Saturday, March 5, 2011

Snowshoeing Dog Mountain

We had been meaning to check out Dog Mountain for some time but the weather just wouldn't cooperate. When the sun was shining and the air was clear, we rented some snowshoes from Mountain Equipment Coop and made our way up Seymour Mountain. It had to be one of the clearest days I had seen in a while. The edges of the mountains were so distinct and visible from Vancouver I couldn't wait to see the view Dog Mountain had waiting for us.

No one in the group had gone snowshoeing before. Just as soon as we were all equipped in our boots, I got a stranger to take our photo. The adventure had begun!

From 2011-02-18 - Snowshoe to Dog Mountain


The hike was super easy with very little gain in elevation. The scenery in the woods was augmented by the cartoonishly puffy lumps of snow scattered over the tree tops. The trail was easy to traverse and snowshoes weren't even necessary as the snow had been compacted and could have easily supported our weight on hiking boots.

From 2011-02-18 - Snowshoe to Dog Mountain


We hiked for probably 1 to 1.5 hours before reaching the view point of Dog Mountain. It was agreed unanimously that the view was the best anyone in the group had seen. Visible from Dog Mountain was Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond, Surrey, and Robert's Bank. Surely there was more but that's all we could easily identify. To the west and to the north, the observable world is occupied by peak beyond peak, sun, sky and dotted with trees and snow. It was breathtaking. This is the type of view that takes your breath in sighs and leaves you spellbound.

From 2011-02-18 - Snowshoe to Dog Mountain


It was difficult to leave at first but fingers and toes started to get very cold without exercise. As we left we were already talking about the next time we'd return. We made excellent time back to Seymour's ski lodge. After returning the snowshoes to MEC, we relaxed with a coffee at JJ Beans. What a great day.

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