Hikes » The Dog Walks Me

The Peaceful Iona Beach

If you’re looking for a long beach walk with excellent views, close to the city, and undisturbed, this is it! We’ve come here twice, both on weekends, and we’ve seen very few people here. It may be because it involves a bit of driving, and is not super close to any residential areas, but it’s also pretty close to the city (next to the airport) and easily accessible.

no one in sight!

she likes to follow me around on logs

beautiful view of the mountains and the logging boats

queen of her pile

Iona Beach is much longer than it initially looks and covered with logs, sand and grass. Before you reach the beach, there is also a super long jetty that most people aim for, but it’s crowded enough that I would not want to let my dog off leash there. Stick to the beach and you’ll have plenty of space to yourself.

snow geese taking off

view from the beach back onto the airport

playing fetch with found balls

perfect place for a stroll if you need some peace and quiet

getting almost to the end, it narrows down

There are only garbage cans near the parking so wait for your dog to poop or you’ll have a long way to carry a poop bag. Make sure you note the well marked no-dog areas that are wildlife areas (behind the parking area) so just leash up your dog until you are well into the beach before letting them run.

throw the ball mom!

watching the tug boats organize the logs

there are no shortage of sticks

kisses!

We found two balls on the beach to play fetch, and Whiskey even reluctantly went swimming a little (furthest she’s ever been). The first time we came we were surprised at how far the beach went down and only made it halfway. This time we went until the beach ended and turned into rocks before heading back.

logs everywhere!

the end of the road

the areas you need to watch for

February 5, 2015

Eagle Bluffs

We’ve done this hike a couple times with Whiskey but what makes it so strange this year is that Cypress Mountain has no snow! The ski mountain is bare this year and I’ve never seen it like this, especially in January.

The Cypress Ski slopes in January

Not much snow on the trails either, but a little slippery

beautiful mist on a snow covered pond

Whiskey blends in, this is her land!

Eagle Bluffs is a great short hike if you are ok with a steady incline. The elevation is only 350 meters and is over pretty quickly. Once you reach the top of the elevation climb, there is a nice view from Black Mountain and then you head through a meandering trail to Eagle Bluffs for a beautiful view of the city. It’s a great 3-4 hour hike from the Cypress parking lots but be warned you’ll need to get a free yellow “hiking pass” to walk past the ski area during the ski season (you can get the pass at the old lodge where the buses pick up and drop off).

A little stream of melting water

Vancouver’s mountains are gorgeous

pausing for a break on top of Black Mountain

A view from Black Mountain

the trail is sometimes also the stream

Normally I wouldn’t attempt this hike in winter because of the incline and the snow (well maybe with snowshoes), but there was barely anything this year and with only a couple slippery bits, we could easily accomplish it in hiking boots.

markers and trail is very easy to follow

breathtaking view from the Bluffs

the city from the mountain

Whiskey just wants to play with the snowboarders

We had a bit of trouble keeping our curious Vizsla off the ski slopes, as the hike follows the ski slope up. Be sure to keep your dog on-leash if there is any traffic! Whiskey was exceptionally bouncy today and must have ran 3x times the path going up and down like it was nothing. This must be an “extra bouncy” stage of puppy-hood.

At the peak with my Vizsla girl!

January 30, 2015

The Pacific Spirit

The Pacific Spirit Park is one of those amazing parks in the center of the city that makes you love Vancouver so much. Like Stanley park, it’s easily accessible and intersected by roads while also giving visitors the feeling of being in a real forest just steps away from home. Whenever we’re feeling lazy (or it’s threatening to rain heavily) we zip over to the park for a short walk.

our puppy is getting older!

whiskey looking for the stick we threw

getting better with her jumping aim

The park connects with one of the best dog beaches in the city -Spanish Banks with an amazing view of West/North Vancouver as well as the downtown city. From here we turned into the forest for a long loop. We’ve also done loops further in the park without going to the beach (so many options!).

The view from Spanish Banks on a rainy day

Whiskey loves her stumps

happiest place for a vizsla

There is a surprising variation in the paths and terrain you can experience. We’ve also had less altercations with unruly/aggressive dogs here than Stanley park. Whiskey loves the amount of sticks here to chase after and of course we had to take some photos to share.

she doesn’t retrieve yet, she runs with it and chews it

different paths around the park

a mini swamp

January 13, 2015

Dog Mountain in snow

Dog mountain has been our go-to mountain since we’ve had Whiskey. Close to town, an amazing view (though not this time), a short-ish length with an interesting trail and dog-friendly…what else do you want? We knew this hike is pretty popular so assumed the trail would have been packed enough for normal boots, although in some places it was icy enough that small crampons would have been an option.

the first 10 mins of any walk with these two is nuts

the gorgeous Millie with her Christmas collar

a conversation

kangarooing through the snow

another version of the raindeer

Whiskey is still all legs

Whiskey and her half-sister Millie ran up and down like little speed-demons. There’s a section where normally there is a pond and a small open area that was untouched. They kangarooed through the deep snow and we were laughing so hard! Millie even ran so hard her poor paws started bleeding. It’s a good thing her parents had boots to slip on at the peak. As soon as the boots came on, she was happily galloping away again. They puppies also started shivering once we stopped for pictures so we put the jackets on.

