Did you know that the word "sandero" translates to "path"? Of course, "diez vistas" means "ten views," so Sandero Diez Vistas means "path with ten views." Our latest ramble was to follow the Sandero Diez Vistas trail as it zig-zagged up to Buntzen Ridge, where we were treated to spectacular views of Indian Arm and the Fannin Range. It was a little tricky finding the first view, and for a while we were afraid we had made a wrong turn as we started a descent without seeing views #2-10. However, our intrepid trail-finder, Ruth, had taken us exactly where we needed to go to end up back on the ridge. As we stepped out onto a large outcropping of rock, we looked at each other and smiled--here was the view we had been anticipating! We each found a spot to settle into and pulled out our lunches. From here we could see downtown Vancouver, English Bay, Burrard Inlet, Indian Arm, Balcarra, Jug Island and Deep Cove. Ruth pointed out the three peaks of Seymour (which she had hiked with Diana a few years ago), Richard pointed out Quarry Rock, and Ingrid pointed out a snake sunning itself only an arm's length from where she was sitting.
The downhill slog was perhaps more of a challenge than the heart-pumping ascent--especially for anyone with creaky joints (Linda), and it seemed that we were going down forever. At every turn of the trail, we were grateful for the trailblazers who had marked the trail with small, neon-orange squares nailed strategically on trees to guide us. The dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy made the world seem a little more 3-dimensional. Eventually we noticed the salal had given way to hardhack, foxglove, and bunch-berry (dwarf dogwood), and we knew we were close to our journey's end. We made our way across a short suspension bridge to the North Beach of Buntzen Lake, then took a quick outhouse break and moved on south.
We were exhausted but jubilant when we finally returned to the car. It had been more than seven hours since we had first consulted the trail map to begin our ramble. Check out our pictures by clicking on the link to the right.
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