Category Archives: Coquitlam

Panoramas Continued

artwork, Clouds, Coquitlam, hiking, panorama, photography, Port Moody, trees, water, , , , , , , ,

Since my last post about panoramas, I’ve made several more that I really like.  This post I’ll focus (pun intended) 🙂 on ones from my local neighbourhood.  I’ve also made it so you can click on each of the images and see them up close and personal in a new window.  Without being too conceited, I think you’ll enjoy the extra details you can see in the larger versions!  I always do.

First, one I stitched together from 2 photos taken in July from a walk at DeBoughville Slough with J and my sister, in Coquitlam, BC.

DeBoville Slough and Mts
Looking NE up the Pitt River at the Golden Ears Mt massif in the background. Golden Ears Mt is centre-left and Blanshard Needle is is the pointy one almost dead centre.

 

Next, a pano taken in October, from 2 photos taken with my LG5 phone camera on the the Bluffs above Admiralty Point in Belcarra Park, Port Moody, BC.

Belcarra Bluffs pano-1
Looking West down the Burrard Inlet past Vancouver in the distance.

Another October stitch, from 7 photos taken from a hike to the White Rock viewpoint in Coquitlam.  If you look at the centre land features in this one, you can see the same hill and towers and point of land you saw in the previous picture.  This is up higher and a more expansive view.  Vancouver Island way in the distance.

White Rock Viewpoint pano
Looking South and West. You can see city of Vancouver, Burnaby, and Richmond. Also SFU on Burnaby Mt in left mid-ground.

 

Here’s one I made from a 3 photos one cloudy December morning while walking around the inlet. I’m on the North side shooting South. Another set with the LG5.

Looking South from the Shoreline Trail along the Inlet in Port Moody, BC
Clouds and trees and water

Not perfect but it made Explore on Flickr with almost 6 thousand views and that is saying something!

One from Maple Beach on a January hike to Admiralty point.  A stitch of 5 shots.  It was a “dreary” day so black and white was the way to go here.

Sculpture at Maple Beach
Sculpture at Maple Beach in Belcarra Park, a beach on the way to Admiralty Point.

 

Here’s one at the Rocky Point piers in February, looking North towards the mountains.  2 LG photos stitched to make this.

Rocky Pt Inlet and piers
Looking North at the Fannin range with Seymour Mt foremost.

 

Last but not least, 2 panoramas I made a few days ago during a walk around Buntzen Lake.  It was cloudy, the lake was perfectly still and I was, as they say, in the right place at the right time. The first one is a composite of 4 shots.

Buntzen Lake panorama
Looking at part of Eagle Ridge from West shore of Buntzen Lake.

 

This second one is a stitch of 10 photos!  That’s right, 10.  It took a bit of processing time but was totally worth it.  It also made Explore and as of the writing of this post, was about to break 7,000 views!  As you might imagine, I’m very proud of this one.

Buntzen Lake panos
Reflection of the whole of Eagle ridge in Buntzen Lake.

So there you have it, my latest local panorama compositions.  Can’t really call them photos because they are always put together from at least 2 and often more, captures.  Hope you enjoyed the show.

Keep rambling,

Rich

Gushing

Coquitlam, hiking, photography, trees, water, , , , , , ,

This past weekend, J and I headed into the Burke Mt area with a couple of friends to spend some time hiking and viewing a couple of waterfalls.  The forecast was for clouds and the occasional shower.  Luckily, we got the clouds but not the showers.

Our objectives were the Dry Crossing and Sawblade Falls, both on Coho Creek which tumbles down between a couple of unnamed peaks in Pinecone Burke Provincial Park.

The hike goes up several shared use hiker-mountain biker paths and old logging roads through several different forested areas with lots of lovely spring flowers along the trails, the most common being false solomon’s seal, star-flowered false solomon’s seal, foam flower, bunchberry, and yellow wood violets.

As it was a bit cool for the season, we also lucked out in not being bothered to any serious degree by our insect friends, although the occasional black fly needed brushing off.  After a couple of hours we got to our first waterfall, Dry Crossing Falls.  2 waterfalls hike-12 waterfalls hike-22 waterfalls hike-3

One of the reasons we picked this hike was because we are still in the Spring run off season here in SW British Columbia and the waterfalls are just gushing spectacular amounts of water.  A couple of creek crossings which in summer would be easily transversed required high level ballet type balancing to avoid serious foot and leg soaking!  Not to mention avoiding the algae covered slippery rocks!!

