| Where the garden meets the wild | ||
| HILLKEEP NATURE RESERVE | ||
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| Hillkeep is on top of Chilliwack Mountain in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Long an unofficial nature reserve, it is on its way to becoming an official one. | ||
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Left: Chilliwack Mountain (the mound in the middle distance) lies between the Fraser River and the Fraser Valley. On the far side of the valley are the snowy Cascades. Right: Our view facing south over the valley at dawn. |
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Left: White bracket fungi colonize a stump uprooted by wind. Right: The reserve contains several wetlands that are home to frogs, ducks and other wildlife. Photographs © Pat Woodward. |
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What makes hillkeep special: IT's ORDINARY Hillkeep is a real place that's been logged twice in a century. Instead of becoming a subdivision, it's returning to the wild at its own pace. This ever-changing beauty is not magic. It is natural succession. Ordinary. Few places are allowed to be ordinary nowadays.* Hillkeep is home to a few rare plants and animals, yes; but they aren't trophies in a zoo. They live here. Once they were less rare, like the other plants and animals that also live here. Including us. We didn't dare imagine, at first, that we are part of this web of countless dimensions. But of course we are. And so are you. We hope that when you come to Hillkeep, you will cherish this place as we do, and cherish your own place when you return home. * Update, 2005: A family member decided to sell her share of the land to a developer. This reduced the total area of the future nature reserve from 120 acres (48 hectares) to 80 acres (32 hectares) and makes the remaining land all the more precious to conserve. |
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a few technical details HILLKEEP'S LAND AREA: 80 acres (32 hectares). ALTITUDE: 1000 feet (300 meters). BIOGEOCLIMATIC ZONE: Coastal Western Hemlock. LATITUDE: 49° 09' 00" N. LONGITUDE: 122° 01' 00" W. ANNUAL PRECIPITATION: 180+ cm (70+ inches; we have had 100 inches), most of it in autumn and winter. MINIMUM TEMPERATURE: -20° Celsius (-6° Fahrenheit). MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE: 32° Celsius (90° Fahrenheit). GARDEN ZONE: We think of ourselves as more or less USDA Zone 6, whereas the town of Chilliwack, below us, is Zone 7. But we don't take zones too seriously. |
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NATURAL HISTORY: What YOU MIGHT SEE AT HILLKEEP |
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| Plants & Trees Fungi (mushrooms, etc.) Bryophytes (mosses & liverworts) Lichens Mammals Birds Amphibians Insects Niches | ||
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HOW TO VISIT HILLKEEP If you would like to visit, please get in touch and make an appointment. We offer guided tours and special programs for individuals, schools and other groups. You may visit Pacific Rim Native Plant Nursery at the same time if you choose. |
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