Day 2 (Thursday, June 22, 2023):
Bridges
My second day in British Columbia was much more intriguing than the first.
I woke up around 05:15 with a very intense urge to urinate. After I did that, I realised that I did not want to fall back asleep, so I began researching how to get to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.
There was pick-up at 08:30, at Canada Place (home of the Vancouver World Trade Centre), with arrival at 08:55. I decided I would do that.
I figured it would take about 40 minutes to get to Canada Place from where I was staying. From Capilano, I would go to Grouse Mountain. The 232 bus ran between the two.
Many people online said it was best to go to Capilano early in the morning to avoid crowds, so I planned on doing exactly that. I figured that the park would take about 2 to 2.5 hours to explore.
Grouse Grind (one of the main hiking paths up to Grouse Mountain) would be free, so I would hike up that. However, it was not permitted to travel back downhill, so I figured, again, that I would take the cable car (aerial tramway/télécabine) back down.
(Additional note: The types of vehicles I will be referring to in this post are not gondolas, but cable cars. There is a difference.)
There was one that went up, but I wanted to challenge myself.
At 06:33, I purchased my 9 AM ticket for the park.
I left my hostel at about 07:44. I saw a black rabbit sitting near the beginning of the trail to my bus stop.
By 07:54, I was on the bus. There was a motor incident by Christ Church Cathedral, so we were slightly delayed. By 08:23, I was off the bus.
It took about two minutes to walk to Canada Place from the stop.
Once I got there, I asked a kiosk worker where the pickup for Capilano was, and he directed me to the two shuttles that were parked right by the curb. I thanked him, and ran off.
By 08:29, I was sitting on the shuttle. I didn’t have to show my tickets as it was free.
By 08:51, I was in standing in the queue (line) for the park. I scanned the ticket on my phone, and was let in.
I was greeted with a map of the park after walking in. I decided I would start with the cliffwalk.
Walking through the park, near the entrance, there were texts posted about the history of the park. I started reading them, but got bored after a bit, so I continued on to see what the rest of the park had to offer.
I could see the bridge in the distance, where everyone was going. But no, not me.
There were many totem poles in Capilano, built by local First Nations people (natives/indigenous peoples of Canada). They looked different from the ones I saw the previous day.
A man standing near me had asked another man if the trees were Douglas-firs. The man replied that he didn’t speak English (he was Chinese).
The original man, the question asker, then asked me the same question. I told him that I believed they were. If I recall correctly, I had read something or heard something about it the day or so before.
As I approached the cliff walk, it seemed so pristine and gentle. Nobody was there.
Walking down the spiral steps, I was filled with excitement as I saw the bridge and trees below. It truly was on a cliff’s edge. I could see how well-engineered the structure was; I felt safe.
At this point, I was pretty excited; I had woken up early, I had arrived at the park early, and nobody else was on the cliffwalk. It had all paid off.
I had a really good view of the suspension bridge from here.
I was really amazed by the engineering of the cliffwalk. I had never seen anything like it before. I kept walking across it just to see how durable it was.
There was even a glass viewing platform where one could see the river below, and have a better view of the suspension bridge across the river.
There was another glass viewing platform where one could see a small waterfall, or at least it seemed small from above.
There were these nice morning rays hitting the trees just right (not quite crepuscular, but certainly diffused).
I was really stunned by all the nature and forest as well (something you can’t see in Phoenix). I did see a little house behind the park, I wonder who lives there.
By then, someone else was on the structure, so I exited. I actually spent about 20 minutes going around the cliffwalk (it doesn’t take that long, I just really enjoyed it).
There was a little garden thing going on, with rocks and water, and a small bridge. This bridge was the least exciting thing I had seen all day.
It was at this point, in the garden area, that I looked up and realised just how big the trees are. Your average Douglas-fir is about 30 to 37 m (100 to 120 ft) in height. Didn’t know that.
I continued walking the trail so I could loop back around to the suspension bridge. There were information posts on the side railing detailing the building process for the technology there; the clamps, the design, and the construction; I’m just glad I didn’t die.
The park even claims that the cliffwalk could withstand the weight of 35 killer whales. I would love to see that; I don’t even know how they determine that.
Next was the bridge. It was fairly empty.
I just remember it was swaying so much. It wasn’t really even cold or windy outside.
I thought the view was better from the cliffwalk. One thing I’ve learned from travelling is that some things are nicer to look at from afar then to actually be on or inside.
I could even see what looked like an apartment building sitting above the creek. I wondered how much their rent was. I also wondered how many people had dropped their cell phones over the side of the bridge I was standing on.
