And today, Tsawwassen's Fred Gingell Park and the beach below English Bluffs.
Fred Gingell Park is the red dot and red circle on these maps. Tsawwassen is that spit of land on the southwest side of Boundary Bay. It crosses the border into the US just below the park. The long causeway out into the Strait of Georgia leads to the ferry landing; Victoria, Nanaimo, San Juan Islands.We were feeling particularly energetic and adventuresome last Friday; it was the eve of our national holiday, the sun was shining for a change, and traffic was light. A day to take on a real challenge.
The thing about Fred Gingell Park is that it is barely a park at all. It is a small lawn, a lookout point, and then an impossible staircase down to the beach far below.
Looking straight across to Vancouver Island.
Looking south. Probably at the San Juan Islands.
The top of the steps. "Use at your own risk."
Heading down...
And down ...
And down ...
Almost there ...
Ah! The beach!About time; my knees were getting wobbly. It's been a while since I did that.
We walked south on the beach, towards the US border. Other than a few kids on their way back up, a couple of women walking a dog, and a man working on his temporarily beached boat, we had the shore to ourselves. A heron stood on a rock watching the tide and the ferry come in, never moving all the time we were there.
Another rock, another poser.
Not a seagull, as I thought at first; up close it turns out to be splintered wood decorated with barnacles.
Between English Bluff Road and the beach, there is a row of hillside houses.
A single-family dwelling on five levels, plus the staircase down to the beach. And another up to the driveway. The owner's legs must be stronger than mine.We walked almost to the end of the houses and back. And faced that uphill climb.
I made it! Stopping for breath every little bit, feeling my heart pound in my chest. Wobbly. But I made it, and not as slowly as last time. Yay for me! Laurie, of course, sailed half-way up, then came back to encourage me, not even puffing. Show-off.At the top, we stopped for a last look out to sea. Someone had scratched a sentiment into the top of the wall.
And with those words of wisdom, we called it a day.
This is one place we haven' been. We'll have to check it out on one of our treks to the coast. We have familly living in Tsawwassen. We've done the stairs in White Rock. Speaking of White Rock, there is a marvelous Italian Deli with a great Piquant store next door. The Piquant store makes great take home curries ... if you like that sort of thing. These two stores are very close to those stairs ... only about two blocks away. One can take a walk to the shore and back ... then indulge.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'll have to check out those stairs! I lived in White Rock for a year when I was a kid and we often hiked down to the beach. It was very steep, but just a road. I haven't seen the stairs.
ReplyDeleteThere is a Piquant deli at 16th and 128th; is that the one you mean? Where are the stairs from there?
Thanks for the tip!
Yes, that is the Piquant shop.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to the 1001 step park (only about 236 stairs): http://www.greatervancouverparks.com/1001Steps01.html
Shows where it is and has some great pictures.
Thanks! We'll be visiting it soon!
ReplyDelete