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»Row Your BoatBurnaby Lake an Urban Oasisby: Gwen Pawlikowski
Burnaby Lake is a small, miraculous place of sanctuary in the middle of a crowd. This lake, smack in the middle of suburban Burnaby, BC and not far away from Deer Lake, is fairly close to the shopping mecca Metrotown in the city centre. However, the hustle and activity of Metrotown is a world away from Burnaby Lake. Unlike Deer Lake, no houses hover on the shoreline. And even with the proximity to the Trans Canada Highway, any traffic noise is muted by the sound of birds and gently lapping water. After we'd plunked our canoe in the (pretty shallow) water off the pier at Piper Spit on the lake's north side, we rowed ourselves into a quiet and almost people-free experience. Hard to believe that we were surrounded on every side by two million Greater Vancouver residents. You don't feel it or hear them at all, although a friend from Langley suggests my ears are desensitized by the noise of living in the midst of all those people. Nevertheless, canoeing in the middle of Burnaby Lake leaves you with the sensation of canoeing in the isolation of a lake way up in Northern BC. It's really not much short of a miracle. The only down side is the long walk from the parking lot to the place where you put the canoe in. It's verging on almost too far. Nevertheless, we parked. We had a small picnic in a cosy, treed area near the nature house and washrooms. We forced the kids to use the washroom prior to canoeing and off we went. On the way to the pier, we interacted with families of geese with their young and a curious chipmunk. This was a highlight for the kids. Burnaby Lake, about 5 km from end to end, has a dreamy, enchanted feeling because of an abundance of lily pads. The kids enjoyed hanging their hands over the edge and grabbing these graceful, long-stemmed water weeds. And speaking of graceful and long, we saw some amazing long-legged birds that looked like Burnaby's answer to Florida's flamingos. Herons? These birds were gray-brown in colour, but with striking big wings and long beaks. Note to self: buy book on North American birds for identification purposes. At the other end of Burnaby Lake we found an abandoned set of aging bleachers formerly used for audiences of the city's rowing club races. It was easy to imagine people enjoying a beautiful day on the waterfront cheering on their favourite rower. Another note to self: explore the history of Burnaby's rowing club and find out what happened to that ghostly setting.The future of the lake, meanwhile, points to change. A proposed provincial government plan won endorsement during the recent election to improve the lake through dredging. I guess this will clear out some of the muck and the weeds, along with the enchanted feeling we liked so much. 
We spent about three hours at the lake, lazily taking our time paddling, looking at the beaver dams and trying to coax a few fish onto the line…without success. It was an easy canoe trip and we went from one end to the other. All in all, a sunny Sunday afternoon where we felt relaxed and revitalized by this calm, surprisingly-urban, sanctuary. For additional information on wildlife viewing at Burnaby Lake Regional Park, go to Greater Vancouver Viewing Sites or GVRD Burnaby Lake Site. |