Urban Mushing and Steelhead Fishin"

Urban Mushers and determined Fishers were the highlights of this ride along the Vedder river dyke trails.  Our day began at the Mckay Creek Trail head, part of the Trans Canada Trail.

Trans Canada Trail marker points the way

As we were unloading our bikes and getting ready to hit the trail, we were greeted in the parking lot by Kathy, an Urban Musher.  Intrigued we delayed our start to chat with her.  We learned all about this dry land, dog-powered sport called Urban Mushing.  Her dogs were more than happy to give us a demo and before we knew it they were harnessed up and ready to pull.  Kathy and her team were busy training for the upcoming Iron Paws event.  I must confess, Iron Paws brought a smile to my face.  As we bid farewell, it struck me yet again that there are countless ways for people and pets to get outside and play!

Urban Musher and her dog team

We planned our route for the day to take us along the dyke trails on the both the north and south side of the Vedder river and Vedder canal.  This loop was scenic, flat and fascinating!

View of the Vedder Canal

We departed the parking lot and as we pedaled we could hear distant rumblings.  At first we thought there must be blasting going on in the area but soon we discovered we were nearing the Abbotsford Fish and Game Club.  Judging by the noise, it was clearly a busy day on the range!

Dark Sky Park courtesy of the Fraser Valley Astronomers Society

After cycling past McDonald park, we passed by an Astronomy Viewing Area, and joked about the "mini Stonehenge" in the background.  We later discovered that McDonald Park is officially designated a dark sky park with the hopes of offering views of the Night sky, minus light pollution, for many years to come.  The Fraser Valley Astronomers Society host educational programs and events at the park throughout the year.

Vedder South Dyke Trail marker

The trail was very well marked, easy to follow and yes - FLAT!

Heavily treed area of the trail

Although the trail was on a dyke and flat, we were pleasantly surprised by the variety.  From open farmland to tight, twisting turns through forested areas, the trail was an interesting ride....and did I mention FLAT?

Snow capped mountains and cherry blossoms mark an early spring

River view

Scenic viewpoint along the dyke trail

It was quite a busy day on both the trail and on the river.  At every turn we stumbled upon another fisher in search of Steelhead trout. 

The Steelhead seem to be facing big odds 

Log Jams - Paddlers beware!

During a quick lunch break we had the pleasure of meeting Dave.  Clearly, Dave had spent many an hour on the river.  He shared stories of his big catches and of course the one that got away.  He did manage to catch a record breaking 41 pound Steelhead earlier this year and delighted us with pictures of the catch.  He recommended Steelybeads as the bait of choice and Fishbum as the apparel of choice. I am embarrassed to say that at times we had no idea what he was talking about, but he spoke with unbridled passion and enthusiasm so we listened intently!  Maybe, it is time for us to take some of Dave's advice and explore fishing by kayak?

Hmmm.....should kayak fishing be next?

Giggle of the day:

As we made our way along the south dyke trail we stumbled upon a retired gentleman out fishing for the day.  He was the picture of happiness....deep laugh lines marked his weather beaten face.  We chatted for a while about the trail and the river and then the conversation turned to fishing.  He was out looking for Steelhead and to quote, "the fish taste like $@%# this time of year, but my wife doesn't nag me or give me jobs when I am out fishing.  And best of all if I catch something, I don't have to pay for dinner!"


Maps and Route Tips:


The trail for the most part is hard packed gravel, best suited for touring or mountain bikes.

Great ride for families, especially along the Rotary Trail in Chilliwack which features a virtual tour.  (another example of technology in the outdoors)

Be sure to check out the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve

Parks and Trails in Chilliwack

Trans Canada Trail

Fishing the Vedder River

Greendrop Lake - no longer a secret!

As we advocate and encourage folk to get outdoors and explore nature, we often find ourselves feeling conflicted.  Today was such a day!  We arrived at the trail head, that was once quite difficult to find, to discover an expanded parking area - actually a fully developed parking lot and it was full.  We knew we should have been excited that so many people were out hiking and enjoying the great outdoors, but I must confess that deep down we were a little upset that "others" would be on the trail.  These feelings make no sense, yet every once and a while they rear their ugly head.  We forced ourselves to make a conscious decision to celebrate the fact that so many people were outside!  Unfortunately, we also found ourselves packing out a LOT of garbage....clearly much work needs to be done to spread the "leave no trace" message.  We will leave that for another blog post!  :)

It was a beautiful spring day and we were thrilled to be visiting Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park, a 9258 hectare park just 150km east of Vancouver.  We planned to hike the trail past Lindeman Lake to Greendrop Lake.  Both lakes feature back country camping - complete with pit toilets and tent pads.

