This post is of just a rather typical local loop rather than a trip or grand adventure. It was a ‘scenic’ route that I took to one of my favourite local breweries, Dageraad, to meet some friends. The brewery is about 15km from my home if I take a direct route, but this wasn’t very direct.
One of the purposes of this ride was to trace along some of my favourite semi-urban natural areas and see how the early autumn colour was coming along. Late September around here means the show has begun, though is still a few weeks from peak foliage.
Above is a small conservation area surrounded by commercial buildings in Burnaby just west of Deer Lake, which is featured in the left two images below.
From there I wiggled over to the Cariboo Heights conservation area which is one of the most underrated gems of Burnaby. It is a beautiful and quiet forested area that as I understand, runs the risk of being developed. I sure hope not. It’s one of my favourite places.
Now that I know there’s a website and a volunteer org for this unprotected forest, I might just have to get involved. As it is, I try to do my part by maintaining these trails, having brought my folding saw and cleared a few trees downed over the path.
The above images show a curated beauty, but worth noting there is also a fair share of pushing and the odd staircase. Definitely worthwhile though. The route crosses Cariboo Rd (yes, spelled correctly) onto an old rail bed (active from 1911 until 1953) that connects to New West.
Exiting the forest, it was not long before I was at Dageraad with a lovely slow-poured Belgian ale in hand.
From there I rode with the pack of pals back to town, with a stop on the pedestrian bridge below to share a smoked lager that a buddy had brought.
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