I had asked someone who had been standing to the side to take a photo of me. He gladly agreed. I was hesitant to ask at first because I had thought, “what if someone chucked my phone off the bridge?”. I figured it was a dumb thought and asked someone anyway.
I was trying pretty hard to keep my balance while he was taking the photo. I was worried he would fall over too, but he kept his balance (and he did not throw my phone over the bridge).
By 09:38, I was off the bridge. I was only on for around 11 minutes. It wasn’t really that interesting to me, but I had to keep walking.
I think the reason why it wasn’t that interesting to me was because it’s just a straight bridge. It was obviously built for tourists. And while I’m on this topic, I might as well mention that for the price I paid to enter the park, a BC (British Columbia) resident could pay the same and have a year pass. That was unbelievable to me. They have no need to purchase a one-time ticket.
Oh, there is another bridge too similar to this, and it’s free. It’s called Lynn Canyon suspension bridge. The only reason why I didn’t go there instead was because I figured I’d just pay the money to see the complex as a whole; who knows when I’ll be back. Also, I believe this park is one of the top things to do in Vancouver. To me, it was worth it.
After getting off the bridge, there was a little nature walk. There was also a new map showing.
There’s only three main attractions of the park: the cliffwalk, the suspension bridge, and the treetop adventure. I had already completed two, and had one more to complete.
After looking at the map, I located a bathroom, refilled my water bottle, zipped up my fleece pocket (with my room key card and credit card in it), and carried on.
I eventually came across a bird show/display (it’s called Raptors Ridge Birds of Prey); it was like show and tell for ornithologists (bird experts). I watched that for about ten minutes.
The presenter, Karen, talked about how she keeps 30 birds at her house with her husband, and she trained the birds to pick up mice in urban Vancouver. They’re adapted to the sounds of the crosswalks in the city, so they can fly across the streets and pick up mice.
I could tell she was passionate about what she talked about.
Again, the trees were really tall.
I took some phenomenal photos that I’ll just leave here.
I mainly just walked around for a bit and took photos.
By 10:40, I was on the first platform for the treetop adventure.
I honestly wish I had more to say, but I don’t, so here’s some photos.
It was pretty empty when I first got on, but the crowd picked up pretty quickly as I moved along.
Unsurprisingly, these bridges were not as wobbly as the suspension bridge. That was like trying to ride a wave. Maybe not that difficult.
By about 10:50, I was off the treetop adventure.
If I had to rank the three attractions out of personal enjoyment, I would rank the cliffwalk first, the treetop adventure second, and the suspension bridge third. However, the suspension bridge is the most scenic, and the most “instagrammable”. It’s the most easy to identify.
After exiting that, I drank some water and ate some peanuts I had bought the previous day from Safeway.
I threw my Nutri-Grain bar wrappers and peanut container away into a bear-proof trash can, then continued on my way.
There were so many more tourists on the bridge this time around. I was so ready to leave.
There was traffic coming in both directions, people stopping to take pictures; one woman stopped to tie her shoes… This was when the bridge was swaying a lot.
One woman was taking a photo of the direction I was coming from. I guess she expected people to stop for her, but I just continued walking. “Oh”, she said. I couldn’t do it at that time.
I was out of the park by 11:28.
I walked down to the bus stop, less than a minute away, and sat and waited for the next bus to Grouse Mountain.
I was sitting in the middle seat when a woman and a man came to the bus stop. I moved over to the left so they could sit. The woman sat in the far right seat.
She asked if I was going to Grouse Mountain and I told her “yes”.
If I remember correctly, the bus was quite full.
We made it to Grouse Mountain by 10:50. The total ride time was pretty short, maybe nine minutes.
There was a group from the bus that was getting ready to hike the mountain. When I got to the entrance, I was pretty confused; I didn’t know where the trail started. I had to Google it and follow people who looked like they knew where they were going.
Before I hit the trail though, I went to the bathroom to urinate and fill up my water bottle with that crisp, Canadian water. I also took off my fleece to prepare for the heat of the hike.
I crossed the street, found the trailhead, then began my ascent of the Grouse Grind.
Stairs
Okay, so this is the part where my judgement severely lapsed. See, I had researched the trail before; I was aware that it was difficult; I was aware that it was over 2,830 steps, and 2.5 km (1.55 miles) long. I was aware the ascent was 800 m (2,624 feet) above sea level (which Vancouver is at); but this hike was very difficult. I had never done anything like that before.
It’s mostly vertical, up steps. Some parts are unmaintained. Some parts are just clumps of stone that one has to scramble up.
I actually considered quitting and heading back down at many points, but I figured, “I am here; I’ll try it”. I mean, I essentially earned my Canadian passport with this one.
