Seymour Second Peak Inversion

Today was what U2 described as a Beautiful Day. This was my Beautiful Escape that Classified talked about. That guy is from Nova Scotia. That's pretty cool. This is an album of pictures I took.

Usually when I just have my motorcycle on the road during winter I don't go snowshoeing until spring when it gets a little warmer but this year I don't want to miss the season. It's kind of a long ride up the mountain in the cold so I just bought some skidoo gloves. Today I put my ski pants on and plugged my vest in and enjoyed the ride up the mountain. It was a beautiful sunny day.

As soon as I crossed the Second Narrows bridge the Lions looked awesome covered in snow. You could see snow on the cut and the Peak on Grouse as well as the big windmill. I've seen that thing quite often whenever I go hiking and I have never seen it move in the wind. It sure can't be generating much electricity. I have no idea why. There's supposed to be wind up there. People parasail off the Peak in summer. Maybe they turned it off so no ravens or eagles would get hurt. Whatever the reason it stands as Vancouver's memorial to fake environmentalism.

I was surprised how much snow was on the mountain. It's a great early start to the season.

This is the view of First Peak from Second Peak.

The trail was well packed so I left the snowshoes at home and took the crampons.

It's kind of hard to see but if you click on the picture and zoom in, you can see low clouds all the way from Vancouver to Vancouver Island. That's inversion. It usually lasts a few days. That's when you're above the clouds and during the day it's warmer on the mountain than in the city.

I've been kinda struggling at work lately. I'm just not feeling it. I'm tempted to move to Airdrie like everyone else. Vancouver is so expensive. I know I'd miss the mountains but Banff and Lake Louise are awesome. Today I needed that Beautiful Escape. Makes me glad I'm still here.

Vancouver kind of feels like Anatevka in the Fiddler on the Roof. In the musical the narrator said that here in Anatevka you could say that everyone is like a fiddler on the roof. Trying to scratch out a pleasant simple tune without breaking his neck. You might ask, why do we stay up there if it's so dangerous. His answer was this is our home. How do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word. Tradition. Likewise Vancouver is my home. This is where I belong. It's like the song the Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel. The fighter still remains so he does. He still remains.

Oh and by the way, normally my bike is the only one you see in the parking lot on the mountain during winter. Well on my way down today I saw two guys parked in the lower parking lot on BMWs. Then a little further down I saw a guy riding up the mountain on a motorcycle with a snowboard attached to the side. That was freaking awesome. So I'm not the only one any more.

Look at the screen shot of the windmill on Grouse mountain from their live feed. People are walking around but the turbine is not moving. Vancouver's monument to fake environmentalism.