July 26, 2004
On Top of the World - Cypress Mountian on Parks Day
In honor of national parks day, I went to the very local and very busy Cypress Provincial Park. Parking meters have been added to all the picnic and parking areas on the mountain. This is the story of my weekend...
But before I get to Cypress, I would like to take a moment to bask in the success that this project has had. We received news from the provincial government that they are going to spend $4.2 million to fix the trails that were closed due to lack of maintenance, like the one at Bear Creek (sorry, I forget it's name) and the Engineer Loop trail at the West Gate. This is great news. However, I see it as a crumb. We want the whole cookie. So the tour continues. Let's see if we can't end the user fees and get the proper parks budget reinstated. I like to envision that there is a team of crack government strategists scheming about what kind of damage control they can do to stop the impact of our campaign. Then I image that they're becoming quite vexed at how we're frustrating they're efforts to privatize the parks.
Now, I don't want to seem ho-hum about Cypress because it's a very nice place. We saw a lot of hawks and some baldheaded eagles and even a grouse with chicks. However, it was parks day and at the mountaintop there were all kinds of interpretive hikes and activities and merrymaking. We, meanwhile, were assigned to setup down at the look out. So no hiking or big fun for us. Nope. Just a booth in a little pullover and lots of talking to people who were stopping to check out the view of the city.
By the way, no one pays for the parking in this lot. Maybe that's why everyone I talked to would sign the petition. The meter is the next best thing to invisible. Our booth couldn't be set up in a very central place, so I did a lot of walking and more than enough burning.
Also notable is that no one seems to check whether or not people pay for parking in this lot. I'm sure it has happened. But it didn't happen while I was there. I did see a provincial parks employee while I was there (a mighty endangered species!). He was a nice guy (they almost always are). He let me know he was one of just two provincial employees left to monitor five parks. His department used to have six people and one less park. I guess that's the Liberals idea of 'progress'. He was happy to see us trying to improve the situation.
Being so close to the city, we met a fair share of WCWC members, which is nice. Committee members are always good for conversation (a least at a booth; door-to-door is a mixed bag. If you didn't know, I've spent the last two and a half years as a WCWC canvasser). They're such an eager bunch, wanting to know how this project is going and if we're going to get involved in that issue, such and such, with some whatnot. I've never thought that much about the RAV line but, yeah, the Arbutus corridor does seem to make more sense. And on the whole sea-to-sky tunnel versus 4-lane highway thing, Mayor Wood sure sounds like he's making stuff up. Environmental impact? I'm not convinced that's the biggest concern for the West Van city council. Ah, infrastructure: the debate rages on.
I'd like to thank Andy and Sean for volunteering their time on this project. The heat made doing the whole job by myself difficult, so you guys really made it possible.
And, honestly, though the location wasn't as exotic as some of the other spots I've been, after being away from home for so long, being able to go back to my apartment at the end of the day and just relax with my girlfriend is a nice thing.
Golden Ears is next.
