We begin the journey at a trail right along the bus line called Burnt Bridge Creek:
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| So here is the end of the trail, where it forms a small pond just east of Vancouver Lake. Fruit Valley Road creates the impediment, along with some railroad tracks. |
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| A small bridge which crosses Burnt Bridge Creek. |
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| The best part about the Burnt Bridge Creek Greenway is that it has these great open spaces, where people can play with their dogs, relax in the sun, or play baseball or frisbee. |
Next we head to Frenchman's Bar Park. Frenchman's bar is not located on a bus line, so I had to drive out to it, but it is a wonderful beach on the Columbia river where the tidal influence from the ocean creates every so slight waves across the river and onto the shore. The park itself links up with Vancouver Lake Park via a 5 mile bike and pedestrian trail, and it is relatively easy to reach by bike. Maybe when I invest in a bike I will take some trips out to both parks.
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| A cool shell design in the sand at the park. |
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| The part of the park where the beach sand slowly turns into mud and wetlands. |
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| One of the coolest things about Frenchman's Bar Park is that you can regularly watch large shipping rigs float by on their way to the Port of Vancouver. You can also see a pretty good shot of the Coastal Mountains there too. |
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| Another cool part about the park is that it offers great views of Mt. Hood, Mount St. Helens, and Mt. Jefferson. Mt. Jefferson is all the way to the far right, with a small white summit just visible over the horizon. The reason this blog post is called the Ultras is because Mt. Hood, St. Helens, Rainier, Adams, and Jefferson are all considered "Ultras", as in their summits and vertical relief is at least 1000 feet above the nearest mountains. |
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| A general overview of the park. The beach and river are also really great places to windsurf because the geography of the river usually produces really great wind. |
Sometimes you just need to step back and enjoy your very own neighborhood during sunset.
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Finally, I pushed my little car on Friday into the Cascade Mountains. Once up high enough, my little car provided me with some of the best views of Mount St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Jefferson.
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| A shot of Mount St. Helens off in the distance. I eventually found a good place to see Mt. Rainier, but I couldn't get a good picture of it. |
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| A view of Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson. Mt. Jefferson is in the middle/right of the picture. You can see its small white summit just barely over the horizon. |
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| At this point the road got a little too rocky and dangerous for my car, so I decided to turn back and call it a night. |
Finally, I will end up this post with a shot I see all too often. The glorious bus stop, and its ability to allow me to travel all across Vancouver.
I have now learned why people love this place. During the spring and summer, when there is no rain, and the sun comes out, the entire place comes to life. Its an amazing spectacle. The days get longer, the people go outside, and life is just that much more enjoyable. I really see why suffering through a couple of dreary months of winter rain can lead to such a magical, natural, and rugged slice of America.