No need to throw sticks with these two

flying vizslas!

this trail is so much fun, snow/rain/sun

Whiskey has her Christmas bow on

treats? gimmie!

There was no view because of the clouds but we took a picture anyways. Lets hope these dogs sleep for at least a couple hours now!

Vizslas, kisses, humans

baby it’s cold outside!

January 3, 2015

It’s Snowing!

We’re very late this year for snow on the mountains and today we finally had a good dump up at Seymour Mountain. The mountain still isn’t fully open for skiing so we had several slopes to ourselves. We took the Goldie Lake Loop and were the only ones on the trail (we could tell because we were the only footprints in foot-high snow).

She’s flying!

new snowfall

so proud of my happy puppy!

It’s such a different element to hike in

small snow covered lakes

Whiskey and her Great Dane puppy buddy Hanna (7 months) were so excited about the snowfall. They chased snowballs, ran ahead on the short trail, and met many other happy dogs at the parking lot all under the thickening snowstorm.

Great exercise in deep snow

winter wonderland!

pointing the way

Grooming new runs

waiting for more snow

December 26, 2014

St Marks Summit Hike

Another great day for a hike last weekend. It’s been raining so much that parts of Vancouver have been under threat of flooding but everything stopped by the time the weekend hit. We decided to push forward with slowly increasing our hiking distances and drove over to Cypress to do St. Marks Summit (11km, 460m gain, 4 hours)

St Marks trail

really really dry ski slopes

Scouting out the trail in front

Daddy showing Whiskey how to climb

St. Marks is the first summit on the Howe Sound Crest Trail that goes from Vancouver’s Cypress Mountain to close to Squamish at 30km over several mountains. Luckily it’s dog friendly and we saw very few people on the way. Usually the trail is much more populated but it’s off season and the threat of snow on the trails keeps most people away. It’s been too warm to even gather much snow on the top of the trails but it was snowing for most of our hike! It’s so beautiful.

Snow! It’s snowing big snowflakes

Switchbacks going up

Happy hikers

We went through many types of atmosphere up here

Whiskey had a couple adventures this time. At one point she had climbed up a steep rocky point and couldn’t figure out her way down for a couple minutes. Then poor Whiskey was happily galloping around at some point and fell through a pond covered in ice and snow. She was so cold but it seemed to make her run around even faster. We kept her moving and chasing sticks and didn’t stop very long at the top (there was no view in the clouds but the view is usually breathtaking). Soon she dried out and we were back on the dry ski slopes.

Poor thing can’t get down

I match the tree!

Who’s that in the crack?

How beautiful can British Columbia be?

It was so nice to get outside in the crisp air without the hassle of snowshoes. I’ve been carrying a small jar of Musher’s Secret Paw Wax just in case her paws have trouble in the snow and ice but so far we’ve had no issues. I was a wee bit worried that it was a longer hike than normal for Whiskey but she spent the rest of the night running around at a friend’s house and never really crashed much. It’s weird because it seems like hiking energizes her instead of making her tired. Usually she spends the day sleeping and doesn’t seem so excitable.

Merry Christmas!

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December 20, 2014

Stawamus-Chief Hike

This weekend we finally had beautiful weather and enough time to head to Squamish for “The Chief” hike. One of our old favorites it has become so popular that over the last 5 years it’s come to rival the “Grouse Grind” for the must-do hike in Vancouver (even though I don’t consider the grind a hike). I now only do the Chief when conditions are such that I can avoid crowds. In November when the trail is full of ice and snow, the peaks chilly with arctic winds, we met relatively few hikers and had a blast.

on top of the Squamish world

Ice and sun

Whereas 7 years ago when I first did this hike there were few stairs and it really did feel like a natural hike, nowadays the trail is mostly comprised of man-made wooden or rock stairs, especially to the first peak. There are 3 peaks in total and I normally climb the third, then second and call it done. Most people do the peaks in numerical order so you avoid any lineups going the opposite way. Also the trail down from 3rd peak is the most rugged and hardest on bad knees (we’ve got a few bad knees in our pack) so I prefer going up that way.

