Pacific Spirit

14 January - Wrote a very long post all about today but somehow it disappeared. Very disappointing as it means i'm going to have to try to recall all the wit and wry comments that just flowed earlier on in the evening. Planned to see a bit of the outdoors today and headed out to Pacific Spirit park at UBC. Took a while to find the entrance to the walking trails from the bus stop but a couple of nice dog walkers set me in the right direction. Apparently the park was extensively logged years ago but it's all grown back, despite being a very young forest it still certainly appeared to be pretty wild. Not the roughest terrain i've traversed by any means, the walking was pretty easy although there were a few vertical staircases built down to the seaside which got my heart pumping a wee bit. Saw lots of squirrels and a beaver dam but no beavers and one woman who I accidentallystartled made note of her relief that I wasn't a bear so i'm presuming there are black bears in the region as well (obviously didn't see any though). Whilst walking along the Spanish trail I did come across two black dogs who crossed my path - they weren't very big and they weren't very vicious so i've got to presume that they hadn't been trained by Nazi soldiers to attack and rape the locals into submission but you never know. However, their owner did seem to be a little bit Aryan, so you never know. Wreck Beach was very picturesque, very calm and with pebbles for most of the coastline although there was some rather grey sand at some points. There was a sign that said that clothing was optional at a couple of points but I think that the 3 degree weather convinced the beachgoers that it wasn't the best way of enjoying the seaside that day. However the cold weather didn't stop a fair multitiude of hippies/homeless setting up temporary residences alongthe shore. Every good day has to have something go wrong and for me it was the loss of my camera case somewhere along Wreck beach. I retraced my steps and had no luck which was kind of annoying but at least it wasn't the camera itself. Took a while to find my way to the bustop get home but made it in time for a screening of 'Escape From New york', a classic set in the post apocalyptic world of 1988 New York where the president of the usa has an English accent and wields a machine gun and is a stellar example of Kurt russell's actingand mullet weilding abilities. Also went out to one of the local drinkingholes for a few pitchers with one of the housemates and came home later than i'd planned.