Driftwood, Seaplanes and Totem Poles

Yesterday, walking the Trent River, we had a lonely hike, but we did not see another hiker at all; today we did another interesting walk through the town of Courtney from the salt marsh where the river enters Georgia Strait, along the Courtney River to the downtown area, where we shared the trail with many others enjoying the beautiful sunny day. We enjoyed part of this Courtney Riverway Heritage walkway previously during a day when we explored the downtown area, and I wanted to do the rest of it, so another sunny BC day provided an opportunity to do so. 

We started our walk at the Courtney Rotary Skylark, a nice busy playground, named for the seaplane airport next-door where you can take a seaplane across to Vancouver. At the end of the runway a warning said “NO loitering” and signs warned of low flying aircraft, so plane-spotting is obviously discouraged. 

This walkway was paved and lined for bicycles and pedestrians and ran along the river, giving beautiful views. It is

nice when cities keep waterfront areas as public land so everyone can enjoy the beauty of the river rather than just those who can afford to buy “Water-frontage” and “No Trespassing” signs. There were a few areas closer to the downtown section we walked earlier where some waterfront lots were privately owned, but most of it has been reclaimed as public. One section was owned by a large building supply store but you could see where this location was a historic site where supplies were unloaded to help develop this area in early days. Although no one owned water frontage on the section we walked today, the development along the other side of the walkway featured some lovely apartments and condo development which would have provided lovely views of the river.  

The section we did today featured raised viewpoints looking out to the strait, piles of interesting driftwood, and covered stops with explanations about the natural elements in the area. I learned how the Salt-marsh is being reclaimed and returned to it’s natural state to benefit the natural inhabitants of fish and waterfowl, the entire trail featured many interesting plants and flowers, and we heard many birds. It was interesting to walk beside the seaplane airport and see the many planes waiting to carry people across to the mainland, and a beautiful totem pole decorated one section. 

We ended our walk by going under the 17th street bridge and up into the downtown area where we stopped for drinks and snacks at a local watering hole. A pleasant walk followed by a beer; life is good here on this side of the country.

The Salt-Marsh

Wild Roses (I believe)

Happy Hikers

The Courtney River

Salt Marsh Again

Anyone know what this plant is?

Lots of Driftwood