Back Country tent pads - at Lindeman Lake

This hike is a both a great weekend getaway and a fantastic day trip....lots to keep you interested:

• Bridges

• Views of snow capped mountains

• Fascinating ridge lines

• Lakes

• Streams

• Rock gardens

Navigating across a slide area

• Wild flowers

Trillium in bloom

The trail is really well marked, but today we were forced to be a little creative as sections of the trail had been washed out by recent spring run off.  We managed to keep our feet relatively dry as we scampered and jumped from rocks to logs!

Trail marker on rock

Flagging tape marks stream crossing

Section of bridge washed out

As we were crossing one of the slide areas a young couple caught up to us.  We heard a deep voice shout out, "Mr. and Mrs. Weiss!"  This hulking, young backpacker quickly approached and gave me a huge hug.  Turns out he was a baseball player from a team Rob had coached years ago.  Of course, he was all "grown up" and had changed considerably.  On the other hand,  we have hardly aged a day!  What a great meeting - we were so excited to catch up with him and of course thrilled to meet him on the trail.  You just never know what might happen or who you might meet when you get outside!  :)

Giggle of the day:

It has been many years since we last hiked to Greendrop Lake.  In fact, the previous time we visited the area, we took our three children, who at the time were all under the age of 10.  It was a wonderful day trip to the lake, as the kids enthusiastically climbed, explored and got their feet wet and muddy!  You can imagine our laughter today, as we arrived at the first lake in 30 minutes.....an outing that years ago had taken an entire day and countless SNACK breaks.

Trail leading past Lindeman Lake to Greendrop Lake

Fraser Valley - North Abbotsford by bike

We ventured out on another route we discovered on the Trails BC website - the North Abbotsford Loop.  The route connects the Matsqui, Discovery and Clayburn trails and features lots of variety.

View of the Mission Bridge

We began the day at Douglas Taylor Park in the Mount Lehman area and quickly joined the Matsqui Trail through the Matsqui First Nation land.  The trail was beautiful, but again, not recommended for road bikes.  We had to hop on and off frequently to cross the equestrian gates and we were moving quite slowly as we navigated tight corners and crushed gravel.

Feeling really happy my bike wasn't loaded with gear!

The trail continued on to the Mission bridge and along dykes as it followed the Fraser River and provided excellent views for the entire length of the dyke trail.

Great views of the Fraser

After leaving the dyke trail we wound our way through back country roads to the historic town of Clayburn.  This quaint little village and has been designated a heritage site and is well worth a visit.  It is a gem.  However, it is located at the foot of Sumas mountain.  Now, past experience has told us that when the route is at the FOOT of a mountain, there generally is nowhere to go but UP.....and UP we went.  It was quite a steep climb out of Clayburn....good training we told ourselves as we gasped for breath!

Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating and it was quite socked in, so we weren't really able to enjoy the view from the top - hopefully, next time!  In all honesty, I am not sure that we were upset about the lack of view, or more upset that we didn't have an excuse to stop for an extended period to take pictures and catch our breath.

Another sign of spring....curious babies!

A highlight of the route was the Discovery Trail.  This trail is 30 km of paved pathway connecting the east and west ends of Abbotsford.  It features towering trees, boardwalks, open meadows and a great section through the Fishtrap Creek wetlands.

Discovery Trail - Abbotsford

Giggle of the day:

We were riding along a section of the dyke trail when we came across a large group of boys.  It was mayhem!  Bikes, helmets and gear strewn everywhere.  They were in the middle of a "repair" session and were in need of extra tools to adjust seat heights.  In turns out it was a group of Boy Scouts training for their summer adventure along the Kettle Valley Railway.  We had a wonderful chat with the boys and their fearless leaders and left chuckling.  It turns out the kids were about 1 km from their start point.....they had already stopped for SNACKS and for seat adjustments!  A great group of leaders and kids....fantastic to see them out there.

Look at the picture closely - We also giggled at how many of the Scouts were "helping with the repair!  

Map and Route Tips;

www.trailsbc.ca