Scaredy Cat

Last week I decided to head out and go on a hike up Goldstream Park. When I got to the park, there was a sign saying that there was a cougar in the area and that all hikers should travel in packs and stay on trails. I hesitated when I saw the sign because I really wanted to hike, but I also didn't want to become a statistic. Eventually I decided that since it was a Friday morning in the middle of July, that there would be lots of hikers/tourists on the trails making noise and screwing up any cougar stalk and kill plans.

So I headed up the mountain expecting another great hike, but after a couple kilometres, my heart was beating frantically from the sound of every leaf and twig that rustled from the wind. Every twist and turn on the trail I was expecting a cougar to jump off from a cliff and rip my face off. I started having vivid flask backs of every single news story that I had seen covering stories about joggers who were mauled by a cougar while enjoying their favourite running trails. Normally I don't care if there are animal sightings in the area, but it isn't very often that the sighting is a massive predatory carnivore. Bears are a common sighting and don't bother me, but the thought of being prey to a cougar eventually got to me, so I turned around and high tailed it out of there before there was a story about me on the 6 o'clock news.

This afternoon I headed back over the the park to take another attempt of a hike. Luckily the cougar warnings were lifted and I felt a bit better heading up the mountain with my camera in tow. It's strange how much one little fluorescent sign warning me of a cougar in the area could mess with my head so much. Realistically, I could get clobbered by a large wild cat any time that I go hiking, but that one sign saying that a cougar had actually been seen (when they are unseen every single day but that doesn't mean that they aren't there) made me not want to risk the risk that I take every time I head out.

Every time that I do this hike, I fall in love with it just a little bit more and all of the beauty it beholds.

There are bridges.

And narrow pathways with hand railings located above steep embankments

Mine shafts.

Waterfalls.

Railways trestles.

And lots of bits of information in random places.

What I really love about this trail is that it messes with your head. Right when you think you're at the end and get to head back down the mountain, the trail will swoop in another direction and keep you moving away from your end goal (the giant water bottle waiting in the car at the bottom). All you want is to just reach the bottom, but the trail has another idea for you instead. Keep on trekkin because the view is awesome.

Hiking Around Goldstream

I have a very strange sense of curiosity. In some ways, I am the most incurious person and will accept what I am told, no questions asked.

Them - “Adrienne, the world is round.”

Me – “Cool.”

Chris thought this was a very odd trait to have because he is such an inquisitive person who cannot rest until he has researched every fact and idea that comes his way, whereas I just accept these things and move on.  There are billions and billions of questions in this world and I do not have the longevity to research everything, so I have to pick my battles when it comes to finding answers to my questions.

On the flip side of this, my personality will do a complete 180 and be incredibly curious when it comes to the outdoors. I have written posts about this problem in the past, but when I am outside hiking on an unfamiliar trail, my inquiring mind cannot rest as to where I am going. I have to know what goes where, and what will that trail lead to or if I branch off in that direction, what will I find? As soon as I am ready to turn around and head back, I will see a trail heading off in another direction and my curiosity becomes slightly overwhelmed and I just have to see where it leads to. Today is another perfect example of this.

I live very close to Goldstream Provincial Park which has a lot of hiking trails winding and twisting all throughout the mountain and area. Since the weather finally got beautiful, I decided to head out there this morning and see what it had to offer. Before I ventured up the mountain, I had a plan in mind of which trail(s) I wanted to take and I planned at least a good hour of hiking……

Three hours later I returned to my car.

I couldn’t help it! You should see it up there. The trails just keep meandering in and out of the forest and it’s just so gorgeous and peaceful and majestic! How can one simply just turn around and go home when there are miles and miles of mysterious trails to investigate? At one point I was walking along the old rail bed when I thought, “Ok, if I don’t see anything interesting after this upcoming bend, I will turn around.” But once I got around the bend, I saw a trail heading into the bush which was just the beginning of my plans getting disrupted. Then I heard water falling, which just perked my interest even more. Then about 10 minutes later I found the waterfall and my heart leapt into my throat because it was so stunning that it took my breath away.

The east coast is a gorgeous area to see and I am thankful that I got to experience its beauty. The smell of the ocean, bright green pastures, endless beaches and amazing red sand is definitely something that should be experienced by anyone who has the opportunity. But when I am in the mountains in BC, I am always completely overwhelmed with the beauty around me. The smell of moist earth, moss, cedar trees, fresh water and just the whole alpine wilderness around me, is easily one of my favourite things in the entire world. Yes, even the skunk cabbage brings a smile to my face because it is just another part of the whole experience.

But the absolute best part of the hike was when I was climbing into this one area on the Arbutus Ridge, and I began to hear frogs croaking. As I climbed higher and higher into the area, the sound of them became louder and louder and it soon became all that I could hear. As the trail leveled out, I found a swampy area just packed full of chirping frogs and I wish I could have recorded the noise they produced because it was just remarkable. I crouched down to watch them and as I did this, it was as though someone had hit mute because they all became dead silent when they realized my presence. I laughed and walked away from the area, only to hear them slowly begin again as I got further and further from the area. How can one not smile like a fool in a moment like that?