The only hikes that I imagine would have to be more difficult than this are ones where you would have to crawl through mud or tunnels. Or perhaps they ascend sand. Or you have to swing from ropes (a more difficult hike does exist. It’s similar to what I described and it’s located in Canada as well; West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island).
Okay, so Grouse Grind. There are two trails that go to the top of the mountain: The Grouse Grind Trail and the BCMC Route. I knew I would be doing the Grouse Grind Trail.
I started at 11:55, midday. Things started off fairly normal, just a few steps here and there.
There were some structures to help prevent rocks from crushing people down below. I’m not sure what the proper name is; it’s a landslide mitigation technique. It seemed strong.
I don’t even know what to say about the hike. There were many checkpoint markers and signs along the way. Every once in a while, one could see some construction going on up there.
There was a part where the trail split. I took the left to the Grouse Grind Trail.
There was a sign that read, “NOTICE TO HIKERS”, stating that if you were to die, get mauled by a bear, or get lost after nightfall, it’s your fault. Fine by me. I continued on.
At this point, there were a lot of stairs. I was hoping it would end, but nope, I was only a 3/20 of the way through so far. I continued on.
There was a small bridge with a small carrying capacity; it definitely could not hold the weight of 35 killer whales, or even one. The maximum load was 4 people at a time.
By 12:19, I took my first break (of many). I drank some water to cool down. I was breathing really heavily. After this moment, I stopped taking photos for a bit and focused on surviving.
By 12:42, I made it to “GG 20/40”, one half of the trail (or so I thought).
The next part I encountered had ropes to hold onto since there were no stairs at this point. But shortly after, the stairs continued again.
The whole thing was like a real life stairway to heaven, but my legs were burning like hell. This truly was torture. I don’t even know why I did this to myself (it was free and seemed like a good experience).
At 12:49, I reached the true ½ mark (aptly called “Grouse Grind Trail ½ MARK”).
I think at this point, we were all tired. The trail seemed tired too. It was worn down, missing steps, had holes in the ground. It was definitely rough.
People were really struggling at this point. I knew I still had about an hour left if I were to continue climbing.
At some point, just looking higher at the trail was discouraging. It was like a mental labyrinth. My mind was doing backflips. My exhaustion was immense. Even now, typing this, I’m surprised I even did it and completed it. Just writing about it is giving me exhaustion.
At 13:08, I reached the “GG 30/40” sign (or what I thought was ¾).
The stairs and the incline just got worse and worse, but I got a lot better at carrying on. Shorter breaks. Much shorter.
I reached the true ¾ mark at 13:13 (I don’t understand why it has the “30/40” and a separate ¾ mark. They’re not the same thing, but why not?).
Anyway, yea, at this point, it was pretty steep, but I was past the point of giving up. With each trail marker, I became more and more encouraged to make it to the top.
At 13:38, I passed the 40th trail marker. I was sweating profusely. The first thing I saw was an oddly shaped building.
There was also a sign under the marker that said, “Be Bear Aware”.
Bears
When I looked to my left I could see a cable car tower (the proper name is an “aerial lift pylon”), but no cable car. It stood boldly on the side of the mountain. I began walking over towards that area.
I arrived at a small grassy area called “Georgia Straight Lookout”. There were viewing chairs set up to overlook the mountains and city below. I rested here for a bit.
Here, I got a better view of the cable car tower. It was legit.
Looking in that general direction made me feel like I was in Switzerland, but I was in Vancouver.
A cable car did eventually come by, going upwards, and I managed to snap an amazing photo of that on my iPhone (my Sony camera battery was exhausted).
I just watched them go by for a bit. The view of the mountains in the back was amazing.
I sat in the grass, relaxed, ate some peanuts, then a seat finally became available for me. I moved there and continued to watch the cable cars. I finally left to explore about 15 minutes later.
I walked inside of the chalet and around to the other side to find a wonderland, a resort behind it. It was just…activities.
I saw wooden statues, a wind turbine, people throwing bean bags. I didn’t even know what to think. I didn’t expect to see all that up there.
I could see people paragliding, and then I saw snow…for the first time in years. I ran to touch it. It was real. My hand was cold, it left an imprint in the pile.
The sky was clear and sunny. There were little thick clouds floating around (cumulus).
I eventually tossed the snowball I had balled up, and continued walking. I came across a map of what was around. I was by the zipline. I watched people go down that.
After that stopped being entertaining, I began walking towards the grizzly bear habitat.
I could see more people paragliding in the distance, just like Switzerland. I could see ski lifts with nobody in them.
Then, this was when everything really opened up.
