Tag Archives: Nature

The Grouse Grind

Hiking up Grouse Mountain

Starting out
Keep climbing
Stairway to heaven?

A popular tourist attraction in North Vancouver is the hiking trail known as Grouse Grind, a steep walk up Grouse Mountain featuring a climb of about 850m and covering a distance of 2.9km to the top of trail. It is also a local past time to regularly do the Grouse Grind to keep fit and try to better your time for getting to the top.

So I decided to give it a go one morning along with a lot of other people and was thinking it would be similar to climbing Mt Warning back in Northern NSW, which I had done a couple of times. While I would consider myself reasonably fit, I haven’t done much hill walking of late and soon found myself puffing as I made my way up the steep incline with a million steps. The scenery was spectacular but it was hard to enjoy it while I was dripping sweat and silently cursing my decision to do the climb in the first place!

Are we there yet?
Trees too tall to photograph
Tree canopy
Grouse Grind Trail
Forest view
More trees

I made it to the top in an 1 hour 15 minutes, which wasn’t too bad for my first attempt. Once my mind forgets about the pain, I will attempt it again and see if I can get closer to completing the Grind in an hour next time!

I highly recommend taking a change of clothes for when you reach the top as I was covered in sweat and it was cold at the top of the mountain. You also have to catch the gondola back down, which is packed full of people, so best not to be dripping all over everyone else!

Getting back on the bike

Inaugural bike ride to Central Park

After coming to terms with the sad fact that my $20 helmet was NOT going to win me any fashion contests, I decided to venture out on my new second hand bike to check out Central Park.

Given I can’t remember the last time I was on a bike, the main purpose of today’s outing was to work out how to ride this bike and use its gears, hopefully without making too much of a fool out of myself or getting knocked over. After a shaky start, which included discovering clunky gears, slightly flat tyres and squeaky breaks, I’m off and cruising down the bikeway towards the park. Go speed racer!

Less than 1km later my bike chain comes off! Damn, I guess there were a few reasons why this bike was so cheap. Luckily, a bit of MacGyver action on my part somehow managed to get the chain back on again. Mental note – do not use the gears on the left hand side until further notice.

I make it to Central Park and discover another beautiful pocket of forest right in the middle of the city…yay! It’s pretty cool riding through the forest and a pity I can’t take photos on the go to show you what I see (I’m sure there is a way, I just don’t have the technical know how or inclination right now to work that out).

BC pathway to Central Park
My bike in its best light
Central Park map

I don’t think I will ever tire of seeing these trees, they are so magestically straight and tall. There are squirrels everywhere, so much so, they are a bit of a traffic hazard and I almost ran over one – he stopped in the middle of the trail in front of me and it was like he just dared me to keep going…so I did. It was a close call but the squirrel is safe and well (they are way too cute to hurt!)

Central Park lake
Central Park squirrel
Leaving Central Park

All in all, a good first outing on the bike, despite a few hiccups! It hasn’t put me off riding again and checking out more of the trails in and around Vancouver, however I do think the bike needs a bit of TLC before I venture out again!

A walk in the forest

Beautiful Byrne Creek Urban Trail, Burnaby BC

Canada is known for its beautiful scenery and landscapes, but when you are living in the city it is easy to forget how close you are to nature here.

I’ve been living in Burnaby, Vancouver for just over a month now and to my great delight last week, I have found a little oasis nearby to escape the towering concrete high rises and sounds of the city. It’s called Byrne Creek and is part of Burnaby’s urban trails and bike pathways. Within this little sanctuary, I feel a sense of peace and calm wash over me as I marvel at the towering trees (too tall to fit into a photo!) and listen to the sounds of running water and birds.

One thing we don’t have back home in Australia is warning signs for swooping owls, which caused me to stop and carefully read the sign before proceeding into the forest the first time!

When I start to get a bit down about the lack of summer weather here right now, what with the endless cloudy days and grey, I appreciate being fortunate enough to enjoy a walk through the Byrne Creek landscape twice a week after dropping my daughter off at day care. She also has the benefit of being close to nature with so many parks and little reserves in the area that are perfect for curious minds to discover and play in. I quite like how they have combined high and medium density living in this area with the communal parks. A lot of families live here and I can see why.