After taking a walk along the seawall earlier in the week at Stanley Park, there was no question I wanted to get back and see more of the place. About a block or so away from the park itself, just off the main street, is a series of bike shops, so I rented a mountain bike for a few hours. I took a loop around the entire 1,000-acre park on the seawall, then headed into the thick of the forest and rode those paths for a while...
When I'd climbed up to the highest portion of the park, just before reaching Prospect Point, I finally saw them... I'd been keeping my eyes peeled for bald eagles and sure enough, there they were. Absolutely unbelievable.
I came around a bend in the path, riding solo through an area in which the trees had been thinned out, and there atop one of the tallest tops were a pair of bald eagles in all their glory. They were pretty high up, making me wish I had one of those super-powerful camera lenses, so I had to make do with my point-and-shoot. Just incredible though. I went to a couple different spots nearby to keep watching them for a good long while, even listening to their call echo across the forest. Just a terrific way to start a morning. And to think the spotting of our national symbol came just hours after the U.S. hockey team's preliminary-round win over Canada...
Lots to see and do around the park -- this was a statue of a dragon along the seawall, with the Lions Gate Bridge in the distance.
The lady on the rock, a sculpture created for the park by a local artist to symbolize Vancouver's reliance on the water. In the distance you can see the ports that are a significant part of the city's industry, with $43 billion traded annually in goods from grains to potash.
A shot from under the Lion's Gate Bridge, which is the way the buses head out of Vancouver on their way up to some of the other Olympic venues at Cypress Mountain or Whistler..
A shot of Siwash Rock along the seawall.
One of the beaches at Stanley Park. Pretty, but not a beach you'd lounge on and catch rays,
I stopped by the Lawn Bowling club near the far entrance to the park, unfortunately they weren't open..
Either was the pitch-and-putt, which had an 11 am opening on this morning thanks to a frost delay.. While the sun was shining, patches covered by the treetops would still be frosty.
As I rode up into the forest itself, I came across sights like the Hollow Tree..
And found another smaller bridge over Georgia Street that had some silent stone lions that made a good foreground for the Lions Gate Bridge.
On the drives up to Whistler, I kept scanning the treetops for bald eagles, to no avail. So was an incredible sight when I rounded a corner on the bike trail and spied a white dot at the top of one of the tallest trees in the area. As I got closer, I saw that sure enough, there was not only one eagle, there were two up there... They were pretty far away, as you can see from the photo above -- barely visible on the treetop.
Made it all the way to Prospect Point, which overlooks English Bay as it comes into the Barrard Inlet. Very impressive views..
In all, I spent about 2 1/2 hours riding around the park -- made for a great start to a slow day at the Games and was nice to get out for some exercise after bouncing from venue to venue and being tied to the computer.
When I'd climbed up to the highest portion of the park, just before reaching Prospect Point, I finally saw them... I'd been keeping my eyes peeled for bald eagles and sure enough, there they were. Absolutely unbelievable.
I came around a bend in the path, riding solo through an area in which the trees had been thinned out, and there atop one of the tallest tops were a pair of bald eagles in all their glory. They were pretty high up, making me wish I had one of those super-powerful camera lenses, so I had to make do with my point-and-shoot. Just incredible though. I went to a couple different spots nearby to keep watching them for a good long while, even listening to their call echo across the forest. Just a terrific way to start a morning. And to think the spotting of our national symbol came just hours after the U.S. hockey team's preliminary-round win over Canada...
Lots to see and do around the park -- this was a statue of a dragon along the seawall, with the Lions Gate Bridge in the distance.
The lady on the rock, a sculpture created for the park by a local artist to symbolize Vancouver's reliance on the water. In the distance you can see the ports that are a significant part of the city's industry, with $43 billion traded annually in goods from grains to potash.
A shot from under the Lion's Gate Bridge, which is the way the buses head out of Vancouver on their way up to some of the other Olympic venues at Cypress Mountain or Whistler..
A shot of Siwash Rock along the seawall.
One of the beaches at Stanley Park. Pretty, but not a beach you'd lounge on and catch rays,
I stopped by the Lawn Bowling club near the far entrance to the park, unfortunately they weren't open..
As I rode up into the forest itself, I came across sights like the Hollow Tree..
And found another smaller bridge over Georgia Street that had some silent stone lions that made a good foreground for the Lions Gate Bridge.
Made it all the way to Prospect Point, which overlooks English Bay as it comes into the Barrard Inlet. Very impressive views..
1 comment:
Great photos and great stories. We're sharing them with friends in Carmel Valley. Keep 'em coming! Mimi&Poppi
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