This month’s group walk was a land-based version of the salmon’s migration route: making our way upstream until encountering a dam, then downstream again (your task is to itemize the many ways in which our route was not like the salmon’s; to start you off: no spawning was observed while we took our snack break at Cleveland Dam).

There are lurkers in the back row of the starting selfie (above), which makes it difficult to obtain an accurate head-count. My recollection, though, is that we were twenty heads (and therefor forty feet, equally divided between lefts and rights), including one first-time guest walker, and an occasional Looper, visiting from Ontario. I must also mention that we were accompanied on this occasion by Brogan the Magnificent, our official guard dog, who behaved very properly throughout (NB: the author has no way of determining if he has spelled Brogan’s name correctly, since Brogan refused to show his papers when asked, claiming to have “left them in the car”. A further NB: to anticipate our resident pedants—who undoubtedly know who they are—I should point out that, if we are to include Brogan the Magnificent as one of us, then the above numbers would need to be revised to: twenty-one heads, and forty-four feet).

We started at the standard time of 10:30, at Hugo Ray Park in West Vancouver, just below the Capilano View Cemetery. As well as the traditional starting selfie (above), we posed for a Pride Day photo in a rainbow array of t-shirts courtesy of Angela and Dave, whose t-shirt collection is legendary.

The Loopers have walked most of this route before, in March of 2019, an outing which is better known to those who participated as Loopers on Ice. This time around, in accordance with the New Looper Directive that we walk in circles whenever possible, the original route was tweaked to form a loop of sorts.

In olden days one could follow the Capilano Pacific Trail all the way upstream from Park Royal to Cleveland Dam, but a slide on January 6th, 2021 took out a section of the trail just above the Upper Levels highway (there’s a detailed report on that slide, and on the status of the plans for trail repairs, here). Because of this slide, we were obliged to start our walk by detouring through the south-east section of the British Properties, rejoining the Capilano Pacific Trail at the end of Moyne Drive, near the western edge of the Capilano Suspension Bridge property. We were grateful for the protective fencing which surrounds that property, since it prevented rogue—and possibly rabid—tourists from escaping the confines of this World Class Tourist Attraction.

The Capilano Pacific Trail follows the west side of Capilano River uphill through dappled forest to Cleveland Dam, which we crossed to reach the east side of the river, exclaiming at the low level of the river. Snacks were consumed at a picnic table there, before our walk resumed, downhill through the salmon hatchery, passing by various bridges and viewpoints overlooking the river, eventually reaching Capilano Road, which we crossed at Eldon Road.

Walking through Edgemont Village, Carol started a run on homemade lemonade, a bargain at $1 per cup from a trio of junior entrepreneurs. From Edgemont we descended the stairs to Murdo Frazer Park, scenic home of the famous Shaw yule log (and site of a murder!). Just west of Murdo Frazer Park we crossed beneath the Upper Levels highway via the pedestrian tunnel to Pemberton Heights.

To close our loop we crossed Capilano Road to a staircase which led (through wasps! Two Loopers—and Brogan the Magnificent—were stung) to a path along the river bank. We crossed the river via the private bridge at Fullerton Ave, which serves several apartment towers on the West Vancouver side. Thanks to the kindness of the resident security guards, we were allowed to cross this sacred land to reach Keith Road, which we followed north, beneath the highway bridge, back to our starting point.

Afters were enjoyed at the Village Taphouse in Park Royal, and at Artigiano’s in Edgemont Village. From there we each dispersed to our various homes, casting off our secret identities as “Loopers” in order to evade our fans, and to better blend into the teeming masses.

Photo credits: Jon; Angela; Larrie; Adrienne; Maurice; Michael.