We went looking for Salmonberries

Our regular Sunday morning coffee 'date' this morning ended up a hunt 'at all cost' mission around the Burnaby (and maybe Coquitlam) area looking for an elusive 'trail head' that *used to exist*. Mister was fixated on finding himself a little Salmonberry plant to uproot and take home.

After much back and forthing across North Road, Cariboo and the Lougheed we stopped in one spot and discovered and amazing display of graffiti. After we wandered around for a bit, we got back in the car and we sorta, kinda found something promising. Although the berries were not ripe enough yet to pluck and enjoy as we walked along the path, they're all working hard to be ready as soon as possible. 

I am always left feeling a little breathless once I've stepped back onto pavement after having been navigating over lumpy roots and getting snagged by blackberry thorns along the trails. I can still feel their little tugs at my coat and cuffs as I get back in the car and head back to our concrete world. My eyes still want to gaze at the spectrum of greens nature has on display.

So where we ended up *might* have been a part of the pathways that criss-cross the Barnett River or not, I'm not sure. All I know is that it's wonderful finding such dense lush 'forest' smack in the middle of a very urbanize area. The graffiti attests to just how close to a city this forest sits. 

Speaking of graffiti...when is it art and when is it vandalism? The stuff I shot today gets a check mark in the Art column from me.

Possibly a Salmonberry but I thought their flowers only came in pink.

Cool coloured bolders!

And here's the graffiti. We couldn't figure out how people got down to that level.

How can it *not* be called art. It's beautiful!

Love the slick industrial finish on the concrete. Almost looks like steel beams.
"Bomb Squad" in blue on the left, not so cool.

It covers the whole side.

And was on every surface we saw.

We debated what this said. Neither of us are very fluent in graffiti font deciphering.

 

A random shot while looking for the elusive trail head. A basket ball hoop in a church parking lot.

Not what we were looking for but we got out and walked into the forest anyway.

Everything is fresh and new and still in its growing stage.

Baby Salmonberries.

Me getting artsy-fartsy with my exposure.

Another 'exposure' experiment with a moss covered tree. Looks like a painting.

A fernling. [I have no idea what young ferns are called].

The gravel road we wandered down and eventually wandered back up.

So, he never did uproot a berry plant. But that's okay. He would have felt bad taking it away from its home. Maybe we'll find an orphaned one by the highway or clinging to the bank of an icky ditch that would be happy to be a rescue plant.