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Vancouver is a wonderful city, no matter what time of the year you happen to visit whether by choice or by necessity. We were there in May following a trip on the Canadian Pacific from Toronto. We had booked tours to take us to places to see, as we were limited in time opportunities.
Grouse Mountain was on the list as well as the Capilano Bridge and fisheries. Before leaving home, we had checked out the YouTube videos on some of the places we wanted to see. Grouse Mountain was certainly one of them. It looked like the cable car ride was worth doing. The coach was on time and not overly full so a pleasant start to the day. I believe to climb the mountain is a 2.9 km walk. Certainly not for the fainthearted!
The cable car parked in the loading dock looked harmless enough, but a fear of heights and being a closet claustrophobia sufferer meant that it was a big step forward for me. The car had quite a few people in it so it was with some trepidation that I joined them with my husband as backup. It started on the upward trip gently enough, but coming to the support cable poles did a bit of a swing that had me holding on for grim life. The views from the car would be stunning, but unfortunately, the day had dawned grey and there was mist or clouds developing, as we got closer to the top. Then another support pole with the subsequent swing!
Docking at the top done easily and we stepped out to see what was available on the mountain. We wandered through the snow, the wooden chainsaw carvings half exposed; friends who had visited a couple of weeks previously said the snow was considerably higher than when we were there. They were big statues as well! We found our way to the grizzly bears enclosure, but of course, as winter was just starting to leave, all we saw was dark mounds in the snow through the mist! It was cold!
Leaving the bears we passed a lot of snow-making machines parked ready for the new season, I thought rather ironically as we coped with the snow and cold of the present one. Then we came upon the lumberjack show, which we sat down to watch, mist making it difficult to see clearly. Nonetheless, we enjoyed watching the men atop poles, standing on boards sticking out at right angles, chopping the top off. Definitely scary but interesting. Leaving there, we wandered back to the clubhouse to get warm as we were freezing. We found the food to be a little disappointing, but the warmth inside definitely wonderful. All too soon, it was back to the cable car to return down the mountain where the temperatures were much warmer! Maman Wilson
