We'd requested tickets for a 10:30 am ride up. We were a tiny bit early and pulled into Cleveland Dam for a short walk to look at Capilano Lake. We could see the gondola from there, of course. The parking lot is only about 10 minutes further up the hill.
The ride up Grouse Mountain takes only about seven minutes and the view of Vancouver seemed more stunning than ever on such a clear day. We think the last time we climbed the Grind, a nearly vertical trail, was 2003 and that would've been our last visit up Grouse Mountain.
After a quick look in the visitor center we set out for the grizzly bears. On our last visit they were still small as they arrived at the mountain in 2001. One came from about 1000 miles north of here on the coast and the other from an area near the Rockies and Alberta. Both were cubs whose mothers had been killed. At the time, BC had no policy for abandoned wildlife. They live year-round on the mountain. They are enclosed during summers in a large area but hibernate for six months a year on their own in secluded caves nearby.
We then headed to the board the lift to the peak.
I am pretty sure we had never visited the very top. We saw some folks on zipline tours. We also spotted a grouse minding her four small chicks. Now the mountain seems appropriately named to us. We got a chance to walk to the large wind turbine.
It was a leisurely time up on the peak. We eventually headed back down to the main area and waited to see a presentation with three owls. We were under an umbrella because the sun was brutally bright. We ate the sandwiches and snacks we'd brought along before the little talk.
Our booked ride back to the parking lot was 2:30 pm. We left a bit before that and followed the social distancing regulations by donning our masks and staying on the floor stickers in the cabin of the gondola.
Vancouverites are lucky to have this accessible mountain right on the edge of the city. It took around a half hour to get back to New Westminster via the Trans-Canadian Highway, or as we say out here, Highway 1.