“Be Bold and Venture to be Wise” : Fort Langley to Pitt Meadows

It was a beautiful, sunny, almost warm morning when we set out from Fort Langley, making it hard to believe that this is already November.  We began the day in the very best of ways, with hot coffee and croissants at the Blacksmith Bakery, where once again we shared interesting conversation and received good wishes from the other customers and the staff. Appropriately there was a quote from Horace on our coffee cups stating : “Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise”.

A large, bronze statue of Sir James Douglas marked the beginning of the 4 km long Fort to Fort Trail, which connects the Fort Langley National Historic Site to the location of the original HBC Fort at Derby Beach Regional Park.  This is a very popular riverside walk with residents and visitors alike, offering beautiful scenery and a wealth of historical information on plaques along the route.

The original Fort was built 4 km downstream in 1827, but repeated flooding prompted the Hudson's Bay Company to relocate in 1839, moving to the spot where the historic site now is.  The Fort burned the following year, and a new one was built.  Despite the events that occurred at Fort Langley, as the fur trade continued to decline, it's importance began to dwindle. In 1872, just one year after British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation, its palisades were dismantled.  Now only one storehouse remains that dates back to 1840, and the rest has been reconstructed.

We followed the Fort to Fort segment of the Trans Canada Trail along the main street of the village, making a slight detour to see the CNR station.  This heritage building was constructed in 1915 by the Canadian Northern Railway, and continued to be used until the 1980's.  The Langley Heritage Society saved and restored the station, and has turned it into a museum with a model railway.  Sadly the station was closed when we visited, but we enjoyed seeing the well-landscaped gardens.

We continued through town, pausing to read some of the historic plaques on the heritage buildings, and eventually walking across the wooden patio deck of the Fort Pub and Grill on the trail.  A winding, paved, riverside trail led us along the waterfront between a row of upscale condos and the river. Benches lined the path, as well as periodic art installations, information plaques, and wooden decks that jutted out into the water to provide views down the river.  We were delighted to see several Anna's Hummingbirds going back and forth between the riverside vegetation and feeders hung from people's decks.  Unsurprisingly, this pleasant walk was full of people out enjoying the morning sunshine many of whom waved their greetings or gave an encouraging comment as we passed.

Soon we left the homes behind, and followed the trail between the river and the Fort Langley Golf Course.  Dense shrubs lined the snaking pathway, creating a rounded green tunnel through which the sunlight filtered.  We could literally see the 'light at the end of the tunnel,' and it felt like it was pulling us ever onward.  Beside us we could hear the sounds of several golf games in progress, whoops of delight mixing with the sharp 'pops' of other players taking their shots.

At the end of the golf course we were pleasantly surprised to find that we didn't have to walk on the road, but rather the trail continued on beside it.  We followed the dirt footpath alongside Allard Crescent, which had its own historic Pioneer marker, and must have been named after one of the founding settlers in the community.  The road was lined with homes, small businesses, farms, and stands of trees.  Partway along we were delighted to see a very creative, bright red Little Free Library.

Soon we turned away from the road, heading back towards the Fraser River through Derby Reach Regional Park.  The crushed stone dust trail made a winding white ribbon through the neatly mowed, grassy hills along the riverbank.  Periodic historic plaques marked heritage fruit trees that had been planted when Fort Langley had been actively farming the area.  When we climbed up onto the grassy berms we were rewarded with stunning views of the Golden Ears Mountains.  Soon we came to the stone marker that was erected at the spot where the original Fort Langley stood.

To our surprise, the Coast to Canyon trail continued along the forested river bank.  Our walk was tree-lined and peaceful, but we could see and hear the sounds of civilization approaching.  Beside us large booms of logs floated on the river, tethered to the shore and waiting to be processed farther downstream.  Across the water we could hear the roar of Mapleridge, although for the most part it remained hidden behind a screen of trees.

Shortly before noon we found ourselves walking through the day use area of Edgewater Bar Park.  A canopy of huge trees towered over our heads, and bordered the gravel parking lot, picnic area, covered shelter, and pit toilet.  A line of what looked like excellent campsites, complete with picnic tables and campfire rings, had been created along the shore of the river for day use only.  About half of them were occupied by people sitting down on the shore fishing.

