The weather in Vancouver has been amazing for the past 3 weeks, and to fully take advantage I’ve put everything non-essential on hold to spent as much time outside as possible. Every weekend so far has been a different hike: Cypress Falls July 6, Grouse and Dam Mountain on July 13, and The Chief on July 20.

Cypress Falls was more of a walk in the woods then a hike, but it was good for a lazy afternoon. Cypress Falls Park is located in West Vancouver, a quick drive from downtown. It’s confusing to get to because every street in the neighboorhood has ‘wood’ in the name – you take Northwood to Woodburn to Woodgreen and then turn onto Woodgrove (I’m not kidding, look at the map).
             
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Next, there was the BCMC trail (alternative to the Grouse Grind) and the hike from Grouse Mountain up to Dam Mountain. The BCMC trail took 1:45 to climb, with lots of breaks. At the top we watched the lumberjack show, ate lunch, and then spent a few hours climbing up to Dam Mountain and back. We had planned to get to Goat Mountain but there was soo much melting snow the trail was closed. Even getting to the top of Dam Mountain was difficult. (Map of mountains) We had some fun playing in the snow and sliding down on our butts. Christina took a video: Dam Mountain Snow in July – check out the lady I totally sprayed with snow when I stopped near the bottom.
                         
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Then last weekend we climbed The Chief. It took 1:30 to get to the top, and 1:15 to climb back down. The views from the top of The Chief are amazing on a sunny day. I wouldn’t go anywhere near the edge, and even watching the girls get close to the edge was enough to make me sick, but I still had a great time.
                     
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