On this particular Sunday, I set off on a mission to see some salmon at the hatchery at Cleveland Dam, which is located at one of the two watershed lakes in North Vancouver. I didn’t take a lot of photos of the ride up except the one below left after hoofing my bike up a particularly strenuous set of stairs – I’m a sucker for an efficient way up elevation! First I rode to the dam itself, below right, which was not flowing – the first time I’ve seen this in my 15 or 20 times to the dam!
I then had to backtrack downhill a bit to get to the hatchery. I’d never been, and wasn’t entirely sure where it was at first. I have to say, it’s a pretty interested and fun architectural building with a mid-century feel to it.
I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of salmon, but the tanks were packed with ’em! Feeling accomplished, I traversed over to Murdo Frazer park, home of the cabins featured in old Kokanee commercials among other things – it’s a very tranquil spot with a small pond that is home to a beaver, several turtles, and no doubt plenty of other wildlife.
This links up quite conveniently to another lovely stretch of trail along McKay Creek. In fact, McKay also hosts salmon during this time of year, but it’s a bit too late now to find any here. Maybe next year I’ll time a visit successfully!
McKay Creek trail dropped me off along the sea side bike path which I took home (with a beer stop to enjoy the moment a little longer) over the bridge from North Vancouver back to Vancouver.
As I approached the bridge I started to notice the formation of asperitas clouds (I think?), which got better as I got closer to home. Apparently these are quite rare, but perhaps it’s a similar but less rare type of cloud since I seem to notice them a few times every autumn and spring.
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