (The Seawall in Vancouver)
Finally, I saw Siwash Rock, one of Vancouver’s icons. A very old plaque there says “Indian legend tells us that this 50 foot high pinnacle or rock stands as an imperishable monument to ‘Skalsh the Unselfish,’ who was turned into stone by ‘Q’uas the Transformer’ as a reward for his unselfishness.”
During winter storms, this part of the Seawall really takes a beating.
This interpretive panel describes the Coast Salish stone fish traps and rock-free canoe pathway on the beach below.
I found this view of the Lions Gate Bridge to be quite exciting.
This gull was keeping a close eye on me in case I tried to steal his little starfish!
By 3:45 I was walking along very busy Vancouver Harbour, and traffic on the paths increased greatly as well.
This little beach looked like a wonderful place for its sole human occupant to read and perhaps have a chat with the Canada geese.
Although I had hoped to complete a circumnavigation of Stanley Park, I was getting tired and took a shortcut at Lumberman’s Arch, missing about 2 km of the eastern point of the park. At 4:20 I was back in the city, at Coal Harbour.
I think this is one of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club (RVYC) clubhouses, but Google hasn’t been any help in confirming that. I expect it’s a Heritage Building, probably dating to the ’30s.
Rowers can almost always be seen on nice days.
I had phoned Cathy about 4:00 and she took a taxi to meet me at Cardero’s for an excellent seafood dinner with a table overlooking the harbour. That was the end of our Vancouver activities – on Wednesday afternoon we flew home.
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Some very lovely long harbor and mountain views there. The last photo…was surprised you did not comment on the large seaplane base, but maybe you did on another post from a prior trip. I had read about that terminal somewhere… nothing like a big plane on floats… a twin Otter perhaps in that view?
We hope you enjoyed your stay with us!
We very much did – it was perfect for our needs.
Murray
Always enjoy your photos and comments. Please always send.
Thanks, Sharon – you and I will get out for a walk some day.