The Baden-Powell Trail, Lynne Valley to Grouse Mountain Part 1

A couple of weekends ago Andrea and I finally got ourselves sufficiently organised to complete a leg of the Baden Powell trail. The trail stretches some 45 kilometres from Deep Cove in the East to Lighthouse park on the other side of the Howe Sound in the west, passing along the fringes of greater Vancouver and Grouse Mountain. It is said to be one of the most amazing walks in all of British Columbia and with most of the trail accessible via public transit Andrea and I have been meaning to take a crack at it for some time. On this occasion we selected a ten kilometre section linking Lynne Valley and Grouse Mountain. This section covers some amazing terrain past creeks and old logging trails with some great views of the lower mainland. This walk took about three hours with numerous stops for photos and snacks - we had an amazing day.

The highlight really was a most unexpected introduction at the highest point on the trail where we met a generous and serene Persian gentleman resting at the Burnaby lookout. This fine old gentleman shared his dates and pistachio nuts with us as he proceeded to educated us about Lord Baden Powell and his contribution to young men's education, and the intricacies of the tying of a reliable knot (Ok so this last bit may be a piece of poetic license as they say!). This old fellow has been a scout for some 45 years and promised us that he completes the trail between Grouse and Lynne valley 3 times a week. He certainly looked as if he was capable of such a feat. After he had finished his story he bid us on our way with "Happy Good Day!" - Andrea and I were tickled with this farewell and used it for the rest of the day.

Our own "Happy Good Day" ended on a very high note with drinks and a bon-fire at sunset on third beach later in the day - truly one of the great days!