
Vancouver – North Shore Trails – Whyte Lake
Last weekend I did my first Vancouver walk in the snow! I joined a lovely group of Wanderung people for a hike on the North Shore toย Whyte Lake. We had planned to keep going along theย Baden Powell Trail to West Knob viewpoint. However the snow and lack of visibility encouraged us to change plans and walk back along a Seaview trail instead. Wanderung is a hiking club with a few thousand members in Vancouver. Anyone can sign up and organise a walk and anyone on the mailing list can get involved. You meet different people each time you go. I love it!
It turns out that there are a huge number of trails on the North Shore of Vancouver. Luckily the man in charge of this Wanderung walk, Perry, seems to know all of them! When we started the walk, it was cold, but there wasn’t any snow. Theย Whyte Lake trail started at a car park just off route 99 in West Vancouver. Right at the start of the walk, you wander under the highway. It’s a cool, if concrete-y start to a hike!
The Whyte lake trail was really pretty. The snow started to fall pretty soon after we started, so we were walking through autumnal colours under glittering snow flakes. You can’t really see the snow in my photos to start with but it was enough to make the ground and the trees sparkle.
I saw a few cool mushrooms on the way. I guess autumn is a good time of year for fungi.
Whyte lake was a little flooded, so seemed a bit like a swamp at the edges! Apparently a beaver moved in last year and managed to raise the level of the lake, so now the pontoon is a little underwater. Still, it looked like it’d be a lovely place for a dip in the summer. This photo is from the flooded section at the side, rather than the actual lake.
After the lake, we turned off onto the Baden Powell trail and started to gain elevation. I found a holy tree that looked like an exclamation mark! Well, in real life it looked like an “i,” but I turned the photo upside down because exclamation marks look even cooler.
As we moved higher the snow piled up more and more. To start with it looked a bit like frosting on the ferns and moss. Then I found a cliff covered in icicles. Water had dripped down off the mosses and created some really long shards of ice.
Even higher, there must have been snow left from an earlier snowstorm because there was far more snow, especially on the branches of the trees. On the ground the snow was still powdery and slightly crunchy.
Can you tell, I was slightly excited to find myself in a winter wonderland!
I mean look at this! I was not expecting Vancouver to look this wintry so early in November. It was so, so pretty!
This is my favourite piled-up snowy photo of the day.
Despite the gorgeousness of the snow-covered trees, we decide that we should change plans. There wasn’t enough visibility for us to see the view from theย West Knob viewpoint on Black Mountain. So we turned around and headed back along the Baden Powell trail in the other direction.
We only descended a few hundred meters for the world to turn back to autumn. Although now the leaves were slightly covered in frosting.
We crossed the road near Horseshoe bay and headed over to the Gleneagles Community Centre so we could warm up and have some lunch. It is a huge, fancy community centre, but it was really empty for a Saturday afternoon! We were all hoping for a hot chocolate, but it as so empty that the cafe shop was all closed. Ah well.
After lunch we followed the Seaview walk back towards the trailhead where we started. There were some good views down towards the West Vancouver yacht club. The visibility was pretty rubbish, but it was still nice to see partial views.
The Seaview walk is along an old railway line. The railway had suffered from quite a few derailments, even one that made a train crash off the railway and into someones house! Because of that, the railway line was abandoned, and has been turned into this lovely, flat walkway. It is pretty perfect for dog walking, even in the snow. The best dog of the day was a labrador that was carrying a MASSIVE log that took up most of the walk way! We all had to stand at the edge of the path to make room for that doggo!
Once we saw the massive bridge we were almost back to the start of the walk. It is really strange to see such a huge highway when you feel like you are walking in the wilderness.
My final funky view before we made it back to the trailhead near the start of the Whyte Lake trail. It was underneath the old, rickety highway bridge. This bright graffiti really stood out among the greens and browns of the forest. I can’t decide if this dude has a massive lip or a hipster mustache. What do you think?