We start at the Shannon Falls parking

Just starting out

Seriously Mom? You want me to climb that?

I’m doing it! Whooop!

Whiskey was super stoked to get going, especially since she was shivering right out of the car. Of course as soon as we started the upward trail we were all shedding our layers and pretty soon down to one shirt.

Puppy on a mountain

On Third Peak

It’s an amazing view from here

Looking north to Whistler

In the summer I would lie down and nap here

Watch out for chipmunks and crows that like to lure the dogs to the edge

Looking south from 2nd peak

The peak on 3rd was happily wind-free, and as we crossed the quick section to 2nd peak the sun was threatening to set. Coming down from 2nd peak is a challenge with a dog (many people don’t attempt 2nd with a large dog) because there is a ladder and chain section. Whiskey was a little nervous but was carried down with no drama (except the Vizsla drama). Check out those sad sad eyes! She was gripping so hard, I sometimes wonder that she isn’t human.

Heading down from 2nd peak

It’s a good thing she’s so used to being carried

Oh that sad face

the drama! It was too icy to put her down

awwwww

Here I’m happy I don’t have a larger dog

We handed her down

For those that want to avoid crowds in the summer, a nice side trail off from Chief is the Upper Shannon Falls hike. I’m sure we’ll do that one with Whiskey soon! I’m just super stoked that she’s big enough now to do “proper” hikes.

Our hiking family

December 1, 2014

Brother’s Creek Hike

It’s currently the awkward time of the year in Vancouver when it’s cold and rainy but the mountains have yet to become snowy. Our normal hikes are blocked by clouds for views while the trails have become streams (and no snowshoeing yet). Where to go for a quick afternoon hike? North Vancouver of course!

our climbing Vizsla

streams in the trails

Daddy’s girl

I’m constantly surprised by my mountain goat

where’s the stick?

While Deep Cove, Lighthouse Park, and Lynn Valley become packed with families when the skies are low and grey, Brother’s Creek on the bottom of Cypress Mountain is somewhat empty. There are a variety of trails and loops here and many of them are more “natural”, less groomed, which is what we prefer. In half of these trails the rainfall has turned them into streams but it’s nothing a water-proof ankle boot can’t deal with. Whiskey had loads of fun chasing sticks, climbing logs, and posing for photos.

Our Whiskey girl discovers the remains of an old sawmill

how pretty is the rain in the sunbeams?

majestic forest in our backyards

Beams through the clouds

We still have phone connection here so with our GPS phones we can’t get lost and can create whatever route we want. There is even a section of old growth trees you can check out (9m in diameter). When we began this hike in the rain, the clouds passed through the trees creating amazing lighting and after an hour the sun came out making me wish we had attempted a longer hike! Next week.

Canadian graffiti

Mom why do we need to stop every meter for photos?

Giant logs make a great backdrop

I see you!

November 27, 2014

Whistler Weekend

We were off to Whistler last weekend and though forecast was bleak, we had really good luck with the timing of rain. Because we both work full time, sometimes our lives seem nothing more than walk the dog, eat, work, walk the dog, eat, laundry, sleep. On the weekends however, we try our best to roll out of bed at a decent time and go on an adventure. Sometimes we go alone in the rain (since it’s hard to find rainy hikers), but this time we were lucky enough to have a great group with us. Whistler is about 2 hours away and we had chill time eating, hot-tubbing and chatting along some nice walks.

On a side note, since we were staying in a new place, Whiskey has started to bark when she hears something different or sees people jogging past the house. It’s surprising us and we’re wondering if she picked it up from the Aussie Shepherd last week.

Just outside our accommodations

A Canadian scene

Whiskey loves to walk along logs and stand there for a photo

A little sun among the rain

We even found a local ghost town called Parkhurst that was initially a logging town abandoned in the 1930s and then again in the 1960s. There were remnants of a bed, stove, house, and even a logging tractor

Scrambling around rocks for fun

discovering an abandoned house

the logging tractor

A dog can go where no human can

a nice weekend out

Whiskey will see you next week!

October 21, 2014

Thanksgiving in style

We were lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving up on Sunshine Coast with new friends this year. There were a couple knitters in the group who helped me finish my first little project: a snood/neck-warmer for Whiskey. I just ordered some knitting needles so I can learn over the winter.

Whiskey modelling my incomplete project

We had a great time outdoors and Whiskey made a new friend: Sam, the Australian Shepherd. The two spent the weekend chasing each other and guarding the cabin. There were a couple of hikes we fit in before it got too rainy. Afterwards, we set to work creating Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings.