Stanley Park trees

This topic required a post of its own. They truly are amazing, these trees. With the temperate climate, and warm winters as well as the moisture, they are massive. Their rich, green mossy bark is a feast for the eyes. In the centre of the park is Hollow Tree. You can see me standing within the rotted trunk.
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We took a horse and wagon ride. We were taught about a Nursing Stump by our tour guide. This is a broken tree trunk which hosts a seeding. The seedling grows, throws roots overboard, and as the old trunk disintegrates, carries on.

On Dec. 15, 2006, they lost nearly 10,000 trees to a massive storm. This amounts to 5 - 10% of all trees in the park. The feds and provincial governments donated money, as did billionaire Jimmy Pattison. It took $9.5 million. There were 120 km/hr winds and pounding waves. It took a year to reopen the Stanley Park seawall, clearing debris.

The trees were chopped in half, set upright again, to minimize the damage. Finally, 18,000 new trees were planted to restore the park to some semblance of normal. The bonus has been these nursing stumps, which host new seedlings, as well as provide a home to birds.

Stanley Park - nursing stump from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Stanley Park is a beautiful spot!

Stanley park was fabulous, as ever, but I managed to contract a bad case of blisters, despite wearing my trusty Birkenstocks, and managed to have hugely swollen feet to add to the fun.
You can see the city of Vancouver across the water. There is lots of flora and fauna about. A super spot to visit, so close to the city, with great transportation.

Down at the beach, a seagull had caught a catfish. The crow thought it might like it, too!

Apparently, there have been thefts from cars. When we entered, they stopped us, and told us to remove all valuables, and leave this sign on the seat! A lot of people pop in, jog, or go biking, and the bad guys prey on them. There are a few people hawking their goods or busking.