Linley Valley Forest Trail, Nanaimo

Linley Valley Forest Trail, Nanaimo, is a refreshing naturalized area to come to when you need to blow the cobwebs out of your head.

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If you like sampling berries as you walk, go here for a stroll. These huckleberries, thimble berries, and small wild raspberries are out now in July. Salmon berries are ripening, and next month there will be blackberries. My dog, Bear, and I went this week, and I had a berry feast!

Linley Valley Forest Trail is in the centre of the city of Nanaimo. I parked in a new residential development at the peak of Rutherford Road, where there are signs at the entrance to the trail. Dogs on leash. Use poopy bags (provided there, alongside a garbage can). A map of the area. Facts about the flora and fauna. The trail by this lily pond even has illustrated story boards along the way, about a bird who went for a walk with her friends. Cute.

We started mid afternoon, strolling and feasting slowly for an hour or two. On the way back I was glad to rest on a bench by the pond as the sun lit up the trees and undergrowth in golden shades. Couples, singles, children and families came out with dogs of all kinds on leashes. A boy on a bicycle called his dacshound named Ava, just as a family with a little girl named Ava approached. Must be a popular name these days. I’ve noticed there are more ‘Ada’s around too. When I was growing up I hated my names, Pearl Ada, because nobody I knew had those kind of names. And there was funny old Aunt Pearl on the Beverly Hillbillies. How embarrassing! I’m glad these old-fashioned names are making a bit of a comeback. Now I like mine. And I’ve become Aunt Pearl and I like that too.

It’s another new favourite place for me. Maybe we’ll run into each other there sometime. Hope so!