So, that was my easy, but fun Wanderung walk in the snow. It seems like Vancouver will be pretty different with all the rain and snow over the next few months, but I am looking forward to seeing how it looks.
33 thoughts on “Vancouver – North Shore Trails – Whyte Lake”
Looks like you got the best of fall hiking in Vancouver Josy! Dusting of snow, but still plenty of green and not so cold misery took precedence over nature. Thanks for taking us with you!
Gaaaabe! You’re back!
I thought you might be off hiking somewhere as I haven’t seen your lovely blog and comments for a while. I hope you’re well! ๐
It was actually pretty cold. Just enough so I was fine while I was walking around…but once I got home and cooled down, all I wanted was a hot bath!
Thanks so much josh and its wonderful to be back in my blogging chair again. Still trying to get caught up but reading about yawls adventures is the fun part.
hehehe I guess my definition of cold is a bit more extreme (“cold” for me means pain and freezing if we stop moving. Chilly, on the other hand, is wonderful and invigorating!)
Very true! I am a bit of a wimp, so I don’t think I have encountered truly cold weather yet!
I just found your vampire blog post. I’m glad you’re back and I hope you had a lovely break!
It was perfect. Just what the doctor ordered.
Wow, stunning. It’s snowing here too and I’ve been whining about it. I’m inspired to see the snow through your lens! :_
Lol it’s just because I’m from the UK where it hardly ever snows! I am sure I’ll get to the point of moaning about it at some point. For now, I just love the way it looks.
Wow – cool. That truly looks magical. Cold, but magical.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
Thank you Patricia!
There’s something about the sparkle of snow that makes anything look magical!
Awww, I miss the snow so badly! And what I call โa comfy Canadian coldโ… ๐โ๏ธ I hope you enjoy the winter trails this year. Wonderful photos as usual!
Comfy Canadian cold! I like the sound of that! I am less keen on the crazy Canadian cold from the East Coast!!
Though I am not a winter person, your pics of the winter wonderland are simply beautiful ๐
Thank you!! I’m not a big winter person either. I am going to wear sooo many layers this winter!!
Dear Josy, all that and NO picture of dog with log!!! I was gasping to see that. I have been outside in a tee shirt today but do expect to be chillier tonight. We are heading off to see Gymylog this week. Love, Lis
Oooh send hugs to Gymylog for me!! I did try to take a photo of the dog and log…But I was laughing so much that it is all blurry!
Winter is coming!! (I mean, winter has been here for almost a month here but it’s coming for you haha) My absolute favourite part of Christmas tree hunting is the shots through the snow covered trees, it is one of my favourite sights in the world ๐
I am always so impressed with how you use Christmas to keep you happy and smiley through such a long winter! You are my example for how to cope when it gets chilly!!
I always love your pictures ๐
Thank you Ruth!
The feeling is mutual. I am always so happy to see all your photos, especially the wild life ones!!
I love the photo of the flooded trees. A tad spooky?
I know right!? The beaver accidentally made everything spookier!!
Looks beautiful! Your photography is fantastic – thanks for sharing on BUYB! Disin’t post in time last night…but I have pinned and shared!
Thanks Claire!
BUYB is great isn’t it!? I keep finding so many good blogs (and friends) there!
Nice shots. I heard it started snowing a week or so after I left Canada. I would have liked to have seen a little bit of snow.
It didn’t last long!
It’s back to rain this week although the mountains still look slightly frosted right at the peaks…
Your blog is a lot of fun to read. Just wanted to throw that out there.
Yaaay! Thanks Sam!
The feeling is mutual. Yours made me giggle out loud from the very first time I read it. ๐
No problem! I’m glad I can make you giggle. ๐
By the way, sorry for this delayed “thank you”; I’ve been fairly busy as of late, and I’ve neglected my blog following.
No worries! I never mind late replies as it’s a nice surprise. ๐
Oh so beautiful! I’d love to try hiking in the snow.
Thanks Karenaren! I didn’t expect to be walking in the snow that day, but it was really nice.
It didn’t last long though. I didn’t see any snow since then!!