Saturday, August 21, 2010

Camping at Fort Camping

Our home in the Vancouver, British Columbia area has been Fort Camping on Brae Island in Fort Langley.

On occasion, fog would cover the campground located in the middle of the Fraser River. This morning had a particu-larly heavy fog engulfing the campground.

As the sun broke through the blanket, it created a series of rays through the woods surrounding the park. We delayed prepara-tions for the day's events and just watched the light show begin the day.

The campground is located in a provincial park, and the area of the park where we were located had plenty of open space--enough so that our "garden" of basil and parsley could get plenty of sun.

Trails totaling 1.25 miles through the woods surrounding the campground provided a cool setting for a morning walk over a portion of the park's 158 acres.

The wide, winding trails made walking an easy task and one that also had many sights hidden around several curves.







Along the banks of the island were clearings such as this one with a picnic table overlooking the Bedford Channel of the Fraser.

A new development of Arts and Crafts-style homes lined the street across the Channel.

The Channel between the town of Fort Langley and the island is the center of boating activity. Early most mornings found coaches and both individual and team rowers engaged in training sessions.

Secured along the banks, these shells, even though empty, presented a beautiful picture.



Campers at the park and day visitors took advantage of the opportunity to improve their skills in kayaking along the Channel.

Walking along the paved path on the town side of the Channel presented us with the view of the two mountain peaks called the Golden Ears.

Next to the spot for the photo above was a piling and on that was a toy airplane. While wondering who the pilot had been and what the mission was, I turned the plane, took the picture, and returned the plane to its original position.

Across the road from the entrance to the RV campground is the Kwantlen First Nations Reserve. The church is also on the Reserve.

Crossing the bridge from the island brought us to the Fort Langley Train Station. The station was built in 1915. In 1917, the station master's wife planted an extensive perennial garden as part of the Canadian Northern Railway's beautifi-cation program to enhance its rural stations.

This vehicle was stationed on the tracks next to the station. It looked very interesting, but I have been unable to locate its name or function.

The C.N. Caboose houses an operating railroad display. We missed the hours it was open.



Across the street from the station was the town barber shop--Jack the Clipper. The barber also serves as the informal information center, that is, when we went to the building where the former Information Center was, we were sent next door to the barber, who handed us a brochure and directed us to the Center's new location.

An unusual two-step process.



On one corner of the main intersection of "downtown" Fort Langley was this young man who had climbed up the traffic light pole. He saw me taking his photo and then caught up with us--and that's another story.

But we were heading into town.

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