18th Aug Grouse Mt

18th Aug Grouse Mt
We ventured across the water to North Van and Grouse Mt to undertake the infamous Grouse Mt Grind....a 1000ft direct ascent of the Vancouver playground (skiing during winter, hiking, biking and zip lining during summer).
As we went up to the base of the climb on a bus, we were overtaken by and ambulance and fire truck which we then found at the base of the trail after a visitor had had a heart attack about half way up the path. This turned out to be a blessing,for us at least, as we had to find an alternative route, the BCMC, which was not the straight line up the mountain but a much nicer route through the forest away from the teasing view of the gondola zooming up and down overhead. We arrived at the top in good shape and headed straight for the cafeteria! Large cold drinks and chips went down vey well :-)

We then joined the large number of slightly less fit people in a wander around the 'attractions' at the top of the mountain. There is an enclosure where two grizzly bears live, an exhibition of eagles and hawks and a very lively if rather embarrassingly (for British tastes anyway) staged lumberjack show which to give it it's due does demonstrate most of the skills needed in the lumber industry which is so dominant in BC.
In the evening we made our way to visit Lena, Ruby and their cousin, Jane at Peter and Nona's house. Jane and I had a good chat about Rowat history and I showed her photos I have scanned from the 4 suitcases that Aunty Rachel has.

Jane very kindly offered us use of their house in Whistler and gave us some ideas of good hikes to do on our way to Jasper.


Sent from my iPad

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3rd-6th August

3rd-6th August Set off from Anne's house, 10 people in two cars, and headed north. I traveled with Anne and her two children, Corbin 4 and Harlow 14 months. The cars were crammed with cool boxes full of camping stoves, utensils and an assortment of bear defences ranging from bells through pepper spray to a tazer. We drove for about an hour before stopping at a giant roadside stall of fireworks. There are a whole series of these at this point as it is just outside the city jurisdiction where it is illegal to sell or let off fireworks. There were a couple of old split screen VW Combis, a double decker bus with a scoreboard dated 1776 and the score USA 1: UK 0. Having resisted the temptation to buy giant rockets and multiple mortar launchers (Mike couldn't and bought a whole load of pyrotechnics), we continued on to Byers creek camping ground at mile 144 and set up camp with two large tents and my little one, with a large tarp set up over the camp table next to the fire circle
Read more

Wolverine creek (67.61265N, 152.26408W) from my tent at midnight on the 9th Aug.

Wolverine creek (67.61265N, 152.26408W) from my tent at midnight on the 9th Aug. This is day two of our river float down the John river. Fairbanks to Bettles. Sat 7th Aug After meeting up with Tim and Michelle in Fairbanks on Saturday we drove North in convoy along the Dalton Highway which will be familiar to those who watch 'Ice road truckers'!! The majority of the road is gravel and snakes it's way north through rolling hills of stunted Sitka spruce and tundra. The road stays mostly on the ridge lines, occasionally dropping down to the water courses where the road is usually heavily patched and bumpy as t it sinks in the boggy ground. The alaskan oil pipeline snakes alongside, usually within a mile of the road raised up off the ground on pillars each with radiator vanes on top to stop heat being transferred down and melting the permafrost. We crossed the mighty Yukon river on a long sloping bridge surfaced with timber and filled the cars with fuel at a pump that had
Read more

Tues 2nd August 2011 (63.746N 150.1196W)

Tues 2nd August 2011 (63.746N 150.1196W) The 1st of August was mostly a day for shopping and stocking up ahead of our trip to Denali and on to the Gates of the Arctic National Park. The Kenyan Thomas's and I love REI... But it is dangerous kind of attraction! REI is an outdoor equipment store on a vast scale. Everything you have ever dreamed of for your biking, hiking, camping and climbing needs and loads of stuff I didn't know existed but instantly know I ought to have! I was very restrained bearing in mind that I am limiting my luggage to 15kg, so only bought some gas for my stove, a gps and a replacement for the hat I left in Glacier Bay. When I say hat, I mean a Seattle Sombrero which is wide brimmed, breathable, and waterproof. I gather that Seattle is much like any of the north west coast of N America in that it rains a lot... I am writing this from inside my tent at 22:45 and it has been raining since I woke up this morning in Anchorage! Back to yesterday. After satis
Read more