VANCOUVER and beautiful British Columbia (ongoing)

[Nomad9]

Wow...beautiful pictures. Makes me want to move to Vancouver!

[blackcat23]

Excellent pictures of a beautiful city. Just left and I already can't wait to go back.

[Architype]

Great photos Klazu, keep them coming!

[Klazu]

Whistler-Blackcomb is the world-renowed ski resort some 120 kilometers north of Vancouver. These are from yesterday. Conditions were just perfect and there was no line-ups anywhere.



Unfortunately someone hurt himself and had to be airlifted from the woods.









It was a cold day so one had to take breaks to warm up.







Blackcomb panoraama from Horstman Hut.

[Danny]

Excellent pictures, Klazu!

Whistler is wonderful. I feel envy seeing those beautiful snowy landscapes.

Thanks for your continuous updates.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain.

[Klazu]

One of the most beautiful hikes we have ever done is the 22km round-trip to Elfin Lakes in Squamish. It's a full day hike through beautiful alpine meadows. These photos were are from August 2014.



Squamish from the trail up. Stawamus Chief can be seen on the left side.





It's an easy yet exhausting trail up to the meadows where forest finally begins to give way for alpine views.







First sighting of Mount Garibaldi (2,678 m or 8,786 ft). The defining summit of the area.



The alpine views are breathtaking.





Garibaldi Valley



The trail continues on top of a ridge towards Elfin Lakes.







Finally after a 11km walk one reaches Elfin Lakes! Time to eat a lunch and enjoy the view!



The crystal-clear lakes get their water from rain and melting snow. The smaller lake is used as drinking water by people staying overnight, whereas one can swim in the larger one.



What a place to stay overnight!



All food must be hidden from bears that frequent the area.







The trail would continue towards Mamquam Lake, however you will need another day for that.







Unfortunately even here one can find some clear-cut mountain faces.







The majestic Mount Garibaldi.







After such an amazing day, it is sad to leave the place behind.





Absolutely beautiful. Best of British Columbia!

[franktko]

Great shots klazu! I lived in Squamish for 3 months, way back (early eighties), and we would hike every weekend. I could see mount Garibaldi from my bedroom window. Thanks for bringing back those memories!

[Klazu]

That's great to hear, franktko. Happy to bring back some good memories. You may also enjoy some photos from Brohm Lake, which is also in the area. Just check previous page.

Mount Garibaldi is a spectacular backdrop for Squamish with a white top throughout most of the year.

[maru2501]

holy sh*t to the Ford GT

[Klazu]

Great night skiing on Grouse Mountain last night.

[Coldrsx]

I miss Grouse, skiing and er um, driving up in the summer at wee hours.

[Klazu]

I think you mean Cypress Mountain? You cannot drive up Grouse Mountain, but have to take a gondola from the parking lot. You can drive up Cypress (where the "official" Vancouver lookout is at) or Mount Seymour, but the latter only gives you a view of the Lower Mainland (not that much Vancouver).

Grouse Mountain is "the tourist mountain" with free shuttle bus from Downtown and lots of tourist activities up there. Skiing is only one part of it in winter and it is best suited for beginners, although there is some nice challenging terrain as well.

[Klazu]

Turning the clock back to September 2014, here are some photos from a hike up the three peaks of Mount Seymour in North Vancouver. It's a fantastic nine kilometer round-trip that takes one approximately five hours.



Trail up is fairly steep and has lots of boulders.



There are some spectacular drops to check out.



First peak ahead!





Tri-Cities area of Lower Mainland (Eastern Metro Vancouver).



Mount Baker is an ever-present part of the local background.



Burnaby Mountain



Port Mann Bridge and Guildford area in Surrey. Note the huge Canadian flag.



The very hazy Downtown Vancouver. The weather gets hazy during summer.



Panorama from the first peak. Wish the sun would have been behind me, but what can you do.



Onwards towards the next peak!





View from the second peak. Indian Arm fjord peeking.



Better view of the Indian Arm.



Third and the highest peak.





Top of Mount Seymour (1,455 meters | 4,773 ft).



Hikers on first peak as seen from the third peak.



Mountains on fire. Mist evaporating after night's rain.





Grouse Mountain side.



The wild and vast North Shore Mountains backcountry.







Made it up there!





Backcountry panorama.



Mount Seymour ski lift top station. Long way back to car ahead of us.





There you have it. Yeah, I definitely recommend this hike.

[Coldrsx]

Absolutely beautiful.

^^oops, yes, Cypress.

[Klazu]

Thank you. It's a popular hike that I want to be doing again. Next time I will do it early in the morning to have sun behind me. But even then from July to September is challenging because of the constant haze.

[giallo]

That last set....wow! I've never done that hike. Too beautiful for words.

[Klazu]

Thanks, giallo!

Whistler again last Saturday. Conditions were perfect with new snow having fell overnight and both Symphony and Harmony Bowls completely untouched.

We had to wait an hour for the Harmony Express to open due to crews working to mitigate avalance danger, but boy were the runs perfect. Hands down, the best runs of the year! People were so excited that they were screaming of joy when coming down the untouched pow runs. Never seen such enjoyment!







We were the first to the ski Harmony Ridge and it was perfect. Symphony Bowl still waiting to open in this panorama (see how untouched it is!).



There was a lot of people and runs detoriated quickly on afternoon.







Hundreds of people queuing for the Symphony Express. Took us half an hour to get onboard and many people chose to walk up!



Peak-to-Creek is the traditional end for the day.

[Klazu]

This past weekend was a long weekend here in BC with Monday being Family Day. The weekend is a popular time for families to go skiing and we drove to Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Vancouver.

On Saturday we went to ski at Silver Star Resort nearby Vernon which turned out to be a very nice resort with many great runs.





There was a lot of snow on top of the mountain and trees were snapping from the weight of the snow!





Beautiful vistas from the summit.





The next day we changed to Big White, which is another huge resort a bit east of Kelowna. Weather was more cloudy there, but the snow was fantastic.







Driving from Kelowna back to Vancouver this time of year can be a roller coaster of seasons.





Approaching the 1700 meter (5500ft) summit along Highway 97 Connector.



It's crazy how these mountain highway's have 120km/h (70mph) speed limits throughout winter!





Much less snow again when approaching Merritt.



And winter's back again along Coquihalla Highway.





Descending from the summit.



And it was spring nearby Chilliwack. What a ride!

[Klazu]

North Vancouver is a one of Metro Vancouver's suburban town centers and despite the name not part of the City of Vancouver, but it's own city and district. Here is part 1 of random photos of the city from the years past, showing North Vancouver on a beautiful summer day.

Burrard Inlet separates City of Vancouver from the North Shore.



Burrard Inlet is busy body of water with many modes traffic traversing it.





North Vancouver skyline.



Lions Gate Bridge leads over to North and West Vancouver.



Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and the train bridge across the inlet.





City of North Vancouver's centre is called Upper Lonsdale.













Just like rest of Metro Vancouver, also North Vancouver is seeing a lot of new development with lots of construction taking place in the Lonsdale area.



North Vancouver is not known for having tall towers like most of the town centers. These are examples of the tallest towers in town.







North Vancouver is a very green city with lots of lush parks and streets.





Lonsdale Avenue is the city's main street.





The second part will concentrate on the Lower Lonsdale area. Available soon.

[dktshb]

What a most enjoyable thread! Your pictures are gorgeous!