As we walked through the parking lot a couple who had been walking behind us on the trail stopped to chat.  They were very enthusiastic about our endeavour, and explained that they were avid hikers themselves, having just completed the trek up to Basecamp on Mount Everest. They highly recommended the adventure, but said the trek was much steeper than they had anticipated.

We stopped for a short break at one of the picnic tables and happily ate the scones we had carried with us from the bakery in Fort Langley.  When coming into cities and suburban areas we always appreciate finding places that offer opportunities to take a break and use a washroom.

After the park we continued to follow the river, winding around a busy and much loved off-leash dog park, then back through a rural landscape, and for another short stint along the edge of Allard Crescent.  A highlight was passing through the property where the historic Muench Homestead previously resided.

Large metal cut-outs of livestock and people were placed along the trail, illustrating what life on the farm might have looked like.  Interpretive signs highlighted the important role of Indigenous women in the pioneer history of the region. The homestead we were crossing was owned by Edward Muench, a German man who came through New York before settling along the Fraser River. He married Shenade, or Catharine, and together they had nine children.  Shenade's sister, Tselatsetenate, was married to Robert Robertson, a man who made his living on the river, ferrying people and freight between communities.  We tend to think of pioneering farm families as European, so it was interesting to learn that many of the women were actually Indigenous.

As we crossed the open fields, we spotted a huge Bald Eagle nest perched at the top of a tall, lone tree.  Surprisingly, even though it is not nesting or even courting season, there was an eagle perched on the edge of the nest, and its mate was perched in a treetop nearby.  It certainly was an eagle nest that enjoyed stunning mountain views!

We had half expected to follow roads to the base of the Golden Ears Bridge up ahead, so we were very pleasantly surprised to find that our dedicated pathway continued on.  We walked beside the road, passing landscaping, construction businesses, import/export, and shipping businesses, and watching as the road beside us became increasingly busy with trucks.

Eventually we followed the paved cycling route under the bridge, getting covered by dust from the surrounding businesses along the riverbank as we did so.  A long spiral ramp led up to the Golden Ears Bridge, which seemed to extend up and away into the distance. This 2.4 km long bridge takes six lanes of traffic across the Fraser River, connecting Langley on the south shore to Pitt Meadows and Mapleridge on the north shore. When it opened in 2009, this extra-dosed bridge replaced the Albion Ferry service that used to run just upstream.  The bridge arcs up 40 m above the Fraser River, and luckily for us, it includes dedicated pedestrian/cycling lanes on both sides, which are separated from the traffic by concrete barriers.

As we made the long climb up we spotted two golden eagle statues placed high up on the graceful white spans above our heads.  Apparently they were made by a German company after the original design by a US firm was rejected for structural weaknesses. The bridge was named after the famous Golden Ears peaks which crown Mount Blanshard in nearby Golden Ears Provincial Park.

We climbed higher and higher above the wide, blue waters of the Fraser River below us, feeling very glad it was a clear, sunny day with little wind.  Looking down on the barges and log booms below, which appeared like tiny little toys, was a bit vertigo inducing, even with the tall metal bars of the suicide fencing beside us.  The views down the water, and of the snow capped mountains lining the valley, were very impressive.

At the far side of the river we had to navigate across the on-off ramps for the highway. We learned very quickly that pedestrian crosswalks held very little sway there, with most drivers ignoring them entirely and continuing to accelerate through them – regardless of whether there were cyclists of people walking at the time.   When we diverted onto a slightly quieter street, heading back towards the waterway, we passed multiple signs warning that we had entered a residential area where loitering was prohibited, we were under video surveillance, that local trails were exclusively for local residents, all suspicious activity would be reported immediately, and that we were being monitored by Block Watch.  Since we are often regarded as suspicious while in cities and suburbs we kept up a good pace.  We were now definitely immersed in fast-paced city life, where safety is a primary concern anything outside box is viewed as undesirable. The visible reactions by a number - though certainly not all - of day walkers to us and our backpacks was proof positive of this.

