A sign like that? To me? That’s not a warning, it’s a challenge.
To be fair, I, and many others in the area, hike this trail all the time. I think that warning is for non-locals. It’s not an easy trail, and part of it involves ropes to get up (or down) a particularly steep section. And I’ve definitely been on worse trails. This was actually near the end of the hike we did today, on the way down. We’d already taken one trail section that was supposed to be closed and deemed it hike-worthy. I think the section is closed because there is construction to be happening, but it’s not active on the weekend and much of what we’d already hiked on the “open” section was far worse.
I’d hiked (scrambled??) a section of trail five or six weeks ago, and I wanted to do the full section rather than cutting up a crazy 30% grade incline to get to the cross trail. It is a section of the Baden Powell Trail between Grouse Mountain and Mosquito Creek. I thought about driving up and leaving the truck at one end, then doing the BP, then walking the power line back, but the power line section would be in full sun and too hot. In the end it was just easier (??) to hike up through the Capilano Canyon, then take the greenway trails that run through the neighbourhood to the base of Grouse Mountain and then do the BP properly….without me trying to kill myself by falling into a creek along the way (https://www.thephilosophicalfish.ca/2023/06/30/out-for-a-little-walk-180-365-2023/)
No, no I am NOT looking for the BCMC route…because that’s even worse than what I know we are embarking on today. Oh, and hey, Marne….look, I know exactly where I am hiking today. Not at all lost. We have water, and snacks…..but it’s a little more than just another 20 minutes 😉
When we hit about the mid point….Kirk had an altercation with a wasp….it was a good time to ponder the steep slope below…that I have unintentionally scaled a few weeks back.
We were amused by the markers on the tree….particularly the last one. It says “To BCMC Cabin….25 min…STEEP!”
Yeah, NOT going that way, we’ve already gone “UP” enough on this hike.
Once you finally get as high as it goes, the little bit of “flat” is a welcome respite…before you start going “down” for the next hour…and your knees turn to jelly.
Oh, and I live with a nut-bar lunatic….but I love him.