Dog Mountain at 4.5 km and minimal elevation is a relatively easy hike. My friend Gaurav and I have been talking about doing this easy family hike for some time. So, when the weather opened up for December 23, we made plans to do a morning hike.
Parking on Mt. Seymour
Mt. Seymour parking lot gets packed pretty soon, so we decided to leave early. We left home at around 7:40 am, as it is about a 50-minute drive to Mt. Seymour from Walnut Grove.
Dog Mountain is outside Mt. Seymour resort, so we couldn’t park in the resort parking lot closer to the trailhead (winter parking rules). We had to park along the road on Mt. Seymour road. Since it was the holiday season, it was packed, and we had to park about 1 km away from the resort.
It was about a 10-minute walk to the snowshoe rental center. Gaurav, Indrani and Kasturi would be using microspikes. I had my alpine mountaineering boots, and Kavya had her kids snowshoes. We just had to rent snowshoes for Gaurav’s daughter (also named Kavya). Swara, who is two, would enjoy the ride in the baby carrier on Gaurav’s back.
It was almost 10:30 am by the time we hit the trail. The trailhead for Dog Mountain is just to the left of the ski run.
It was a clear day, and there had been a good snowfall in the last few days. The conditions were perfect.
Swara was having a good nap in the baby carrier, and Gaurav seemed to be enjoying the workout.
Around 11 am we were at the First Lake.
The trail was relatively flat, and Kavyas had fun “leading” the hike. Around 11:40 am, we reached the viewpoint.
Dog Mountain
We had a fantastic view of Vancouver and the North Shore mountains.
Swara was up by now, and after some snacks and hot chocolate, she was running around. She was fascinated to see birds fly in and briefly sit on people’s hands. Unfortunately, few of them were feeding the birds. Swara extended her arm as well but no luck.
Meanwhile, Kavyas were having fun sliding.
After an hour of break, we were ready to head down.
The kids preferred to hike without snowshoes and enjoyed running ahead in just their snow boots.
First Lake on our hike back –
By 1:30 pm, we were back at the trailhead. While we had done longer family hikes earlier in the year, this was Kavya’s first long hike in winter and it was more enjoyable in the company of other Kavya.
Hopefully, the kids will grow up having a better appreciation of the outdoors and easy access to wilderness right in our backyard.
Resources:
Mount Seymour: Resort | BC Parks
Trail Guide: Outdoor Vancouver
Disclosure: I am not affiliated with any of the above individuals or organizations.
Did you enjoy reading this post? Please subscribe to get weekly updates. Please share your feedback in the comments section below. Thank you!
