Truth and Reconciliation Day, fairly recently made a statutory holiday, landed on a Wednesday this year. I don’t take this day lightly, as much as I try to be mindful and supportive of indigenous rights and the harms they’ve endured and continue to endure throughout the year. In addition to donating my pay for the day I wanted to do something that honoured the day while also being a very “me” thing to do.
It didn’t take long to realize what I wanted to do: I wanted to ride up the Seymour valley, a place that I feel a deep connection and sense of belonging with, and visit my favourite old growth trees all in one go. Since this area was logged almost entirely in the first fifty years or so that the area became widely colonized, these trees are sometimes referred to as survivors. A stark parallel to those who’ve survived the residential school system.
So my plan for the day was pretty ambitious, hiking up to the huge red cedars near Seymour Lake that sit upon the steep hillside below Gibbons peak, then visiting the old Sitka in the valley just south of the lake, and then hiking up to Temple Giant, the most notable Douglas fir in the Seymour valley. But also, I wanted to appreciate the small things as well, and take my time.
Autumn’s colours are well underway around here, though once you get into contiguous forest, it’s mostly green year-round. Still, the big leaf and vine maples as well as the less hardy ferns were giving off beautiful yellows and oranges.
My ride of choice was once again the Stooge Rambler, a bike that’s seen a lot of saddle time in the less than two months I’ve owned it. There’s nothing I’m really looking to change, either – will probably swap the older 11s XT derailleur and 11-46T cassette for Deore 11s stuff once these wear out to gain a little more low end range, but that’s about it. These Rene Herse Umtanums have about 3000km on them across three bikes now, and I would say they’re only half worn, so I don’t expect to worry about tires until at least next summer, same as the half-worn drivetrain.
I didn’t take a lot of photos along Fisherman’s since this is a trail I’ve ridden countless times, but did stop for the photo below of a particularly nice foliage gradient – the banana slug pictured above is from right by my front tire in this frame. The next photo is at the mid-valley marsh, an iconic spot for those who ride this valley and quite a unique ecosystem around here.
After the mid-valley marsh it’s on to Spur 4, the gravel access road that flanks the east side of the river, versus the paved parkway on the west side. I had noticed this old skidder road before but never bothered to explore it until today – interestingly, it leads to what is very much a trail, but then trail ends at a stump at the top of a steep slope. Not a bad place to hang out, in fairness.
Near the north end of Spur 4 is a grove of old trees that were spared during logging – Bigfoot, below left, is marked and right along the roadway so most people who frequent this route will be familiar. Nearby is another big tree without a placard but with a heron nesting tag, pictured below right.
I also noticed that mushroom season is well underway, and was happy to see a violet web cap. I parked the bike and hiked up to the pair of red cedars about 150m up the steep slope. The trees I was heading to are pictured a little ways down:
Next it was back down the hill (slipping too many times) and onto the bike to cross the river to where the ancient Sitka are. My favourite bit of woods in the valley and no hiking required – though it’s at the far end of the valley.
Then on I went to visit the Temple Giant. Located almost halfway back out of the valley, it’s a 15 minute hike through the woods to get to it – not too steep until the last 50m or so. There’s not really a trail, though sometimes you can make out a vague path, but there’s flagging that helps.
At this point, my goal was achieved, and I made my way out of the valley. I took the photo below on a new-to-me little trail near Inter-River park and didn’t notice the falling leaf in the foreground until I uploaded it here!
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