Lighthouse Park, West Vancouver.

The overall impression: hills and mountain trails.

I had expected something flatter with a towering lighthouse visible from afar.

I did find the lighthouse, even managed to capture it from a distance through the trees.

But it’s pleasant here. It feels slightly warmer in this spot compared to, say, downtown Vancouver. Perhaps the uneven terrain and the effort of navigating the elevation changes add to the warmth.

There are many trees—this is essentially a primeval forest, as mentioned on one of the informational signs.

There are lots of narrow side trails where you need to tread very carefully.

You’ll encounter plenty of visitors, nature lovers like yourself.

Some even managed to have a snack on an open rock above the sea, overlooking a couple of yachts.

I even caught a few glimpses of sunshine.

As you walk down toward the lighthouse from the road, you can see how trees grow directly on the rocks, tightly gripping them with their roots.

There are some very old trees. One of the signs shows a “tree cookie,” where 1,448 rings were counted.

Can you imagine everything that has happened in different corners of the planet while this spot remained much the same? Only the trees were smaller. The same rocks, the same sea, the same sky.

And it will remain after us.

It feels like a timeless fragment of the Earth.

The lighthouse has stood here for 150 years.

Imagine, there were responsible people who actually lived in it.

At least they lived surrounded by nature.

Below the cliff, two motorboats sped by noisily, slicing through the waves.

You could watch that forever.

It truly feels like a natural park: few people, lots of nature.

To the left, across the expanse of water, you can see a bit of downtown, Stanley Park, and to the right, Vancouver Island.

The more overgrown trails have plenty of streams, ferns, and fallen trees, all covered by a dense canopy of tall trees.

A beautiful place for those who enjoy such spots.

If I had something like this close to where I grew up, I’d be exploring it all the time.

The overall impression: a forest by the sea