by Amanda Lynn Stubley
Recently, I was in Vancouver, BC for a few days off. I set the goal of walking on the celebrated Vancouver Seawall, a path beside the Pacific Ocean. The Seawall goes all over downtown but started on the western perimeter of Stanley Park, apparently as a masonry to prevent erosion along steep banks and cliffs.
I wanted to walk the most isolated part of the Wall, which is on the northern part of the park where it abuts Burrard Inlet. Specifically I wanted to walk the path as it runs under the Lions Gate Bridge, surely about 100 metres above. That’s the path I would look down at as I rode the West Vancouver blue bus to downtown as a teen. It somehow symbolized both a wilderness and an urban sophistication for me, a kid from a logging town who had taken a ferry to go to the Big City for the day.
So we set out from our English Bay hotel and walked the route. It was a bright day and very busy initially, but lightened up as we got deeper into Stanley Park.
We received some deeply tragic news the night before, so walking turned into a solace. The brisk air, the looming North Shore mountains, the steady ocean current – they were what we needed in that moment. And I made my goal, and I am so glad.
I’m curious – do you have any fun or meaningful urban walking dreams? Now I’m hungry for more.
I love going on walks that blend the urban and the natural. I love walking the river valley pathways in the cities around me.