This morning was pretty wet. We didn't rush to get ready for our trip up Grouse Mountain today. We took the SkyTrain to the Vancouver at around 11:15. That put us at the Waterfront at about a quarter to twelve. We used the proximity to have a quick food court lunch at Waterfront Center. It was our first time eating at a Basha restaurant. I guess the Lebanese food chain, founded in the 1970s, has quite a number of places in malls around the area. We were full and feel as though it was good food at a reasonable price. We'll probably look to eat at Bahsa's in their other locations.
A lunch out really helped make it feel as though we local tourists today. The reason we chose to take a trip up the mountain was because of the free admission offered to a limited number of local residents. We filled in the online form early enough and snagged two. We availed ourself of one of the free shuttle bus provided from the tourist area next to the cruise ships this morning. After the 25 minute trip up to the base of the mountain, we showed our ID and changed our print-out for today's tickets.
We ascended into the fog. It was a bit cooler with the rise in elevation, probably about 5C lower than in the city. The fog would come and go giving us glimpses of sun and blue sky. We didn't linger at the lumberjack show, instead, we headed to see the bears. Grinder and Cooler were orphaned more than 20 years ago and have been residents of the 5.5 acre wilderness refuge area on the mountain since then. We often check in on them during their winter hibernation on the webcams in their enclosure. They were out and about today.
Jay and I went to the peak too. It was even chiller up there but such a great ride up the chair lift in the fresh, moist air. We felt privileged to do this today. It had been five years since we up here last. The last time was during COVID distancing and we had strict timings allotted. Today, our tickets were valid from 9 am to 9 pm.
From the chairlift, we saw a doe and her offspring.
We did get to see some grouse on the top as we did during the last visit. It's a good name for the mountain! The hen was large as a chicken had seven large chicks that we noticed. When the sun came out for a few minutes, they were happy to stretch their wings to dry in the sunshine.
We headed back to the mountain base to catch a 3:40 shuttle bus back across the Lions Gate Bridge and to the Waterfront. A SkyTrain was waiting and we smoothly made it home before 5:00 pm. What a nice day as local tourists! We have to do this more in the future.