Waterfront Renaissance Trail

It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday and amazingly no water came down from the sky. A perfect day to do some bike riding. Downtown Vancouver sits on the north bank of the Columbia River. Consequently, riding on the waterfront trail offered us some beautiful views of the river. We stopped for a little while on a pier to  talk to several men who were fishing there.There were a lot of small boats on the river, quite unusual for it being a weekday. We soon came to find out that the salmon were running!  We saw one man come up from his boat with three of them.

The trail seemed to have a surprise waiting for us at its every bend and curve. True, there are many condos, hotels and restaurants along this trail, but they still did not seem to take away from the beauty of the waterfront.  And there was only one place on this trail where we got this spectacular view of Mt. Hood.

Along the way we passed by the Kaiser Shipyards(not in operation today). During World War 11 these shipyards turned out more than 140 ships. About 20,000 people were employed here, half of them women. Remember Rosie the Riveter? Along the trail there is a monument to the many women who joined the work force at the shipyards.

 There was another historical monument on the trail;  a tribute to the Native Americans, especially one female by the name of Ilchee, also know as the moon girl.

Legend has it that she had the powers of a shaman and paddled her own canoe- something only the chiefs did. That story packs more meaning into something my mother always told me: "love many,trust few, always paddle your own canoe". She must have know Ilchee!   The last leg of our journey took us through some wetlands. I could wax eloquent on the blooming spring foliage; birds swooping and singing around us, but I will spare my readers on that. Suffice it for me to say that we had a fantastic bike ride along the riverfront.