Snowshoeing

After not such a nice start into the day, I decided I would make the best of my Saturday and leave the city for some snowshoeing, something Gordon recommended to me as well. The weather was great, the sun was shining and I was happy to take my merino underpants for a walk. I picked Squamish as a winter sport destination. It was an hour drive through the most beautiful scenery. I surely look happy on that speedy cam picture that got taken of me on the way… meeh. I had planned to attend a guided tour with someone that would tell me a little about the area. When I arrived at the gondola, I asked the staff at the visitor center if ther was still a free spot on the tour. He tried to call someone at the summit station. He was hilarious, but found out that there would be no tour. He handed me a map and showed me a couple of loop trails I could do on my own. So I took a day pass for the gondola and got a ride up. It is about a five minute ride up there and a lot of ear popping on the way. It was so beautiful that I decided not to take any pictures but to enjoy the view.

At the top you can do all kinds of stuff: hiking, cross country skiing, downhill skiing and snowshoeing. The gondola has a huge terrace outside, a shop, restaurant and café. It surprised me that the food and the rates for gear were kind of cheap, compared to the winter sport places I‘ve been at before. I rented a pair of snowshoes and poles (I brought poles from Germany for exactly this occasion, but forgot them in Vancouver… and the poles turned out to be more of a burden than a help). John, one of the staff, helped me to put on the shoes and off I went. I did two 1.6 km loop trails and got totally lost on the first one. So I did like two and a half 1.6 km loop trails. Very confusing! It was so nice to be exercising outside in the quiet wintery scenery. I have been walking a lot over the week in Vancouver, but outside town and in the woods, it definitely was way more relaxing. I was nicely wrapped into my hiking jersey, fleece jacket and down jacket, which was fine at the top, but on the trails… sweaty.. I think I told you, that I sweat a lot. I don‘t even have to move for it.

After I finished the trails, I bought a coffee and a muffin and sat down in the café. A family came to join me. They had two little kids, maybe two and one year old. I started to get nervous, when the two year old wanted to carry his and his sisters‘ hot chocolate. I had finished my coffee anyway and just as I got up and put my camera into my backpack, the little guy emptied the cups on the spot where my camera was until only seconds ago. Phew!

I spent the rest of the afternoon by sitting at the terrace, holding my face into the sun.

On my way back to Vancouver, the sun set next to me behind the mountains and dipped the sky into a dark red. That sunset and the route were so beautiful, that they compensated for all those tiny moments I’ve had over the last weeks, when thinking „I shouldn‘t be doing this alone!“ They are rare, but they happen. Still, I felt confident and happy about how the day had developed.

Back in Vancouver I put my hiking stuff into the washing machine and ate my leftover pizza slices from the day before.