Willband Creek Park Guided Nature Walk
This event took place in September 2023.
Spiritual Path to Awakening (SPA) & local program leader, writer, and educator Natalie Virginia Lang, B.A., B.Ed., M.A., invite lifelong learners from our community to embark with us on the Willband Creek Park Guided Nature Walk on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Willband Creek Park is an urban wetland park located in the community of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. The trail explores a marsh, grass fields, and two retention ponds. The Willband Creek Park Guided Nature Walk will take place on easy going, gravel trails that are suitable for all ages and hiking levels. Various rest points will take place throughout the 3.5KM walk where Natalie, a resident of the nearby Sumas Mountain, will read from her book “Remnants: Reveries of a Mountain Dweller” and share about the area around us; plants, trees, creeks, history, and more. Taking place on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation / Orange Shirt Day, we invite learners to wear orange with us (if desired) and the event will incorporate a land acknowledgement and Indigenous history and awareness of the area.
Willband Creek Park is a 5-minute drive from downtown Abbotsford. Free parking is available in the onsite gravel parking lot.
Bring along a reusable bottle of cold water and (optional) a small snack if desired. This event takes place outdoors, please come dressed for the weather and activity. Suggested: a hat, sunblock, bug spray, proper footwear, walking sticks and/or anything else to be safe, comfortable, and inspired. A kind reminder to be a friend to the environment and leave no trace (or negative trace).
Willband Creek Park Guided Nature Walk
Saturday, September 30, 2023 (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation / Orange Shirt Day)
Willband Creek Park & Clayburn Village (meeting location address provided following registration)
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
$15.00 General Admission / $10.00 Seniors (age 60+) / $10.00 for Youth (age 7-17)
*This 3.5KM walk is suited for all ages and hiking experience levels. Children age 6 and under are free of charge. Although this walk is suitable for all hiking experience levels, it is unfortunately not walker or wheelchair accessible. It is terrain stroller friendly.
This event is open to all members of the community who are comfortable with a 3.5KM / 2-Hour outdoor walk. Space is limited, please pre-register on the SPA website to reserve your spot. Upon registering, you will be prompted to download a digital document that contains the event details and meeting location. Please email path.awakening@gmail.com if you have difficulty downloading the pdf.
Limited quantities of Natalie’s book, “Remnants: Reveries of a Mountain Dweller,” will be available for purchase onsite following the guided walk. Learners who may be interested are encouraged to bring $25.00 in exact cash (change is unable to be provided).
By registering for this event, learners, and their guests (if applicable) have agreed to our Policies & Etiquette.
Watch the recap reel from our Sumas Mountain Guided Nature Walk with Natalie (June 2023) on the SPA Instagram!
About the Program Leader:
Natalie Virginia Lang is an educator and writer, living on Sumas Mountain in Abbotsford. It is from this place where her book, Remnants, unfurls. She ambles about her property and the mountain beyond, musing to the rocks, trees, and numerous creatures that call them home. Lang is passionate about the environment and is dedicated to the preservation of natural spaces, wherever possible. It is this dedication, amidst a global pandemic, catastrophic fires and floods, decimation of forests, and ever encroaching humanity on spaces necessary to mitigate these catastrophes, that inspired her to write Remnants.
Lang holds a Master of Arts degree from Simon Fraser University where she won multiple awards, including the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Award, the Julie Andreyev- Animal Lover Scholarship, the Ewan Clark Memorial Award, and a Graduate Fellowship. She also has a degree in Literature and Anthropology from the University of the Fraser Valley and an Education degree from Simon Fraser University.
Lang is a creative writing teacher at Rick Hansen Secondary in Abbotsford.
Author Photo: Gregory Withers
Connect with Natalie Online:
Facebook: Natalie Virginia Lang
Instagram: @nvlang.writer
Website: www.natalie-virginia-lang.com
Additional Resources:
More about Remnants: 49thshelf.com
Review of Remnants: The British Columbia Review
Interview with the Fraser Valley Current “Living on settled land: A Sumas Mountain resident wrestles with what it means to live in a place of sacred importance for some”
Natalie’s Recommended Reading List: 49thshelf.com
Thesis from SFU that inspired the book: Simon Fraser University website
History of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Government of British Columbia website
Every Child Matters / Orange Shirt Day: Cultural Survival website
Arts & Heritage Matheqwí First Nation, Semá:th First Nation, and Leq’a:mel First Nation: City of Abbotsford website
Sumas First Nation: British Columbia Assembly of First Nations
About Remnants: Reveries of a Mountain Dweller:
With stunning clarity, thoughtful meditation and Walden-esque prose, Natalie Virginia Lang invites readers to join her in reexamining our relationships to the natural world.
In Remnants: Reveries of a Mountain Dweller, writer and educator Natalie Virginia Lang offers a vision of Sumas Mountain throughout the seasons to expose the impact of toxic progress on Place. Through poetic prose, Lang meditates on the social, historical, cultural, and environmental losses suffered at the hands of infringement upon natural areas. Remnants ventures into the natural spaces on Sumas Mountain, illuminating the errors of the modern colonial approach to progress and posing philosophical queries for alternate pathways into the future.
With whimsical descriptions and close encounters with creatures, forests, and climate change, Lang brings us an embodied experience of nature and bridges the gap between science, philosophy, academic theories, and the social sphere. Remnants offers a shift in the way environment is perceived and celebrates the value of interconnected relationships with and within ecosystems. The result is a fresh lens through which to see our relationship with that natural world, one that inspires us to join an ever-growing conversation about finding balance with our environment, even in the midst of growth.
Book description from the Caitlin Press website. Remnants can be purchased directly from the Caitlin Press website or ordered locally by request at The Book Man in Abbotsford / Chilliwack. Limited quantities of Natalie’s book, “Remnants: Reveries of a Mountain Dweller,” will be available for purchase onsite following the guided walk. Learners who may be interested are encouraged to bring $25.00 in exact cash (change is unable to be provided).
Book cover image: Chrissy Courtney and Caitlin Press
