We have spent the last couple of weekends hiking half of the 48 Km Baden-Powell Trail on Vancouver’s North Shore. The trail runs from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver to Deep Cove in North Vancouver.

The week before last we hiked from the bottom of Grouse Mountain east to Lynn Canyon Park (about 7.5Km), and last weekend we hiked the 12.2 Km from Deep Cove west to Lynn Canyon Park. Both hikes were great; the shorter hike was the more demanding of the two and had less foot traffic on the trail but the longer hike also had plenty of ups and downs and a few rough patches which made it fairly challenging over the longer distance.

Both hikes had a fantastic Canadian feel because of the rainforest scenery and air but I think the longer one was the more interesting overall - half an hour in you reach a cliff top (Quarry Rock Lookout) with an amazing view over Indian Arm inlet, Deep Cove and Belcarra.

The hike takes you by plenty of pretty little creeks and waterfalls, then eventually you walk alongside two big rivers (Seymour and Lynn Creek), crossing the very stable bridge over Seymour Canyon and ending it all with a little wobble over the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge. It’s definitely the hike I’d like to take my fitter visitors on.

We plan to do the remainder of the Baden Powell Trail but perhaps next year when we own a car, as part of the trail through Cypress mountain is not accessible by public transport which makes it difficult to do day hikes.

Before winter sets in we will probably head back to our favourite parks which lie next to  Lynn Canyon Park - Lynn Headwaters Regional Park and Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve. Is it any wonder that we are planning to leave our condo in the city and move to a house in the Lynn Valley early next year?!

I can’t emphasize enough the importance of Vancouver’s seawall in city life. My parents are visiting at the moment and they spend their days walking a different section of the seawall and seeing the city from different viewpoints. It serves as a fabulous commute for me and my fellow Vancouverites - a walk or cycle along the seawall to work really lifts your spirits and gets you ready for the day ahead. It’s so calm and peaceful, and you get gorgeous views of the ocean, and mountains and the city skyscrapers. It also acts as a beautiful gym - why stay indoors on a treadmill or in the weights room when you can get out in the sun and walk, cycle, run, or rollerblade around the seawall? On my way to work I often see people doing yoga and tai chi, and on the way back there is always at least one group of people doing a group circuit or weights session by Science World.

Every time I’m down there I just feel so alive and happy and fortunate to be living in Vancouver.

I was at a dinner party last weekend and the conversation turned to climbing. Three of the people present were really into it as a sport and our host pulled out all his climbing gear. This really got my partner interested as he had always wanted to try it but had never gotten around to it. I had the opportunity to climb with some of my friends at University who were in the climbing club but I always declined as I thought I’d be terrible at it - being short and overweight and lacking in upper body strength.

However, since I have promised myself that I will try as many outdoor pursuits as possible I have decided to try it out. We are going to be attending an Intro Course at an indoor climbing centre nearby in a couple of weeks, and we get a week’s free climbing after that. The worst that can happen is that I absolutely hate it. The best that can happen is that I find it is the sport for me after all and we can look for groups to join so that we can try some outside climbing. I’m hoping that at the very least I’ll be able to add indoor climbing to my list of after-work fitness activities - after all I’m never going to build up upper body strengh if I don’t do something challenging.