Soup Manifesto: Sunday at Deer Lake Park

Map 1: Burnaby Bike Route Map

Map 2: Burnaby Parks Brochure

Map 3: Burnaby Bike Route Map

Last Sunday, after Trevor bailed on our planned hike up to Lynn Peak, Miranda and I decided to meet at Sperling Burnaby-Lake Station on the Central Valley Greenway and ride towards Deer Lake, via the Lakes Bikeway (marked 'LB' on Map 1).

Miranda suggested south, and south seemed a logical choice of direction - it was one of those really dramatic sky days, with steady layers of grey clouds pushing up against the North Shore by a steady breeze from the south. A strange direction for wind in the Fraser Valley/Metro Vancouver, where wind usually comes from either the west or the east. Towards the south (New West) all was white blue and bright - nothing like the sun and the promise of a patio to beckon you - hail Sol Invictus!!

After crossing the Trans Canada astride Kensington south (watch for glass in the margins) we tucked into Deer Lake Park and cycled along side the lake on a great boardwalk trail (see map 3). I was dumb-founded. Aside from one concert performance (R.E.M., 2008 - Accelerate Tour) I had never really spent any time at Deer Lake. It was fantastically beautiful (a bit buggy in some areas, but bugs do love water). The park's terrain is basically a small east-west oriented valley - flat around Deer Lake and along the line of Beaver Creek, but as soon as you start to move away from either it can get challenging. At the southwest corner of Deer Lake we headed south briefly, and then towards the northwest, exiting the park at the corner of Royal Oak and Deer Lake Parkway.

From Deer Lake we continued northwesterly on the Deer Lake Parkway Urban Trail (marked DLPUT on Map 3), then north at the Willingdon Urban Trail (marked WUT on Map 3). We switched to a short northwesterly connector at Sanderson and then turned north and followed the Gilmore Way Urban Trail / Sea To River Bikeway (marked GWUT and S2RB on Map 3), crossing the Trans Canada again, and then turned east at the Central Valley Greenway (marked CVG on Map 3) until returning to out starting point, Sperling Burnaby-Lake Station.

There was hardly a car in sight through this section. Great Sunday riding! Thanks to Miranda for the snacks and the company!

On a related note - salmonberries (aka Rubus spectabilis) are now starting to come out in force, and their range of colours is impressive. Look for small five-point purple flowers. I quite enjoy their mildly tart flavour. I think they like it a bit on the dampish side of conditions.