I remember those magical winters from my childhood. Fresh snow. (School holiday due to the large amount of fresh snow.) Playing with snowballs. Building a snowman. Ice-skating on a frozen lake in my hometown – Szeged, Hungary. But Hungary hasn’t seen much snow in the past decade, and barely any in the cities. There were a few days when the roofs became white, but by the time we stepped out of the house, it was mostly mud.
It was one of the many gifts of Canada that we found the kid in us again, enjoyed the snowy landscapes and the snowball games with our own kid, who has seen snow here for the first time in his life. We hiked in knee-deep snow. We walked on frozen lakes. We sledded on toddler-sized little hills with Tomi. All that – and we’ve actually moved to the warmest corner of Canada: Metro Vancouver.
I thought Vancouver doesn’t see much snow (or any snow), and it’s generally true. However, Vancouver is surrounded by mountains which are so close that they are within city limits, and those mountains definitely get snow. Also, in the past few winters it snowed even in Vancouver. The snow in the city didn’t last for long, but it was stunning! We also got our magical week of snowy Metro Vancouver during our first winter here.
Lynn Canyon Park, North Vancouver
We found the most perfect winter fairy tale in Lynn Canyon Park. No surprise, because Lynn Canyon looks incredibly pretty in any season. Snow and ice is not what you typically see there, it’s normally green in the winter, too, thanks to its old-growth rainforest. But when it snows in the rainforest… Well, that’s quite special.
Read this, too: Hiking In Lynn Valley And Lynn Canyon, North Vancouver
Buntzen Lake, Anmore
views from the lakeshore trail
hiking Buntzen Lake Trail in the heavy snow
Buntzen Lake is also part of the Greater Vancouver metropolitan area, though it doesn’t feel urban at all. A large lake, 4.8 km long, surrounded by pine forests and many hiking trails. We visited it on Christmas Day, right after a larger pack of fresh snow.
Again, snow is not typical at this elevation, Buntzen Lake normally looks like this in the winter (and based on that one winter we spent here, winter fog is quite usual):
Cypress Mountain, North Vancouver
Cypress Mountain is one of the iconic North Shore Mountains towering above Vancouver. Snow is definitely typical here, and its ski resort is relatively small and very popular as it’s about a 15 minutes drive from Downtown Vancouver.
Cypress Provincial Park is rich in hiking opportunities, and it has some well-worn and busy winter hiking trails, too. We hiked all three winter routes, and we did so in heavy snow, so views were quite similar: landscape in the clouds, trees buried under snow.
Mount Seymour, North Vancouver
Another one of the North Shore Mountains, and the scene of our favorite winter day. Hiking to Pump Peak in the deep, fresh snow on a sunny day with azure skies was pure joy from the first step to the last. Pine trees were so deeply buried in snow that they looked more like statues – or strange ice soldiers.
Whistler
Whistler is about 1.5 hours drive from Vancouver, and it’s one of our favorite day trips in any season. Whistler is home to one of the largest ski resorts in North America, and you definitely find snow there on any winter day.
This is Green Lake, from our favorite section of the Valley Trail:
All the green
If not the sparkling white snow, then it’s the lush green rainforests and pine forests that impress. It shouldn’t be that surprising that evergreen forests keep their green in winter, we are just not used to it.
Are these the colors you think of when imagining a winter scene? This is the typical look of Lynn Canyon Park, looking down from Twin Falls bridge:
And another specialty of rainforests: they’re just as amazing in foggy, cloudy or rainy weather as on a sunny day. Hence taking a walk in North Vancouver is a favorite activity for us on any day. Okay, except in pouring rain. But we recognize rain is needed to keep those forests so beautiful, after all.
Homestead Trail in Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve on a foggy winter morning
Our least favorite season
So winter is our least favorite season. Winter as we knew it in Hungary meant bare, lifeless and colorless landscapes, gray and brown colors. Even though it’s not extremely cold, the outdoors don’t offer anything that would actually tempt us outside, except for the rare snowy days. But it turns out if you give some color and snow to winter, we can fall for it easily. Thanks, mountains and rainforests of British Columbia!
Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people’s legs like house cats. It was magical, this snow globe world.
Sarah Addison Allen
