The Grouse Grinder.

Geordie and I do the Grouse Grind once a year at least. It is not an enjoyable hike or even a pretty hike so we tend to look elsewhere. Its crowded a lot of the time and there are no views just endless stairs.  You do it purely for braggin' rights. My last time was an 1hr 6 minutes what was yours? I shaved almost half an hour off my last time. Here is the timer at the trailhead at the bottom.

The trail splits just beyond. Baden Powell trail goes east towards Lynn Canyon. The BCMC trail goes through the first little bit of Baden Powell before heading up.  It ends the same place the Grind does but it is a bit longer by about half an hr. Again not much to see there but there is an old cabin site.

So if 2.9 kilometres an elevation gain of 853 metres and: 2,830 odd stairs isn't your bag, I suggest the option below. Grouse Mountain is a pretty big tourist trap but at least you can get up for free. Down is another matter. The Grind is one way for safety reasons.You can take the gondola from the top to the bottom for $15 bucks and the price seems always going up.  If you want to take it up I believe its $55 both ways which includes the Peak.

Birds of Prey: Owls & Vultures

Owls are so lovely. One of my favorite birds. I like how they fly silent. I have had the privilege of playing and petting with a barn owl in England and they are unbelievably soft. This is a great horned owl named Toba. She was born in captivity in Ontario. She lives on Grouse Mountain where she often flies in the Birds in Motion show. I like owls better in the wild but for nice head shots she was very obliging.

This is Toba's son at 5 weeks. His name his Mortimer. Such a good name for an adorably fluffy baby owl. He can't fly yet and is still figuring out what wings are for.  Look at him. Don't you just want to LOVE HIM FOREVER!!!

In case that was too cute and you need something a bit more..... unpleasant, here is a turkey vulture named Frankie.  They are really gross and vomit on their babies so no predators will touch them. They will also vomit on you if they don't like you.  They can digest anthrax and bones and likely anything else so make sure they like you.

A Deerly Loved Encounter.

A friend posted a lovely deer photo which leads me to do my own. I love deer very much.  Geordie and I were hiking up at the side of Grouse Mountain when a lovely doe came out of the tall grass and stepped towards us. She was followed by her 1-2 week old fawn. We backed off down the road quietly so we would not disturb them but they ended up walking right by!

The doe headed down this rock pile. Unfortunately some Italian tourists got really excited and loud and scared the doe and got her all tense. I tried to tell them to give her space but they didn't understand. Their kids also got really close and agitated the poor mother further. I was worried the doe was going to attack for a moment as she clearly felt a threat to her baby. The situation was not helped when someone on a jeep drove by at speed which spooked the baby who ran from her mom. Geordie and I called at the driver to slow but he revved by at speed.

I don't know if they got back together. We could hear her calling for her baby and sadly she headed in the wrong direction to find it. The baby was probably new enough to have not much scent yet. I am sure they found each other again. So lesson for today is to remember wildlife is fantastic and often completely adorable but they need their space. Observe but give them room. If someone isn't doing this try to stop them before an accident happens.

Grandma Endorsed Lumberjacks

I won't tell if you hmm 'The Lumberjack Song". It's in my brain right now. Grouse Mountain has a Lumberjack show where the tree choppers can show off their mad skills. And they are mad.  They practically float up the trees.  It's very informative and fun. It is Kathryn's Grandma endorsed!   They switch up the order of things to keep it fresh. I've seen it twice now. Perhaps three times.

Log rolling is a fun event. I think everyone has seen 'The Log Driver's Waltz' The NFB did back in the day. This show cases how they roll and balance.  These logs were foamy and the water barely chest deep.  Still, everyone loves it when its not you getting the dunking.

My take away is that you are not supposed to run with scissors but running with dynamite is fine.  There is some weird arm thing going on in that photo.  Reds suspenders and Nikes kind of detract from the traditional lumberjack look.  There were no survivors.

Get off my lawn!

Dang kids. Every year like clockwork they show up for this fireworks thing that the city has to have on my front lawn. With their noise and their trash and their rappitty music.  Ok. Except for the huge amount trash (pick up after yourself if this is you) people leave behind on the beach  and sea wall and the odd excessive noise very late at night I love the Celebration of Light. See!

And this is why! Look at that! Crazy! And all set to music. The organizers could do a much better job of setting up speakers that those not paying a huge amount of money for the right to sit in a bleacher could hear. Fortunately they put the signal out on a radio and I have a little hand held that can sometimes pick it up. This year for Vietnam they did a poor job of signaling when it was going to start so I had to chance to find the signal. Found it for Brazil and random people next to us hooked it up to their speakers so we blasted it and everyone all around could hear the Batucada!

So early it is in the picture below. The sun is not quite down. By dark there is no green space left and people are on top of each other. No exaggeration in that. Geordie and I are lucky to live one block away from this so as soon as it is over we bail and watch the crowds swarm by from the apartment balcony overlooking Denman while the Blade Runner helicopters sweep.  'Hee hee.... suckers...' we chuckle as we drink our wine overlooking the streaming mass of humanity. 

Click on the panorama above to enlarge it.

Birds of Prey: Eagles and Hawks

This is Rocco, a male Bald Eagle. Grouse Mountain runs a 'Birds of Prey' show in the summer where they fly several raptors over the heads of the crowd. We both prefer seeing these guys in the wild but it is still nice seeing them really REALLY close up.

Speaking of close up 'who is a pretty bird then?'
Very nice profile displaying the curved beak. Since they have to be equipped to lay the eggs, female raptors are typically upwards of 40% larger than the males, but Rocco is still a pretty big bird in his own right.

This is a Harris Hawk which are much smaller than the eagles. They are speedy little pack hunters from Arizona that are skilled in eating roadrunners and snakes. I like the difference in eye colour between the eagle and a hawk. That makes me wonder if there is eye colour variation across single species. This is another male.

There are days that I wish I had razor sharp beak and claws to swipe at the populous in general... nearly all of them are Mondays.

Grinder and Coola

Grizzly bears are cute....until they decide to rip off your face and eat your skin.  I love how they are so soft and cuddly looking. Then I notice the teeth and claws and strength underneath all that. Check out those bad boy claws. These two are Grinder and Coola. They live on the peak of Grouse Mountain. They are both rescue animals.  When they were cubs they needed help but they were so young they got too used to people and could not make it in the wild.

One of them was playing with a bone. Grinder I think. He would toss it then repeat. Hence his goofy expression. See what I mean about the teeth!  Scary!

Wet bears are fun.  It was warmish while we were up there so both were in the water. They were very active and playful and charmed all the tourists up there. I am particularly entertained by tourists from countries where due to human population, pollution or location there is very little wildlife or certainly nothing this size. As a Canadian I probably take a lot of what we have for granted. I don't get excited at a squirrel but I like it when other people do. Just remember to treat all wildlife with respect or it will eat your skin.