29 - Sunday, August 28, 1988 - Lynn Valley Echo LYNN HEADWATERS park attendant Mike Ooyevaar stands on the bridge that leads from the parking lot to the beginning of the park’s many trails. : photo Tom Burtey Lynn Headwaters Park proves popular for all TWO YEARS after its opening, Lynn Headwaters Regional Park is proving a popular recreation spot for avid hikers and Sunday strollers alike. Gordon Smith, GVRD park planner, says the most recent trail counts show that from January to April of this year, attendance at the park has risen from 1,143 peo-. ple to 4,488, and now that the summer months are upon us ‘twe're very close to 10,000 per month.” “ Smith calls the park “the most wilderness park that we've got in our whole (GVRD parks) system.”* Because of the rugged terrain, Lynn Headwaters is the only GVRD park in which hikers are asked to fill out a form stating where they are going and when they expect to be back. If a car is left in the parking lot when the park closes, the park at- tendant goes through these forms and sees who has not returned the slip indicating that they have returned from their hike. Smith says that when cars are left over, it is usually because hikers have come out on Grouse Mountain and taken the bus home, or met vp with a friend and ‘‘gone for a beer” in the friend's car. However, three or four times since the opening, the Search and Rescue teams have had to be called ‘out to hunt for people who have legitimately lost their way back. While the topography is no doubt challenging to all but the most adventuresome hikers, it is easy to see why the park holds so much appeal. A 1984 GYRD pre- liminary report on the area, which notes that the Lynn valley is a land form made by glaciers over 10,000 years ago, says that the valley boasts ‘‘a remarkable array of cir- ques (valley head amphitheatres), tarns (lakes), hanging valleys, waterfalls, debris torrent tracks, taius (debris accumulation), and a small rock glacier.”’ For those, however, who are not up to steep, rocky slopes, there are _ attractive alternatives... ¢ The Lynn Loop trail, 5.39 km, Jong, is an excelent introduction to the area-and is a !% to two- hour round trip. The Cedars Mill Trail, which ‘leads off of the Lynn Loop trail, is an easy walk along the river edge, passing through the site of the Cedars Ltd. Mill, which was abandoned in 1928 when the valley became a watershed area closed to ‘the public. Relics from the mill are still in place for everyone to enjoy. Expansion of the existing trails. is planned, but Smith says that most of the trail work is dependent upon government grants. ~ He hopes the Hanes Loop trail, which runs along Hanes Creek, will be finished within two years. A planned Lynn Lake trail may not be completed, according to Smith. ‘‘We feel it is a very en- vironmentally-sensitive area,'* he explains. ‘“‘We're not encouraging too many people to tramp up there.”” Instead, the GVRD is thinking about. extending a trail past Nor- ’ yan Falls up Norvan Creek. Norvan Creek is one of Lynn Creek’s many tributaries. Lynn Creek is also fed by Lynn Lake. “It’s a very dynamic river,’’ says Smith. ‘‘Whenever you get a rain- fall in there, there’s nothing to hold the water back.’”* Lynn Valley pioneer Walter Draycott put forward the theory in the first part of this century that the source of Lynn Creek was not, as popularly supposed, a lake, but “in fact was mountain seepage from an ice body that had survived the Glacial Age. ~ Today, Smith says that if such a glacier exists, it is probably in the area of Wickenden Creek, which is _ hidden from the sun much of the time, but aerial photographs have been unable to determine... its presence. _ - In response to requests from various groups, the GVRD is also thinking about constructing a_pier on Rice Lake to facilitate the en- joyment of the lake by handi- capped people. The public can ask questions of the park attendant, who is on hand to patrol the park, field inquiries and maintain the facilities. A caretaker lives in the park and opens and closes the entry gate, but is not a park employee. 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