Venture Vancouver

I went snowshoeing today in Mt Seymour. The weather today is expected to be rainy. There isn’t any public transit to Mt Seymour as there is to Grouse Mountain, but there is a shuttle bus that you can take from lonsdale quay for $8 each way. Although it is supposed to rain today, there were 15 of us scheduled to meetup for snow shoeing. When is it ever NOT raining in Vancouver. Rain in Vancouver is usually quite tolerable and mostly light. I arranged to be driven to the mountain. Visibility was next to nothing on the way there, all you could see was white fog. I was really afraid for my safety in the car because not only was it foggy on the outside but it was also really foggy on the inside so visibility was really low and nothing much was being done to demystify the inside.

When we arrived it was lightly snowing. We managed to all find each other and go into this tiny rental shed to get our snow shoes.   It costs $26.50 plus tax which I think is expensive. The trails are narrow and not labelled very well. A group of us took off in this light snowy weather. I love how Canadians are so outdoorsy that on a day of such bad weather, there is still a significant amount of people willing to go out and go snow shoeing

We started on one of the apparently easiest trails. I was glad that I brought my hiking sticks with me because I found the trail difficult. It became even more difficult when it started to rain heavily as well as snow, so that some form of slushy stuff was falling all around us. It took us ages to get to the summit and by the time we did, the weather was a lot worse and we could not see a thing so we couldn’t even enjoy the view. We were all tired and very wet and we still had to make the walk back. I had on my hiking boots on the snow shoes which I’ve used many times before and for very long walks and never got blisters. On the way back I was having a lot of difficulty walking as I could feel that blisters had developed on my heels.

I eventually took off my snow shoes (not sure why I didn’t do it sooner) and was able to walk somewhat. When we finally got back to the rental shed to return the snow shoes the rain finally eased up a little bit. Near the rental shed there is another warehouse type shed that sold food and had tables to eat. The food available is expensive and DISGUSTING. Everyone inside was literally  wringing out their clothes.  So much water was everywhere. I could not believe how wet everything was. I went to buy some disgusting coffee and even the money in my purse was wet. The cashier was having trouble as everyone’s notes were wet and debit cards weren’t working as just everything was so friggin wet and there was nothing dry around.

Once I got warmed up a little bit, it was time for the treaterous ride back to Vancouver. Visibility was still next to nothing and now it was even more uncomfortable because of the wetness. I eventually got home and put everything in the dryer. Of course I actually couldn’t put ‘everything’ in the dryer and it took  days before  stuff was completely dry. I also couldn’t walk for a week because the blisters on my heels hurt too much.

Overall, I am glad that I went but I would never do it again. Snow shoeing is probably a good thing to do in better weather and with better snow shoes but I’m not convinced that Mt Seymour is a good place to do it. I know that Mt Seymour’s snow is better quality and for snow boarders and skiers this mountain is better but I think for tourists, Grouse Mountain is far more superior. Mt Seymour is not as easy to get to, the services there are yukky  in quality and visually especially for the price that you pay for the food. I enjoy my experience at Grouse so much more, the restaurants and food there is so much better, the atmosphere at the lodge is a lot cozier, its cheaper to get there and to rent equipment, the rental hut is comfortable and roomy and the trails are wide and well marked. All of which I saw none of this at Mt Seymour.

Tags: canada, mt seymour, snowshoeing, Vancouver