Ever since we moved to Seattle we wanted to make it up to Vancouver, BC with it being under a 3 hour car ride away. It took us almost two years to make it up, but we finally found the chance, grabbed our passports and hit the road. We booked an Air BnB for the weekend just outside of the downtown area to save on costs a bit and arrived late Friday night. Even just crossing the border you notice how everything is different from MPH to kilometers per hour, to new accents and a different culture. The exchange rate was in our favor up there- we noticed food and drinks were a good deal but clothes and other items came out to be about the same price comparatively. Saturday morning we woke up and went to the public market, tried lots of food, then made our way to Capliano Suspension Bridge. This insta-famous spot is very picture worthy and something we wanted to just once. It is a big tourist spot and the prices match that. Overall a beautiful place to walk around. I really enjoyed it.
The rest of the day we explored the city, ate many of the local delicacies, and took in the "foreign" land. Sunday we woke up early to explore some of the mountains nearby. I find it extremely hard to find local hiking information for places other than Washington. WTA will always be the best. I researched, asked some people I knew up there, found the local avalanche reports, and even asked some locals in person. A lot of work to figure out one snowshoe trip! We went to Cypress Mountain about 35 minutes from Vancouver. We got lost where to start based on two different websites recommendations, but eventually found the right trailhead for Hollyburn Mountain. This hike was 6.2 miles/ 1500 in elevation gain. We wore microspikes up and snowshoes down. There was lovely weather going up until we got closer to the summit, then in true PNW fashion it was socked in with no views. It was still a really fun hike and nice to explore new mountains. After this we made our way back to Seattle. I would love to go back and explore more of Vancouver and the mountains surrounding it, thank goodness it's so close!
