This morning seventeen of us met at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal and caught the 10:15am sailing to Snug Cove on Bowen Island.  As we departed we were treated to views of clearing skies and fresh snow on the North Shore mountains – the first of the season.

Upon disembarking we made our way to the library for the starting selfie.  This required two attempts, the first one in the gazebo proving to be two dark.  After a successful retake the group head up Killarney Creek into Crippen Regional Park. 

The park has an interesting history.  The land was bought in the 1960’s by a developer with a dubious past, financed by high interest mortgages.  His intent was to develop several thousand housing lots and other facilities.  In 1969 the provincial government changed the rules to disallow rural lots of less than 10 acres.  This foiled the developer’s plans.  With his financial backers becoming alarmed, he decided to turn to logging instead.  As might be expected, this caused much local consternation and ultimately confrontation.  In the end an agreement was reached in which the province and the GVRD bought the land and made it a regional park.  Part of the arrangement was that the park be named after the company that was the developer’s backer, Crippen Engineering.  Here endeth the history lesson.  (For those interested in the full story, including the involvement of ex-CBC personality Stanley Burke, details can be found here.)

A short way up the trail the group took the opportunity to descend to the creek to view the fish ladder by Bridal Veil Falls.  We then followed the path to the south end of Killarney Lake where we chose to take the counterclockwise route around he lake. .At various points along the way there were views over the lake, and a variety of mushrooms and other fungi were observed.

At he north end of the lake a boardwalk crossing through a marshy area provided a spot for a snack break.  A minor accident required a brief game of fishing for a water bottle.  Bottle safely retrieved, we continued on our way, heading back down the west side of the lake.

Near the south end of the lake was a small beach which provided a nice view along with warnings of leeches to discourage any thoughts of swimming.

Shortly after leaving the lake we came to a junction where part of the group opted to take the direct route back to Snug Cove while the rest crossed the creek and walked through the marsh and meadow on the way to the village.

Afters were enjoyed at the Bowen Island Pub.

And as we await the ferry to depart the island here are some Bowen Island fun facts for your enjoyment.

Photo credits to Angela, Michael, Jon, Adrienne, Sandy