Eagle's Bluff Hike

I made the trip to Eagle's Bluff based on friends suggestion. The hike itself is not difficult. Worts is the first part, where you have to walk-up the skiing slope called Fork. 

I shall mention the horseflies - it was again a day when they were a lot in action. I somehow get used to it. Notice for Marty - horseflies fly so fast you cannot catch them with a camera, so I do not have a picture. Bigger than huge is almost a size of small bird :-)
I was rescued by Cabin Lake. Place just before you reach the top of Black Mountain, first target on that day.

View from Fork Slope towards Mount Strachan slopes.

Cabin Lake - paradise just before Black Mountain

I did not believe I will enjoy swimming in Canada as I enjoyed this one. The water was nice warm, but still refreshing, almost no people, just a small group on the opposite side of the lake. Very comfortable entry into water (big stone and sand - see the picture). Refreshed I climb the Black Mountain to get another amazing view that day.

View from Black Mountain

The trail goes than trough forest to Eagle's Bluff. Place above West Vancouver offers amazing views. Here are some of them:

Eagle's Bluff is a busy place.

Ships waiting to enter Vancouver harbor.

View towards Bowen Island.

The whole hike was pleasant. Walking in the forest on such a hot day was refreshing. Despite the long-lasting period of sunny and dry weather most of the lakes and ponds on the way still have enough water. 

One of many lakes I passed on my way.

Blossoming still pond.

Only sad thing about the hike - I lost my anti-bear jingle-bell. I can now only hope it rescued life of the person who find it. 

Good luck with bears and keep smiling! Come back for more stories!

Rent a Boat - it's fun!

I had the spontaneous idea to spend one day on boat. Shot research on the Internet showed there are two locations in Vancouver where you can rent a boat - Granville Island and Horseshoe Bay. I decided for Horseshoe bay. Granville Island is located in city center and I had the feeling it would be much more fun to explore the ocean outside of the city.
Together with two friend we have spend almost all day on the ocean (OK not the open ocean, 'just' on one of the bays between mainland and Vancouver Island).

Map of 'our' Bay - the star shows location of the Horseshoe Harbor.

Before you rent a boat, you need to pass through 'boat driving license procedure'. It is not difficult, the main purpose to to scare you.

Boat Driving LIcense Material

Once you pass, the ocean is yours. We had small boat for max. 4 people with the lowest power (40 HP, stronger were 60 and 75). I do not believe there is much difference. You always feel you go too slow until you hit bigger wave. 

Leaving the Harbour

Once we left the harbour we started to practice the boat driving. It looks very simple, but even small boat can sometimes surprise you. Watch for waves! Looking on the map we planned to explore all islands in the bay. Soon we realised we do not have enough time or boat fast enough to manage this in one day. Plan changed and we started to search for nice place to have a picnic and swim. We found wonderful quite location.

Our beach on Anvil Island with rock entering the water on left side and tree trunks - perfect for picnic.

We had lots of fun parking the boat without destroying it and hoping it will not swim away while we were enjoying the beach. 

Safely parked boat.

As you can see on the picture it was a stone beach. The entry into a water was very challenging because of the very slippery stones. My friends swam few strokes. I only dipped my feet and hands. The water was very cold and the stones very very slippery. 
After lunch and swimming is time to explore more. Some of the islands are inhabited. It must be wonderful to have a cottage there. 

This lovely place is for sale.

I recommend everybody to have a boat trip when in Vancouver. It was worth the 220$ we have paid for 4 hours rental. 

Amazing day!

Enjoy summer, it is still not over and see you soon!