20 September 2016, Tuesday

We are on the fence about our plans for today. Should we do the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, or not? In any case, our first order of business is to find breakfast and a place to buy a pie for tomorrow’s breakfast on the ferry. I have found three candidate bakeries on-line, each recommended for their pies.  The first is not yet open when we arrive, and we will not be in the area later today. We drive a couple of kilometers to the next bakery. They have great buttery scones which we eat for breakfast, but no pie. We return to the car and drive to the third bakery, only to find it is now a dumpling shop. The woman at the counter directs us to the new location. We wend our way through busy city streets and find a parking space. When we arrive at the Pie Shop, we find it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Our quest for pie is thwarted.

We give up and drive to MEC (Mountain Equipment Cooperative,) Canada’s answer to REI. The store reminds us very much of the many REI stores we have visited. We sign up for our required “lifetime membership” and purchase a few items. It is time for our final decision on the suspension bridges. In the end we decide they are too touristy and expensive. Instead, we will do the Grouse Grind. This is a 4 km hike straight up Grouse Mountain with an 850 meter elevation gain. It’s a pretty steep hike.

We meet a young man in the parking lot who points out the start of the trail. He decides with one look that we appear fit enough to give it a try. The trail is technically easy, the steepest sections (practically the entire trail) have had stone or wood steps built in to assist in the climb, and there are ropes and fences to help prevent falls on the way up. Mind you, some of those steps are very high for my short legs! Only ascents of the mountain are allowed.  The trail is too steep to descend safely. Instead, gondola tickets can be purchased at the top for $10.00 and hikers can ride down. O and I keep up our usual slow, steady pace. Young hikers speed past us, but we pass them in turn as they stop to rest. When they see us approach they resume their hike upwards. We are not very short of breath as we climb. The air seems thick after our high elevation adventures in the Rockies. At the top of Grouse Mountain we take some time to look around and visit two grizzlies, each of which was rescued as an orphaned cub. Then we take the gondola back to our car.

We now enter Steel Toad Brew Pub in our GPS. It takes well over an hour for the short, 9 km drive due to Vancouver rush hour traffic. It is worse than the I-95 construction traffic north of Philly. As we near the pub we notice a small coffee shop and bakery. Before going to the restaurant for dinner we stop in to buy pastries for tomorrow’s breakfast on the ferry. It is not pie, but we will just have to settle for chocolate croissants and blueberry scones. We also ask a local woman about morning traffic on the way to the ferry. She suggests an alternate route over the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge. O and I decide to allow several hours for the 40 minute drive. Dinner at the Steel Toad is very good. Our shared Pilsner and Stout hit the spot as well.

Back at the B & B we chat with our host who suggests a 6 am departure time to catch the 9 am ferry.