Central Valley Greenway - Welcome Home Traditional Cache
Central Valley Greenway - Welcome Home
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Fairly easy find on a very nice trail
Central Valley Greenway
This is a 24km bike/walking route travelling from Westminster Quay in New Westminster to Science World in Vancouver. It had its grand opening on June 27 though parts of the route still need some further work. The route is completely marked, and at the least there a separate marked bike lane. It is now managed by Translink which has a separate webpage with maps. (visit link)
History
The route started many years ago – before the Millennium Line Skytrain was even thought of - with an idea by an intrepid cyclist who daily commuted between New Westminster and Vancouver. The Francis/Union/Adanac bike routes were in existence but anyone who has ridden them know that there is a lot of up and down. This cyclist believed there must be a better way – after all there is a valley, and there are roads. It took over a year but finally he had the route. Some of it ran through parking lots, some along a dirt “trail”, and included a very scary crossing under Willingdon (notes at the time said not to go there alone, or at night). This became a project of the Vancouver Area Cycling Committee who tried to bring public awareness to the project. They ran annual guided tours (guides were necessary). Amazingly the final route is fairly close to the initial route.
The project finally came into the limelight when in 2001 BEST (Better Environmentally Sound Transportation) applied for and won – through member voting - the Van City award of $1 million to facilitate the construction of the route by bringing together all the various levels of government and helping to secure funding.
I have created a bookmark list of caches that are either on the Greenway, or a short detour off it. Please be advised that bicycles are not permitted anywhere on trails in Burnaby Lake Regional Park. You can access the caches by parking your bike nearby and walking in.
For a nice family outing you may ride one way, then take Skytrain back to your start point. The route generally follows the Millennium Skytrain line so you are fairly close to a station at most times if you wish to shorten your trip. For very energetic people, you can start at either end and take the BC Parkway trail one way along the Expo Line and return along the Greenway to your start point.
The Greenway is a celebration of persistence, and the idea that one person can make a difference.
About the Cache:
This is located on by far the nicest section of the CVG, travelling along the Brunette River. There is some street parking available close to the Cariboo RV park just off Cariboo Rd. The river was named by Robert Burnaby who led an expedition up the river to Burnaby Lake under the orders of Colonel Richard Moody in March, 1859. He was impressed by the colour of the water, brown from flowing over peat at the lake. The Sapperton Fish and Game Club have been working on the Brunette River for 40 years to bring it back to life. Check out the history of their triumphs and bitter disappointments along the way. (visit link)
The cache is located just off the main trail, on a well defined side path. There is no need to take more than a couple of steps up off the path to retrieve the cache. Walk just a little further along the path where you will come across a beautiful spot along Stoney Creek. This is a spawning bed for returning salmon – hence the cache name. Though there are several spots for a cache here, all would require searching off trail in this sensitive area. So enjoy the area but stay on the trail, and keep your four legged friends out of the water. Check out the information signage just east of the cache detailing some cool riparian planting undertaken in 2006. The Stoney Creek Environmental Committee is also very involved in this area
The cache is a camoed large pill bottle on a side trail very close to the main path. You will not need to go any farther off trail than one giant step.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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