Lukka taking a sip from his new camel pack
Whoop! I've already gotten to a few of my 15 in 2015 list goals and have more in the works, but I'm excited to share not only one achieved but a beautiful place near us as well. Deep Cove is a little village tucked away in North Vancouver, and it's high season in the summer, when everyone from the city wants a good hike a quick drive or bike ride away. There are paddle board and kayak rentals, swimming, a park, and plenty of amazing views. Our family had been to Deep Cove before but only to check it out, we'd never actually hiked around in the trees up there, but come summer there are tons of hikers on the Quarry Rock trail!
the view from atop Quarry Rock
This hike is considered an easy trail but I'm finding out that means very little to this midwestern, sea-level-all-my-life girl. "Easy" started off with a huge climb atop some beautiful tree roots, and held a lot of up and down stairs throughout. The hike was about 1.5 hours and I considered it a great workout. It was a pretty hot day but when I got to the top I was very sweaty, though I felt great and had no soreness after or the next day. The surprising thing was we took the kids on their first real hike of the year (no nature paths here, folks) and they loved it and did great. Lukka doesn't have supportive shoes yet and on the way down his feet were hurting, but Ani and Stefan ran down the trail on the way back, for fun. Crazies.
view of the treetops at the top of Quarry Rock
The view from the top was definitely worth it, though by the time we arrived at the top it was completely crowded. My guess is to get the best weather and fewest people, you'd have to go up around 8 or 8:30, get to the top around 9, back down before 10AM. I believe we started around 11 and got to the top when most people started unpacking their lunches and taking it easy. It was also extremely hot on top of the bald rock and I was fine with just taking a few pictures of the view and heading back into the tree covering!
the view of Deep Cove, from atop Quarry Rock
It was such a beautiful hike and I'm so glad I've already marked this off my list. Our family had fun, got an excellent workout in (and sure enjoyed our Chipotle lunch after in probably less than 5 minutes) and are excited to try out more trails nearby. If you're ever visiting Vancouver, Deep Cove is a fun option for a quick trip and a short hike (comparatively) . Oh, and you might even see some dogs on paddle boards, too!
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