Our second Looper walk of 2026 was organized and led by Brian and Sheng Li, and took place in and around Steveston, the farthest southwest corner of the lower mainland. The walking group this time consisted of nineteen humans, supplemented by Finn, the wonder dog, on his first-ever Looper outing. In recognition of Finn’s bravery (for details of which, read on) I hereby nominate him as our official Looper mascot.

We met up at Brian’s suggested meeting point, the parking lot of Garry Point Park. After the traditional starting selfie (above), the group set out northwards along the West Dyke trail. Some of you may remember us walking the West Dyke trail in July of 2022, a walk which is described more fully in this blog post.

Shortly after setting out along the West Dyke trail, Finn the wonder dog was called upon to demonstrate his bravery, after being attacked by one of a pair of larger, off-leash dogs, who apparently could not abide Finn’s devil-may-care attitude to life. Fortunately Finn’s companions were able to intervene, though not before Finn had been bitten near his eye, a wound which would later require a visit to the vet.

At the point where Blundell Road meets up with the West Dyke trail, Brian had us take a 90-degree right turn, off the West Dyke trail and heading east, inland along Blundell Road. At or shortly before this point it began to rain in earnest, and those who had umbrellas deployed them — though it should be noted that a significant number of Loopers — who might be described as “hard core” — eschew the use of umbrellas, offering a variety of (feeble, but nonetheless legitimate) reasons for this behaviour. Our snack break took place in the only available shelter from the rain: beneath the generous portico of the Gilmore Gardens Retirement Residence — “known for quality, comfort and warmth” — where we briefly considered requesting a tour.

After our snack break, we continued east along Blundell Road, turning right (south) where Blundell intersected the Railway Greenway, a paved walking and biking path running north-south, parallel to Railway Avenue. We followed this path south, before eventually turning west onto a smaller footpath (near Merganser Drive) which led us past the Steveston Japanese Language School, then a final stretch along a short railway spur, past the Steveston Tram Museum, eventually taking us back to the Fraser River and to our designated Afters site: the Lavash Seaside Grill, a fine (and most importantly: a warm and dry) establishment that would have been even finer had their grill been operational. Despite this lack, Lavash was able to offer a fine assortment of soups, salads, and other treats.

Topics discussed during Afters included: the relative merits of various nut butters: almond or peanut? (And was walnut butter even a thing?) Was salted peanut butter better than unsalted? Crunchy better than smooth? Were those who used butter in addition to peanut butter on their toast enlightened, or were they fools? Instead of jam on peanut butter toast: would not fresh strawberries be the bomb? And was it possible to avoid buying American when purchasing peanut butter, or should one simply admit that current farming technology did not permit the growing of goobers in Canada? A few non-nut-butter-related topics were also discussed, including (1) the advisability of some form of insurance to cover any Looper-walk-related injuries; (2) would this insurance (if obtained) also cover injuries to our mascot, Finn the wonder dog? And (3) should Loopers be paying dues?

Rumours later reached me from a reliable source (aka Adrienne) that two indefatigable Loopers, Adrienne and Andrew, added a further 5 km to their day, thanks to a second, post-Afters, walk at Iona Beach Regional Park. Thank you to Brian and Sheng Li for their organizational skills and their leadership abilities on this walk! Thanks also to those who contributed photos for this post: Jon, Angela, Carol, Adrienne, and Michael.