Vancouver | Nature’s Design

Capilano Suspension Bridge_Vancouver_Canada

My travels don’t usually take me into the wilderness, but when I was in Vancouver, Canada, I couldn’t resist a day of exploring – starting with a lurching, swaying, suspension bridge high above the Capilano River. 

The Capilano suspension bridge hangs about 200 feet above the river, and stretches 500 feet across. 

As I embarked, this man was hurrying back to the entrance, muttering to himself that there was no way he was going to do this. 

Capilano Suspension Bridge_North Vancouver_British Columbia_Canada

(I’m not typically afraid of heights, but even I found myself hanging onto the railing as the bridge rocked back and forth.)

The view to the river below was breathtaking.

CapilanoSuspension Bridge_North Vancouver_British Columbia_Canada

The bridge led into the trees on the other side, where a series of smaller bridges swagged from tree to tree.  Scurrying up and down and over and under among the towering trees made me feel like I was ten years old again.

Capilano Suspension Bridge_North Vancouver_British Columbia_Canada

Capilano Suspension Bridge_North Vancouver_British Columbia_Canada

Capilano Suspension Bridge_North Vancouver_British Columbia_Canada

Circular steps led up to a wooden walkway that hung, via cables, from the side of a rocky cliff.

Capilano Suspension Bridge_North Vancouver_British Columbia_Canada

Capilano Suspension Bridge_North Vancouver_British Columbia_Canada

A cantilevered platform jutted out over the ravine.

Capilano Suspension Bridge_North Vancouver_British Columbia_Canada

The late British fashion designer, Alexander McQueen once said, “There is no better designer than nature.”  I looked over the raiilng at nature’s design…

I gazed down at the intricate patterns of delicate, wispy ferns growing out of the craggy rock face.

Capilano Suspension Bridge_Vancouver_Canada

I glanced up at the dazzling sun glinting through the canopy of shadowy leaves.

Capilano Suspension Bridge_Vancouver_Canada

I contemplated, and committed to memory, the countless shades of green before me, and was grateful for the ability to be inspired as a designer – even standing on a precipice in a Canadian forest.

Capilano Suspension Bridge_Vancouver_Canada

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy, is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way…but to the eyes of the imagination, nature is imagination itself.”

William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, painter, and printmaker

Capilano Suspension Bridge_Vancouver_Canada

Capilano Suspension Bridge
3735 Capilano Rd
North Vancouver, BC
Canada
www.capbridge.com

One response to “Vancouver | Nature’s Design”

  1. Orlene

    You’re so brave!!  All those people on the bridge at the same time and the swaying back and forth would have been just a WEE bit un-nerving for me!  But if you want to see the best of nature’s beauty, you sometimes have to be willing to go off the beaten path.  : )