Myles Dawson

Nestled in-between the ultra-popular Grouse-Grind and BCMC trails, this subtle and tasteful hike brings a bit of adventure to a well-known location. I started off on the BCMC trail, following well-maintained wooden stairs upwards for some time.

Eventually I encountered the hidden metallic sign showing the start of the flint and feathers trailhead.

It's quite easy to miss this simple metal sign embedded into a tree with scratches and markings all over it. At this point the trail becomes a bit unconventional and a bit more difficult to follow. It narrows and leads down to a riverbed which was dry and very mosquitoey.

At this point I lost the trail and started scrambling up the other side of the riverbank. After just a brief moment I encountered the trail once more in all its glory.

The main trail is fairly well-troden so it becomes clear once you are back on it. Trundling up the mountain further I came across some exciting rock features which begged to be scrambled. Egged on, I scrambled up these features, enjoying the excitement and taking in magnificent views of Vancouver behind. Scrambling up proved to be fairly straightforward and I found it to be a great place to practice technique.

Now the trail continued for a bit before merging back onto the BCMC highway.

I had a sudden thought, what about scrambling up under the Grouse peak chairlift? Stealthily, I made my way up to the rock formation and began doing some ugly climbing/scrambling. A bit mossy but it wasn't too difficult.

At the top I hydrated, basked in the evening sun, immersed myself in the views and began the journey down. I ran the BCMC route to the bottom, it was fairly brutal on the legs and feet. They became quite tender. Overall a fantastic route that is absolutely worth doing.