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Day hikes near Vancouver, B.C.
Question: I will be meeting my brother’s family in Vancouver in late July (his wife and 3-year-old) en route to Whistler, B.C. This is a lounge-around vacation, but any suggestions regarding what you can do outside with a 3-year-old in that area–short hikes, walks, etc.–would be great.

Barb Samuels
Seattle, WA
bsamuels@u.washington.edu

�����ԹϺ��� Adviser: Since a body can only handle so much lounging around, you may want to consider a kiddie-friendly, five-mile round-trip hike to the summit of Goat Mountain in the Grouse Mountain Ski Area, on the North Shore of British Columbia.

From the base parking area, treat yourself to a low-impact ascent on the Skyride chairlift to the Grouse Chalet, about midway up Grouse Mountain. From there, head northeast toward Grouse Peak before picking up the service road that’ll take you around the mountain’s west side to a col between Dam Mountain and Grouse. From there, the Goat Ridge trail marker will point you
along a relatively new route that climbs around the east side of Dam. Be sure to keep right at all times during the ascent. The at-times heart-pounding climb ends with sweeping views of Mount Baker and the Cascade Mountains to the southeast and the Gulf of Georgia and Vancouver Island to the west.

For other ideas, check out 103 Hikes in Southwestern British Columbia, by Mary and David Mcaree (The Mountaineers Books, $12.95).