Explore BC // Lynn Peak x The North Shore

As you might have gleaned, I was fortunate enough to go hiking yet again this week. Due to the rare occurrence of Vancouver experiencing full-blown sunshine, this one was a real beaut! Eva and I originally planned to take on a very long trail known as the Coliseum Hike; however, that 24 km trek was still closed for the season. As it was, we were forced to settle for the only moderately difficult trail available: Lynn Peak. 

This trail, which begins at Lynn Headwaters Park located in lovely North Vancouver, is 8.8 km long and climbs up to a height of 992 m. Described as "a steep, steady climb," Eva and I found ourselves enjoying the various changes in scenery as we passed annoyingly rocky sections, segments of ancient forest growth, and, finally. encountered wondrous amounts of snow nearing the top. 

Since we Vancouverites rarely encounter snow during the winter, seeing so much of the white stuff on our hike was truly a joyous experience. We made snowballs and jumped into piles of it whenever we could. I'm sure we would have even made snow angels if we hadn't been joined by other hikers at the top.

  

A Peek-A-Boo situation with my lovely "forever hiking buddy" Eva.

A snapshot of my huge 45 L Deuter alpine backpack. I only wore it because the hubby had taken my smaller backpack for a soccer game (unbeknownst to me); nevertheless, it was good to wear it more in order to break it in for future, harder treks. 

Whenever we took water breaks, we discovered that listening to the snow melt in the winter sunshine was truly a magical thing. We felt like we were in another world (#NarniaLand). 

As the snow became increasingly present, we decided to slip on our handy trail spikes that we recently purchased from MEC. These "microspikes" are easy to store in your backpack, lightweight, and give great traction when encountering slippery situations on ice or snow. 

Eva and I certainly had a lot of fun traipsing through the snow without the fear of slipping! On a related note, we saw that many other hikers were unprepared for the amount of snow that was still accumulated at the peak. The number of people wearing normal runners and shorts was astounding. Please fully prepare yourselves for hiking if you ever feel so inclined to head outdoors in these early months of spring!

Although we have seen much more awe-inspiring viewpoints of backcountry mountain ranges, this summit overlooking the city of Vancouver was still gorgeous enough to satisfy us after a decent hike. 

After enjoying hot tea, Girl Guide mint cookies, and other snacks in the beautiful sunshine and snowy landscape, we headed back down to civilization. While it took us about 2.5 hours to reach the summit (with various breaks to drink water or take pictures), the trip downwards took less than two hours. 

Overall, we were very pleased with the beautiful hike and gorgeous weather that we were so blessed to experience!