“Where? I’ve been to 50 countries and never heard of this place” said lady from Vancouver who instantly reached for her phone to search the Great Bear Rain Forest.
You can’t get to the largest coastal rain forest that stretches from the south of British Colombia all the way up to Alaska traversing along a combination of fjords, islands and estuaries without passing through the darkness of the natural resources industry at one of the port cities. I was headed to Kitimat, a port city an hour and a half away from Vancouver with a population of a little under 8,300 “carved out of the forest” by Alcan in the early 1950s to build an aluminum smelter. In 2007, Alcan, a Canadian aluminum manufacturing company was purchased for billions $$ by Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining and metals company. It wasn’t only the aluminum guys who thought the Haisla Islands were rich in natural resources (I’ll get on to that later), LNG Canada constructed a huge terminal (includes investments from Asia and EU) to begin exporting LNG to the rest of the world in 2025 via the Douglas Channel, we were going to cross. So they built one of the largest liquefaction facilities in Canada on the promise of a growing GDP, jobs, ships and of course traffic on land and at sea by locals, tourists, wildlife and container ships fighting for the right of way.
I landed in Seattle after a 14 hour flight and took the 3 hour Amtrak bus to Vancouver with a bunch of college students and a junkie because I thought we were going to be driving along the beautiful coast looking out at islands and the homes of the 1%. Instead it was rows of smokestacks and containers while listening to the murmurs of some guy FaceTiming his family back home in Hindi and the junkie talking to herself.
But first, Vancouver
My plan was to relax and hike the marathon route because it gives a different angle and some points of interest are “off the beaten track”. So I broke down the kilometers over the next few days. These two weeks were supposed to be a down week because I completed a 10k training program in Dubai’s severe summer for no particular race.
Day 1
I crossed the dead steep Burrard Street Bridge and headed towards 4th and Cornwall Avenue zig zagging between the two because I was mesmerized by the modern houses overlooking English Bay while walking through the parks. It was another 5kms to University of British Colombia (UBC) the unexciting route took me along rows and rows of houses where I felt like a creep in what was clearly a mid to upper class residential neighborhood. The nature was beautiful but I had to stop this self flagellating walking tour pronto, the hunger pangs kicked in, I could not find an open cafe close by. So I called an UBER and headed to KINGYO, a Japanese restaurant on Demian Street followed by walking in and out of the shops on Robson Street. The food was delicious, I went back again.
You absolutely need a car.
Total distance: 17.6kms
Day 2
I ran 6kms out and back from my hotel in Yale Town along Cooper Park, Creekside Park, Science World and Hinge Park that lined False Creek. Although it wasn’t part of the marathon route, the beautiful reflection of inverted glassy buildings over placid waters was no different to my early morning run views in Dubai.
In the afternoon, I head to Lulu island in Richmond to set sail across the Staight of Georgia and the Gulf Islands from Steveston, an old fishing village and port where canned salmon was exported until the 1990s. Up until Mr Steves arrived in 1877, it was populated by the First Nations for thousands of years. More settlers started buying land and building more canneries because commerce supersedes and they probably thought they could run the canneries better than the natives despite it being their source of food and income for hundreds of years. To cut a long story short, Steves aspirations are now National Historic Sites, Steveston is populated with Japanese Canadians, and Lulu Island is named after Lulu the showgirl by Major General Richard Moody who founded British Colombia and was the first British Governor of the Falklands Islands founding the capital Port Stanley.
We sailed over choppy waters out to the Strait of Georgia, it took around 45 minutes to get to the Salish Sea that’s supposed to be a playground for Orcas, Humpback and Grey Whales. We had the most amazing encounter with a friendly humpback whale spy hopping (poking its head out of the water) right next to our zodiac (inflatable rescue boat). We spent some time with a couple of humpbacks surfacing every now and then before we sailed off to Gabriola Island . We hung around a bunch of rocks carpeted with Steller and California Sea Lions, some cooling off in the water until we saw humpback blows and breaches from afar so we zoomed away and went after them.
Total distance: 14.1kms (includes the run)
Day 3
I was not going to leave without visiting Stanley Park and China Town. Stanley Park is on the marathon route and on every recommendation list because of the seawall, towering lush trees, lagoons and totem poles that represent the deep history and culture of the park. The 1858 Gold Rush was a game changer and attracted the Chinese (among others) to immigrate to Vancouver and then construct the Canadian Pacific Railway. I usually poke my nose around China Towns when I visit big cities especially for the dim sum, but also to check out the left over architecture of what once was. I thought with the presence of multi generational Chinese Canadians, this will be unique.
Rather than taking it easy, I ran along the coast to Stanley Park from Yaletown and back via downtown during the morning rush hour justifying my decision by thoughts of how I was going to be sitting around for the next 8 days. Later, I took a cab to China Town without much research because I wanted to wander aimlessly. I was dropped off by the Millennium Gate where I walked around for a bit until I was totally put off by the eerie vibe of abandonment, run down buildings and people ‘on a trip’ hanging around empty shops gesticulating frantically, some looked unconscious, others yelling.. There was a park somewhere and a museum but bums were crawling everywhere, I immediately jumped in an Uber and went to the mall downtown.
In the afternoon I was on a quest to find the closest coin laundry, Davie Village topped the list. The district was London Soho on steroids. I didn’t expect it, I just wanted to do laundry. Dopeheads were everywhere even at the laundry which was next to a “bookstore” I thought was an unsuspicious independent book and art store but was known for something else. Its proud owner walking around, I know because his photo was on the mural. It was 4pm, I didn’t know where else to go. I turned up the heat. As a result my clothes shrunk.
The words of a snarky acquaintance who rolled his eyes when I said I was visiting Vancouver en route to the Great Bear Rain Forest echoed in my ear over and over again, “What are you going to do for 3 days in Vancouver, it’s too long”
Total distance: 15.6kms (includes 10kms run)
CRAYSCAPE 
It is always a delight to read about your most recent choice of adventure, Sarah, as it never fails to surprise me. The distances you do on foot, either walking and/or running, is truly impressive. It is also such a great way to experience a place, instead of through the window of a car.
Thanks so much for your kind words, I enjoy running around cities and visiting unusual places on the marathon route. It’s fascinating and I was lucky to come across wonderful views..
Looks like things are progressing your side on the land – so happy for you and silence is a big blessing! As you know it’s rare in Dubai..
I will post some more – wish you warmth and joy for the holidays!
Yip, Dubai and Abu Dhabi practically hums all the time. I’m looking forward to those posts. Enjoy the pleasant winter weather of the UAE.