From Dry Crossing Falls, we followed a rough route, the Sawblade Bike Trail, further downstream to arrive at what is becoming a fairly common local hiking destination, Sawblade Falls.  About 30 minutes or so and we arrived at Sawblade falls.  2 waterfalls hike-42 waterfalls hike-5

Our plan was to eat lunch at Sawblade Falls and then head over to a couple of other falls on the way back to the car.  What with the cooler weather, and a strong wet cool spray coming off the falls, we found a less exposed area behind a few trees where we could hear them but not see them and hunkered down and enjoyed our lunch. Here’s a video I took of the falls before we ate.

After lunch, and enjoying a last bit of falls viewing, we decided to forego the other falls and made our way back to the car to conclude a lovely day spent with friends and falls.  A parting shot of Sawblade falls as we head back out.2 waterfalls hike-6

Just a bit of warning; if you’ve never hiked this area before, most of these hikes start at a gate that is just a few hundred metres from a gun club so you often hear loud blasts of gunfire while you’re walking.  But once you get far enough along, the gunshots diminish and forest sounds take over.

And just because you’ve been so patient, here’s another gusher we visited a few weeks ago in the Squamish area, Crooked Falls.  Check out this video, too.crooked falls-1

We do like our waterfalls and there are so many lovely ones here in BC.

Until next time,

keep rambling.

Rich

Enlightenment

Coquitlam, lights, photography, water, , , , ,

Every year from around the end of November to around the end of January, a local park, Lafarge Lake, puts on a festival of lights that goes around the whole lake. We finally made it to this year’s display with a couple of friends on the last day!  It’s quite the scene. I’m told that each year there are more lights and the displays are all constructed by volunteers.

Here’s a few photos from my LG50 not-always-as-smart-as-they-want-us-to-think phone.

lafarge-lights-11lafarge-lights-10lafarge-lights-1lafarge-lights-2lafarge-lights-3lafarge-lights-9lafarge-lights-6lafarge-lights-7lafarge-lights-5lafarge-lights-4

Next year, I’ll take the real camera and a tripod and do it justice.  It’s quite beautiful. These pics just give you a quick sampling.

Enjoy,

Rich

Gatensbury Rd Safety: A little step forward

Coquitlam, Gatensbury Rd, politics, Port Moody, , , ,

Last night I attended the Port Moody City Council meeting because I noticed on the agenda that there was an item about banning commercial truck traffic from Gatensbury Road.

Item 9.5a – Gatensbury Road, Commercial Heavy Truck Ban

Since I have taken on the task of helping to keep the safety of our road on Council’s agenda until we see significant improvements in that direction, I felt obliged to attend.

I was also tired of hearing complaints from my step daughters about how dark it is walking up the hill from St. John’s Street in the evening.  They kept talking about how the street lights only seem to work sporadically and come on and off with no warning and how they are often in the dark, literally, when they walk home. They have resorted to wearing colourful flashing lights to help ensure they are seen by oncoming drivers.  In particular, the 2 sharp curves are especially lacking in lighting.

So, during the public input session at the beginning of the meeting I thanked them for considering the truck issue and mentioned about the street lights and how they don’t seem to be working well enough to light the street for our night time pedestrians to feel safe.

The response pleasantly surprised me.  The Mayor looked behind him at where the staff sat, indicated that transportation would deal with it, and they further assured me they would look into it immediately, like the very next day! OK!! I like that 🙂

On to the discussion of eliminating heavy truck traffic from Gatensbury Road.  In the agenda there is an excellent couple of paragraphs with background information from previous reports on Gatensbury Road.

After a bit of council discussion, the motion was unanimously approved.  Of course, enforcement is an entirely different issue but at least signage will be in place and tickets can be issued if offenders are caught.  If you’d like to listen to the discussion you can do so here.  Bottom line is that now heavy trucks can no longer assume Gatensbury Road is a route for them to transit between Coquitlam and Port Moody.

And there is a role for ordinary citizens to help ensure this comes to pass. If anyone notices a truck in violation, the recommendation is to note the license plate number and report them with a call or email to Coquitlam Bylaw Enforcement division if they are heading North to Port Moody or to the City of Port Moody Bylaw Enforcement division if they are headed South to Coquitlam.

It’s a small step forward but I’m happy to see it being taken.  My thanks – and I’m sure those of other Gatensbury Road residents – to the Mayor and Council for making this happen.

Rich