When we reached the Fraser River we came to another gorgeous waterfront trail.  The wide, flat, gravel walkway ran along a greenspace between a row of waterfront condos and the river.  The grassy berm was well landscaped, and lined with benches overlooking the water. There were also signs posted along the top making it clear pedestrians must stay off the grass, and that only residents were permitted in the park.  The pathway was full of well-dressed people out walking their dogs, and while the dogs looked very happy and enthusiastic, many of the people had the hardened, slightly suspicious look of those who live in fast-paced environments that never sleep.   Every time we have entered into such regions we have been stunned to witness how thin the line is between owning a property and being owned by it.  Having a residence is one thing, having one which is fenced, lined by security cameras, monitored, and signed is a location which is less a home than a cage.  In many ways our modern metropolitan centres are ones where the fear of keeping up appearances, showing off one’s possessions and having a large house outweigh any reasonable or realistic needs.  Perhaps it is why so many people enjoy being in the country or camping in nature – as it is in these places that one gets to set aside these false pretenses and simply enjoy the basics of life.  In the outdoors we can just be rather than allowing urban expectations and the demands of striving to be popular to separate us from one another.

We took a short break at a wooden lookout and stopped to watch the flocks of Glaucous-winged Gulls out on the water, and to enjoy the view of the Golden Ears Bridge.

When we reached the end of the homes and entered a gorgeous section of trail bordered by huge, tall old western red cedars, we suddenly had a strong sense of deja vu.  We had already walked this part of the trail right before the pandemic emerged in 2020, when we did a series of presentations at the Fraser Valley Regional Libraries in this area on Birder Backpacks and our #Hike4Birds across the country.

We made our way down the beautifully forested trail, enjoying the strong sweet smell of cedar.  Eventually the Pitt River Greenway brought us out onto an elevated dyke that circled around the Pitt Meadows Regional Airport.  As with the previous time we ventured out there, a group of small planes from the flight school was practising touch and go landings on the runway beside us.

Apart from that, little was the same as it was just two years ago.  On our first visit there was a runway and a small collection of hangers in a big open field.  Now, there was a large flight school building, a parking lot, a restaurant, an official airport sign, and about five times as many buildings as there was previously.  The speed and extent of the growth was amazing.

The section of trail we were following was called the Hawk Rotary Loop, and its symbol was an American Kestrel.  As if on cue, we spotted one of these colourful birds, with their impressive Egyptian looking face masks, perched on a fence below the trail.  We ducked under a small concrete underpass below a taxi way, seeing the familiar stickers for the Osprey Loop and Blue Heron Loop, two other species there would be a really good chance of seeing in this stretch.

As the afternoon wore on the circuit around the airport and the cranberry and blueberry fields felt long.  Luckily, we had gorgeous mountain scenery to distract us.  The now familiar snow capped mountain peaks rose up above the lush, emerald green and bright red fields.  A red wooden barn provided a nice focal point, and we stopped at a small pond filled with a flock of American Wigeons to admire their colourful plumage.

As we completed the circuit, heading back towards the Pitt River Bridge we came back to a small channel that had been turned to liquid gold in the afternoon sunshine.  It was full of American Wigeons, Mallards, and Glaucous-winged Gulls.  A Great Blue Heron was patiently fishing at water's edge, but it took flight at our approach, barely disturbing the reflections in the mirror-like water.

We ducked underneath the footings of the bridge, and came out the other side.  Although our trail turned westwards and crossed the bridge towards the city, we continued on down the Rotary Hawk Loop towards Pitt Meadows, where we were staying for the night.  After passing a business with large piles of soil, mulch, and other landscaping materials that were gently steaming in the cool afternoon air, we walked on the paved cycling path beside the stunningly busy highway towards the town.  A solid line of cars creeping along the highway indicated that evening rush hour was in full swing. We have now walked into the Metro Vancouver Area, and the Pacific Ocean and feels so very close!

 

 

See you on the trail!

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