Accessibility Check – Cheakamus Nature Trails, March 25

Posted onAuthorswallow

Carl Halvorson did a great deal of work to help ensure that the Cheakamus Centre nature trails would be accessible for people with mobility devices who wanted to join the March 26 nature outing. Carl raked trail surfaces, chopped away big roots, filled dips, and widened the trail at sharp corners. The bridges were already wide enough, and Carl made sure they would be safe by clearing away thick moss that could be slippery, by evening out approaches, and by widening some areas.

Carl invited us to try a test run on Saturday so he’d have a chance to resolve any issues before the official outing on Sunday.  Ed uses a mobility scooter with tires that have about 8 cm of tread in contact with the ground. The only problem we had during our test run was caused by the type of crushed rock used at one bridge: it did not provide good traction in a spot where Ed had to make a 90 degree turn.  Fortunately, a little muscle power loaned by Carl solved the problem.  Some parts of the trail surface were a bit muddy but because the trails are supported by gravel we had no problem. Our opinion is that someone with a self-propelled wheelchair would be able to negotiate most of the trails. Some areas would take extra effort because of the nature of the surfaces, and the crushed rock that gave Ed problems just wouldn’t work for someone in a manual wheelchair. The route we took was just over 2.5 km: that could be tiring and shorter loops would be available.

My favourite photo shows Carl ankle-deep in the creek, after he ran across so he could hunker down and use his phone to shoot a video of Ed driving across one of the bridges. We had fun.

Thanks, Carl!

Gwen

  • He sloshed his way back across the stream to the trail after shooting his video.
  • Can anyone tell us about these?
  • This evergreen rush is common along stream banks. The cell walls of this species are impregnated with silicon dioxide and the plants were used by coastal First Nations peoples for polishing wooden objects.
  • This fern can be found in moist areas growing on tree trunks and branches. Their rhizomes (spreading stems or root stalks) are licorice-flavoured and were chewed for flavour by many First Nations peoples. You can find this fern growing on tree trunks along the east side of Logger's Lane near Brennan Park.
  • This beautiful little waterfall is the only one on the Cheakamus Centre property.
  • These late-run salmon provided food for eagles, black bear, and wolves.
  • Leaves of this moss are transversely wavy and abruptly squared off at tip. So much along these trails is covered with thick moss.
  • This Pacific Northwest form of the Hairy Woodpecker has grey-brown back and underparts.
  • "This winter we had a really great late Coho run. The fish were thissssssss big!"
  • ... while Ed was riding his scooter over the bridge opposite. Note that Carl's pants are wet almost to his knees because of sloshing across the creek to get a good angle for the shot!
  • This photo shows the carefully-prepared trail surface through the floodplain forest.
  • Carl's father logged in this very part of the Cheakamus Centre property over 60 years ago.