20.05.2013
Some people say don't bother with this hike, but it wasn't so bad. It's on the tougher side for a North Shore hike, which actually adds to its appeal as it's be much quieter than the typical NS hike. Maybe its unpopularity stems from the maze of trails on the lower flanks? We didn't take the right trail on the way up, though we ended up rejoining it at a convenient place.
Still plenty of snow but there are plenty of orange trail markers so it was hard to get lost. Some blowdown in places though not enough to make travel difficult.
The view from the broad south summit is really quite nice, looking down into Lynn Valley with Burwell, Coliseum and the Needles making a fine sight. Mt Seymour is nicely framed through some trees. Getting to the north summit required a bit of route-finding and careful choice of descent on the snow. Fortunately it was soft enough to plunge-step down even fairly steep slopes. The north summit itself is a totally different experience: a narrow ridge with sheer drops to the north makes it a little hairy for those with a healthy fear of heights :-) The views of Grouse, Dam and Goat Mountains make it worthwhile.
On our descent we lost the trail markers and ended up contouring around to the south side of the mountain to pick it up again. Except we picked up a different and much steeper trail, which was a little tricky thanks to the rotten snow. This trail dropped us out onto the old Grouse Mountain highway with a couple of close sightings of its namesake bird. Very cool to get such a close view of the birds we've heard every spring for the last eight years!
All in all, I'd definitely do this hike again.
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