We hadn't visited the Fraser Valley for a long time so it seemed a good time to see what had changed in the last few years. We met at Guildford Park-and-Ride to carpool and headed off for Old Matsqui Village. We took the freeway to Abbotsford and north on Highway 11 almost to the Abbotsford-Mission Bridge. A left on Harris Road and a right on Riverside Street took us into Old Matsqui. We parked in Matsqui Prairie Park on the right and crossed the road to wait for the 8:50 bus.

A young woman in a wheelchair was also waiting and after the driver had boarded her and strapped her in, we also got on. The bus took us into the Abbotsford bus station where we changed onto a Blueridge bus. In due course the bus took off, with leisurely stops from time to time to make sure it was never early. Eventually we got off where the bus left Townline Road to go onto Blueridge Crescent.

Our walk now started, heading north on Townline Road. The next five kilometres offered a gentle stroll through peaceful farm fields, devoted to horses, pasture and crops. We continued on the northbound road until it reached a T-junction. There we turned left and followed Olund Road as it headed west and then bent to continue north and reach Harris Road. We crossed and entered Douglas Taylor Park (formerly Olund Park). Here Trans Canada Trail signs pointed us to Matsqui Trail and we followed the bark-mulched trail until it forked into two. Somewhere along here I noticed a sign saying Danger- Flooding tbut had no idea that it referred to what we would meet some two kilometres further on.The left hand route at the fork followed Trans Canada Trail west to Mount Lehman. The right hand one was Matsqui Trail that would lead us east to Old Matsqui and the Abbotsford-Mission Bridge.

The trail took us through Matsqui Nation grasslands where one tree couldn't decide whether to be a cedar or a poplar. We then dropped down Coligny Creek ravine to the Fraser River. Early on in this travel, we happened to see a gap in the vegetation under a tree on the right and, bending down to look through, we saw a completely inaccessible picnic table. What it was doing there we couldn't imagine and what made us look into the gap to see it I don't know. However, when we reached the spot offering the first glimpse of the river, the picnic table I had remembered (and had planned to use for today's lunch) was no longer there. We decided to wait which meant that we didn't eat until after the first few of the great floods that were about to come.

Not much later,we met the first sign of flood trouble. A large puddle opened up in front of us with no way round it, the water continuing into marshy areas on both sides. We decided to go through and it went up to just below the knees. The next puddle was larger but we felt we couldn't go back now. Finally we reached a monster body of water which seemed to be an arm of the Fraser River. A notice reported Danger - Do Not Enter but there was a set of rails at the side and we gave it a go - Anke of course in the lead. When the rails ended, the first step was down into deep water but it shallowed out quite quickly. We were surprised after each wetting to find how quickly we seemed to dry, even the inside of the boots feeling quite comfortable still. From here we followed the path round, going under the railway line to emerge at a small shingle plant at the river's edge. Continuing on the trail, we reached the dike and a farm at Glenmore Road. This was Matsqui Trail's western end in the days before Trans Canada Trail.

We walked on the dry dike for a while, opting to stay with it and pass by a sewage treatment plant. Soon a Danger - Do Not Enter notice appeared but we were too far gone to care. I went through the water and Anke more sensibly clambered along the rocks of the retaining wall to keep a little drier. We got past this segment but arriving between the plant entrance's chain link fence and the river, we met another flood. Clambering over a fence, we managed to bypass the flood and, climbing back further on, re-enter the trail. A little further, we found a new metallic floating structure moored at the riverbank, apparently used in fishing or dredging. We went onto it and had lunch, enjoying views up and down the river.

Contiuing after lunch, we followed the path through trees until we were stopped by the mother of all lakes which appeared impossible to cross. However, wading in water up to our knees and staying close to the bushes on the right we made it round the flood's edge to a point where we could exit to a clear raised dike. Now it was clear dry walking, floods to the left, farm fields to the right, until we reached Mission Bridge Bar Park. We scampered down to picnic tables at the water's edge to finish lunch, then read the notices about great floods of earlier years. I took a short-cut back to the car via Tall Road and Beaton Road but it turned out to be a long cut instead. However, having dried as we walked, we reached the car happy.
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