West End Guest House Blog: Grouse Mountain

On Wednesday, May 22nd our staff - Alexis, Karen, Ron and I went to Grouse Mountain. It is important to know "tourist" attractions but also important to have a little fun time together. So we spent part of the afternoon on the mountain. We drove there and parked, parking is pretty reasonable in case you think of going and have a vehicle. When we got into the Guest Services building there were four people asking about how to get back to Vancouver. Well right outside was a bus, all they needed to do was get on the bus, stay on until they reached Lonsdale Quay terminal and then take the SeaBus across to Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver. Kind of a no brainer but they talked so long the bus left and they ordered a taxi. Basically what I'm saying is that it isn't difficult to get to Grouse Mountain.

We went up the Gondola, it took 8 minutes and you go from just a few of the parking lot and mountain to breathtaking views of the city, the Capilano River resevoir which is one of our water sources, the side of the mountain and more mountains nearby and then the panarama shoots out to English Bay, Kitsilano, the UBC end of the city with the Museum of Anthropology on it. You can see Richmond, where the airport is and all the way to Vancouver Island and into Washington State. Yup, it's quite a view. You go over the Wolf Habitat - the white object in one of the photos is a white wolf. I couldn't get a pic of the other grey wolf.

At the top of the gondola we asked the guide there for some ideas of what to do. I must say there are loads and loads of guides to help you - not at all like shopping at Costco. We went to the Birds of Prey Show - it started with a male Falcon, then a female Falcon - very much bigger. Next was a Horned Owl with its 270 degree neck and bright yellow eyes. And the finale was a huge Bald Eagle with its 6 foot wing span. Picked up some important information while being entertained.

Next we thought we'd go to the LumberJack Show but we had the timing wrong so decided to go to the Eye of the Wind - windmill. I've been seeing that structure on the top of the mountain from down in the city for 3 or 4 years now and have wanted to check it out. On the way there we passed the Grizzly Bear habitat. Two giant bears were just waking up - the mountain was still pretty much covered in snow.

The Eye of the Wind was pretty awe inspiring, however we completely socked with fog and with no wind so we couldn't see anything and the 1200 lb 122 ft blades weren't moving. But we went up to the observation deck 20 storeys up in the air and marveled at the construction anyway. The chair lift going from the lower side of Grouse to the top freaked out 2 my staff - I won't say who but it was fun watching them go through their contortions of fear. I did manage to choreograph a kickline - one of the photos.

We were a little cold when we finished at the Eye of the Wind so decided to have a snack and then get back down the mountain because it would be Sherry time at the West End Guest House when we got back. We'll have to see the LumberJack Show another time. And on another trip up the mountain I'd like to go to their beautiful diningroom for dinner, aptly named - 'The Observatory'.