I could see the lumberjack show going on as well as more mountains in the distance, along with more snow.
The show was interesting to say the least, I came in while they were log rolling (it was an artificial log).
After that, I walked over to some wooden bleachers to sit and look at the mountains, another lookout. Then, I moved to a chair like the one I had sat in when I first got up to the mountain.
The view was…revitalising.
After that, I noticed the crowd surrounding the bear habitat, and I took a short walk over there and managed to squeeze my way in.
The bears were just roaming around the grass with their heads down, grazing.
It was crazy to think that there was just a little wire fence between a hungry bear that was less than 2 metres away, and I. I was actually judging the size of them to gauge whether I could withstand an attack from them or not. I figured I could, but not without some serious damage.
Just the sheer amount of force these animals have is incredible. Apparently, one adult grizzly bear can have the strength of five adult humans. But they are relatively peaceful animals. Relatively.
At 15:00, a presentation about the bears started.
Some basic information about the bears is: their names are Grinder and Coola. They’re both male. They were adopted back in 2001. The presenter also mentioned that they were the size of footballs when they were found.
Grizzly bears their age usually live for about 3-5 more years in the wild, but they’re expected to live for about 15 more years.
They came out of hibernation on May 3rd, 19 days before.
At 15:15, the birds in motion ceremony started. I didn’t attend, I was hungry and didn’t care.
I went to a nearby bathroom with a restaurant above it, a BBQ place. The prices were wayyy more than I was willing to pay. I was surprised anyone was eating there. So I went back to the chalet as I had seen some restaurants in there earlier.
The chalet was nice. Felt kind of like a Bass Pro shop. I believe it was my first time being inside of a ski chalet. It felt like a cozy, homely environment.
There was a display of photos and memorabilia from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. I actually found out right then and there that there had recently been an Olympics hosted in Vancouver. That explains why there is an area of the city called “Olympic Village”.
I walked around inside for a bit to see what was available, then I finally chose a place to eat from. I ordered mac and cheese, poutine (my third and final one in Vancouver), and got a nice cold bottle of chocolate milk (I know).
The whole thing was delicious. I took my tray outside, as that was the whole reason for me being there in the first place. There was an empty chair right outside the door with my name on it.
While I was eating, I was researching about the lost submersible vessel off the coast of Canada. People would come up to the side of me and take photos of the view from where I was eating. I couldn’t blame them.
I couldn’t believe I was up there, I couldn’t believe that I was in Canada, again.
I couldn’t even believe Washington (the US state) was in the distance. I could practically see everything. I can’t even believe people can live like this. Even typing this, it’s surreal to believe I was there. That’s why I must document it.
Swiss Cable Cars
After I finished eating, I returned my tray, looked around the gift shop for a bit, then went to purchase my ticket for the cable car back down (called a “download”). After a short wait, I got it.
I walked outside the chalet and went around to another building right next to it to enter the queue. There was practically no wait, as I was one of the last people to arrive.
Once inside of the cable car, I could see a little plaque above the front window; “4663 Aarburg, Switzerland. I couldn’t make out the rest of the words above that line.
But yes, the cable car was, in fact, manufactured in Switzerland.
The ride was beautiful, just what I had expected.
Here’s some photos.
By 16:37, I was back on land. I was one of the first people to get off since the door opened on the side I was standing on.
I made my way down to the bus stop right in front of the entrance. It didn’t take long for the bus to arrive, but it felt like forever.
Once it finally did arrive, I stood up to get in the queue, but the problem was I had queued at the wrong door. The driver wanted us to all enter through the front door, so I had to wait even longer to board.
By 17:06, I was back on Capilano grounds. I then had to wait for another shuttle to take me back into town. Again, I wasn’t in the right queue, so I had to wait longer to board. I was one of the last people to board out of the two shuttles that showed up.
During the ride, I was struggling really hard to stay awake; I couldn’t do it. I fell back asleep after we had crossed over the waters to get back into Vancouver.
The ride was actually a lot longer than I had anticipated because of 5 o’clock traffic.
I managed to wake up shortly before drop-offs occurred. I got off around the spot where the crash had happened earlier in the day; it was clear by then.
Once at my bus stop, I waited…for a while. I was across from the Fairmont Hotel (by pure coincidence, I recently found out that this is also the Tipton Hotel from the Suite Life of Zack and Cody). There, I saw my first US licence plate (number plate) since being in Vancouver. It was a Washington licence plate.
There was a guy reading a book in Italian called, “Un giorno di fuoco” or, “A Day of Fire” in English.
There were two British girls sitting to the left of me. The one closest to me was wearing Edvard Munch, “The Scream” earrings. The other girl was wearing a Bloomsburg University sweater (jumper).
