Working overtime to take a day off was worth every late-night for this hike. A clear day without a cloud in sight, and hardly any people on the trail because of the weekday, I could not have asked for more ideal conditions. The parking lot in Lion’s Bay filled up shortly before 10am, and luckily most of the hikers were going up Harvey or Brunswick leaving two small parties aside from us to tackle the Lions.

The last time I came onto the trail was last year in the winter, and with knee deep snow the conditions were not ideal to travel higher into the alpine so my journey was cut short 3/4 of the way. Returning in better conditions meant I stood a better of chance of touching the mountains that are visible from many parts of Vancouver.

The trail twists up a service road, eventually narrowing to a trail where the road access is no longer needed. The fork for Brunswick comes first with Harvey’s fork occuring later on. Only on our return did we realize that the Lions have a junction of their own, with the trail continuing over a fallen log apparently leading to another trail.

It was quite the experience doing the trail without snow, certain features were familiar while others were non existent. I also remember struggling to climb over steps a lot more with the snow!
Eventually the trail becomes significantly steeper, taking an upward trajectory for the sky appearing through the trees. Once entering a rocky clearing, the views are stunning for the last stretch of the trail. Once on the ridge the bay is to the left, and an endless view of mountain ridges on the right contrasting the blue sky just made my heart sing. We were fortunate to have the area to ourselves along with a few ravens that lurked nearby and circled the peaks.

We also waved at a plane passing overhead, however, I think they were probably more fixated at admiring the views to notice two tiny blobs moving.

Note: from May to September a Residential parking permit is required if you do not manage to secure one of the ten parking spots.