Snowshoeing in Coast Mountains

Wow! Been a long time since I've written anything! I'll forego the quintessential excuses and simply note that adapting to a new job, moving into a new appartment, buying a new car (small and ultra efficient to be sure) and rebuilding my old Jeep to get it through the safety inspection has kept me thoroughly occupied for the past 3 months!!

With all of this work though, I've been feeling ever more desparate to spend time in the outdoors, and 2 weeks ago I had finally had enough! I had to get out into nature!

To cure my nature sickness we went up Mt Seymour to do some snowshoeing on one of the established trails. Ok, so it wasn't a big time wilderness adventure, but it sure made me feel good, and made for some nice pictures! Besides, any time spent in the outdoors can amaze you when you know how to look and listen...

After leaving the madness of the parking lot behind we were pretty quickly into the woods. Amazingly for the west coast, it was a gorgeous sunny day!

Frozen creeks were seen with regularity.

The occasional break in the forest made for some fantastic winter scenes!

Along the way we saw LOT of cedars, as well as Fir trees laden with oleoresin.

Soon enough we came to the summit of Dog Mountain. Here's were you see some really breath taking vistas!




To the south, in the distance, Mt Baker could be seen rising rising up nearly 11,000 feet above sea level. There are some interesting first nations legends about this peak...

And to the North could be seen Grouse Mountain, the so called "Peak of Vancouver".

On the way back, the late afternoon sun shone through the forest at a much lower angle. It provided welcome sunlight on our faces.


All too soon were back at the trailhead, and civilization...

It was a very quick outing, on a very popular trail, so it was very difficult to feel in touch with the natural world. We really didn't have a chance to leave behind city life and settle into the rhythms nature. Still, it was MUCH better than spending a day at home, and I was happy for it!

For now, I'm almost done with my work on the Jeep and the appartment, so I'm excited and looking forward to getting out and exploring much more in the New Year. In fact I've already started planning all of my vacations, outings and weekends. Meanwhile I'm heading to Ottawa for Christmas, and I hope to do some ice fishing and winter time fire lighting while there! Can't wait to get out there!