Grouse Mountain

we all hopped in the Mazda van of my cousin's family and drove to North Vancouver on Sat. morning. It's a very comfortable and roomy vehicle, ideal for big a family. There were 7 of us including me and we all sat really relaxed. North Vancouver which is considered a different city, of course is a bit far from the city my cousin’s family lives and that's Coquitlam. I guess it's about 30 Km. But it's highway all the way and there was no traffic in that beautiful morning of Sep. We went to Grouse Mountain. It’s actually a combination of a few peaks together and is the highest place in Vancouver. We took the gondola and went up all the way to the only station. This one compare to the one I previously rode is huge. The Banff’s only takes 4 people seated but this one carries about 40 people standing. It’s so smooth and takes about 7 min. to reaches up there. You can see all Vancouver, the harbor, the ocean and everything. It’s very beautiful.

Then up there you see trails which take you to different picks. There’s also a restaurant, a gift shop, a place for renting ski and snowboards in winter. Skiers usu. get up there taking the chair lift but that only operates in winter. There are huge, gigantic wooden statutes all over the place. They have been carved by artist and I guess some of them are the native people of Canada. Then we went for a show called birds in motion. There were two Canadian young women who show us how some birds hunt their food, how fast and how precise they are. Among them were an owl and a falcon. The girls called them raptors. We took a few photos and then I bought some gift from the shop and we took the gondola and headed down.

There’s also a show called lumberjack which the men compete in making wooden crafts or something but we didn't wait for that as one of us didn’t join us and was waiting down all time long(!)

A good plan for Grouse Mountain could include hiking all the way to the highest peak, Crown Mountain and other peaks as well, watching the show I just mentioned, taking hundreds of photos, watching bears swimming in their pool, as we did, eating in beautiful fresh air and many other things depends on what you are interested in. You may bike all the way as there’s bike path even beside the highway. A full day is needed to see every beautiul thing around, including suspension bridge which is on your way to the mountain but we didn't go. May be in my next trip to beautiful B. C. next summer or I don't know!

(Photo: Two enormous wooden statues, a fisher and a hiker. They are three times size of a normal person and as you see are carved very artistically)