Black Mountain: Tummy Time on Top

If you are looking for a hike close to Vancouver, relatively easy and short but still rewarding with good views, then Black Mountain just up from the Cypress ski area is a good option. As you can see it’s also a great place for babies to take naps while doing their tummy time…

We started not early on Saturday afternoon, somehow when you have a baby the days just fly by, and before we noticed it was already noon, so we started hiking around 2pm… The trail up is in excellent condition and is well maintained.

We hiked up Black Mountain in the winter when I was about six months pregnant. This time it felt easier. It was also warmer. Even though it was sunny back then too, zero degrees doesn’t count as warm, but 15 is more like it.

We had lunch at Yew Lake Lookout and Neil was still busy sleeping so we enjoyed our lunch and views.

Then we continued to Black Mountain, passing by Yew Lake. By then Neil had woken up and also the sun decided to come out for us. It was very quiet up there with almost no people.

Neil practiced some tummy time and also had his diaper changed… Lucky for me Gili is always happy to volunteer for this mission. I guess since he can’t breastfeed Neil, he has adopted the bathroom duties on hikes…

After hanging out on the summit for quite a while we started heading back in a different way. I had a feeling we were going in a circle, and sure enough we found ourselves almost at the top of Black Mountain again, confusing… I guess we took a wrong turn somewhere but finally we were on the right track, hiking close to the bare ski runs. Of course the ski hill has been closed for a long time, and just like our recent hike to Dog Mountain by Mt. Seymour, the sight of Cypress with no snow was quite sad.

The trail heading down was a bit steep in parts, but pretty quickly we were back at the parking lot and after stretching in the sun we were ready to head back home. A few hours hiking, some time in the sun and quality family time make for a fine afternoon!