2026 October 4: Pacific Spirit Park

People are travelling abroad later in the year, it seems. As a result, we were a smaller than usual group that gathered at the corner of West 16th and Imperial Drive. There were ten of us — and five boldly wearing shorts in a nod to the fine fall day.

Our leaders, Gord and Jon, decided to start on Camosun Trails, heading first to the Camosun Bog. The bog is ancient, but has been restored with the aid of a large number of volunteers (“boggers”). Some of us remember seeing about 150 hemlock trees being lifted out by helicopter in 1990 to improve the bog ecosystem.

Sphagnum moss is essential to the health of the bog. It is also a most satisfying word to say.

The Musqueam people have tales of a two-headed serpent, sʔi:ɬqəy̓, that lived here. We stayed together and behaved well and fortunately nobody was taken by sʔi:ɬqəy̓.

The other trails we travelled may have included Top Trail, Clinton, Imperial, Salish, and Huckleberry. There could have been others. I suspect our leaders made it up as they went along.

We crossed over Imperial Drive and re-entered the park. The paths were shaded by tall trees with welcome shafts of sunlight glancing through.

Our break was on Imperial Trail after we’d walked about 6 km. Although it was a sunny day, the shady trails were cool and damp so we didn’t linger over our snacks.

We had a chance encounter with Janet K, Bruce, and Ryan. Janet and Bruce had just returned from a sailing trip.

We passed the concrete pad on Salish Trail where a bench had been dedicated to a horse rider (possibly even an aristocratic horse rider but at least one who used the name “Count”), but the bench had been moved and replaced (temporarily, we assume) by a section of log.

There was a gently undulating uphill stretch on the last part of the walk. This meant we were more than ready for afters, which were consumed at the UBC Golf Club, a short distance away. We were in time to order brunch. For liquid refreshment, we considered ordering the Rotating Cocktail of the Day, but decided to choose from the usual range of beer, wine, non-alcoholic beer, good Vancouver water, and coffee instead.