Mt.

“WHAT* Jack?”

THAT. Uncle

By John Moore

Contributing Writer

“Er, well, it's, FE think, that is

Taking a couple of curious kids for a hike in the local mountains can be a profoundly humbling experience. Despite a smattering of knowledge of lacal flora and fauna gained in some years of bushwhacking, their relentless questions abeut plants, rock and wildlife never fail to leave me ata loss for words and with a sharper awareness of my own lamentable ignorance about the natural envi- ronment.

.With a sigh of relief. I noted B.C. Parks has revived its summer Visitor Program at Mt. Seymour Provincial Park, offering family- oriented guided nature walks every Sunday until Sept. 28, under the direction of nuturalist Al Grass.

Nephews in tow. | hooked up with Grass on a recent Sunday and let him do the talking. (Word is oul — these walks are popular.)

Grass, a 26-year veteran of the parks service. is never at a loss for words in the woods. With a dozen of us, plus strays picked up on the trail, attracted by the voice of someone who knows what he's talking about, we made quite a party, pausing to listen to the flute- like calls of hermit thrushes and inspect —sometimes gigantic, scmetimes minute — varieties of

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Seymour guided natu

Nature’s garden

Bae : ‘. Phote John Moore

B.C. PARKS naturalist Al Grass (with backpack) leads a group through the fauna and foliage of Mt. Seymour Park on a recent Sunday afternoon. The park offers quided walks on Sundays.

vegetation pointed out by Grass. Nature shows off her skills as a landscape gardener in the alpine as nowhere else. and Mt. Seymour Provincia) Pask is an excellent and accessible venue to observe them. Venerable old-growth yellow

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cedar (a.k.a. yellow cypress) and firs dominate. (the alpine areas of Seymour were never logged). while the undergrowth is a riot of delicate ground-cover: pink and white mountain heather, false aza- lea, “Queen's cup.” Indian helle-

bore with its succulent leaves grooved to draw water down into the plant, varieties of blueberry and huckleberry.

(A huckleberry is actually a red blueberry, and if you want to pur- sue that argument, call Al Grass,

lorth Shor

re walks reveal secrets of alpine wildlife

Not me.)

Vegetation was the “theme” of our particular walk, Grass starts each walk wath a different theme (geology, wildlife, pond life, ete.) but cheerfully digresses at the drop of a question. He thrives on inquiry. a couple who'd obviously “read the books,” and let him know it, only made him more val- uble and informative.

“L love talking to people. espe- cially children,” Grass says, “If they learn about nature, ! feel it gets them on our side, They'll appreciate and take better care of our wonderful parks.”

The Sunday nature walks at Mt. Seymour take about 1% hours, starting at 1:30 p.m., ending at 3 p.m.. and depart from the main notice-board/washroom area. Just show up; bring a snack, or lunch and make a day of it, You don't need heavy hiking boots: the walks take the easier trails, but wear sen- sible walking shoes.

(You may also want to dab the bug-repellent of your choice behind your eats. The ponds and small lakes of Seymour's gentle summit make it a prime habitat for the unofficial bird of B.C. -— the Mosquito.)

Like many other provincial parks, Seymour also offers-a “Jerry's Rangers” program of chil- dren's events each Sunday morn- ing from 10:30 until noon. If you bring lunch, you'll be able to catch the 1:30 nature walk and make a full Sunday of it. ;

For more information, cali B.C. Parks at 924-2200.

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