A police car was stopped at a red light, and one of them commented about how it didn’t even look real and how it looked like a toy car.
The bus was pretty full, as expected. The girl I was standing next to was listening to Gymnopedie 3 on her phone. She had stepped on my foot at one point and apologised.
I was off the bus by 18:42 and passed by more rabbits on the way to my hostel. I was back inside by 18:51.
I’ll finish the story here as the rest isn’t really worth telling. But yes, it was an eventful day. Here’s what I wrote that night:
“I showered about 30 minutes ago. It’s 20:15 right now. I have no idea what I’m doing tomorrow, or for the rest of the night. I don’t feel like leaving the hostel, or going far. So that’s why I’m writing now 🙂.
Today, I woke up early, around 5:30, because I had to pee. Really badly. It ended up working out in my favour because that allowed me to plan to go to Capilano early. I booked the ticket for nine. The shuttle came to Canada Place at 8:30.
My bus was a bit delayed because there was a motorcycle crash downtown. But I made it on time. Once I got to Capilano, I went to the cliffwalk. No one was on it but me.
That, to me, had the best view of the park. You could see the waterfall, the river, the bridge, the trees. It was nice. Felt safe. I guess more people just anticipated the bridge.
So I went there next. It was nice. Pretty wobbly. I don’t have much to say about it. I do wish I was a BC resident though so I could get an annual pass.
The treewalk was fine. Pretty crowded. Don’t have much to say about that either.
Now the Grouse Grind. That is a hike. I see, and felt, why it is called “grind”. It is no walk in the park. It’s mostly stairs, for two and a half km up. It felt like the actual stairway to heaven.
I got pretty tired about ¾ through, and had to rest. I was breathing hard. I knew it was difficult, but I hadn’t anticipated how difficult. It’s the most difficult hike I’ve ever done.
The hike to the Flat Iron on Superstition Mountain looks easy now. Lisbon looks like a piece of cake now. I’ll never complain about it again.
Getting to the top was so relieving. There was a nice chalet on top. I sat and watched the gondolas [cable car, not gondola] go by for a bit. I also admired the view, of course. Of the city, of the water, of the US. I ate the rest of my peanuts then got up to see what was around.
I was shocked by what I saw. It reminded me so much of Switzerland. Specifically Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald.
The first [thing] that immediately grabbed my attention was the snow on the ground. I went to touch it. It was snow, and it was cold. I made a snowball out of it and tossed it around for a bit. I walked some more and watched people ziplining [down the mountain]. Then there was a lumberjack show. “Log” running.
After that, I went to go sit and look at the mountains, then I went to see the bears.
The bears were pretty small. After that satisfying moment, I finally went to eat. I got poutine, and mac and cheese. And chocolate milk. 30 CAD.The view from the sitting area [pavilion] was nice. Very nice. I was full after the mac and cheese, which I ate first.
I bought the gondola ticket after that. The girl at the counter asked me how my hike was. I said, “it was nice. Very, very difficult.” She laughed. I got on the gondola right after that. I was on the right side, but I wished I was in front. Nevertheless, I made it down.
I waited some time for the bus, then the shuttle back from Capilano. I slept for about 20 min on the shuttle. I didn’t want to, I was just tired. I didn’t feel like going grocery shopping […I can’t even read the word I wrote here] I may have had time since my bus was delayed, but I chose not to. I had enough food for the day. Can’t ask for anything else. I can but, I shouldn’t.
I went back, showered, now I’m here, writing. I’m tired now, and I’ll probably go to bed soon. I also haven’t met anyone here. Maybe I won’t. I’ve been sitting outside my room [in a lobby], but haven’t said a word to anyone. The most I’ve talked to someone was today on Grouse Grind. Maybe tomorrow.”
And the conversation that I had on Grouse Grind was with an older man. We were both taking a break around the same spot and he asked me where I was from. I told him I was from Arizona. He knew it was hot there. I told him it was my first time in BC. I told him that the hike was really hard. He told me that there are some people that do that hike every week. He said when you’re old, you just have to take your time, step by step. He looked like he was maybe in his early 70s.
There were actually quite a few older people doing the hike, notably Asian.
Certain groups and people would pass me by, and every once in a while, I would pass people by too.
I saw some taking breaks, others would see me taking breaks.
During one break, one man had told me which way the trail was. I told him I was resting. I did appreciate him telling me that though.
Another interaction I had with a man was him asking me if the way I was about to go up was the path and I told him yes. He said something along the lines of, “man, that’s worn down”. I agreed and laughed.
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Jaden Strong 