A Vancouver summer bucket list

Alex Munro tries everything from hiking to biking and many local beers.

Something special happens around May in Vancouver. As soggy grey skies begin to clear and the crisp spring sun burns the chill from the air, new life slowly emerges across the city.

Leafy green streets start to fill with early-morning cyclists and runners, while parks and beaches that only weeks earlier were too wet to visit bustle with people sipping craft beer from distinctive red Solo cups.

The grey mountains and dense forests that surround the city get swarmed with avid mountain bikers, campers and hikers.

The excitement is almost palpable: summer is coming and it is a good time to live in British Columbia’s largest city.

Vancouver is Canada’s west-coast jewel, a young and fun city sitting to the south of the rugged mountains and forest of British Columbia’s interior, east of the Pacific Ocean and north of the US border.

It is equal parts a thriving city culture and an outdoors wonderland — and no more so than when the lingering, warm days of summer arrive and Vancouverites come out to play.

This summer was to be special. It would be my last in Vancouver after calling the city home for the previous year and I had compiled a bucket list of essential experiences to try before I left.

Summer weather was essential for my list, a reflection of how different Vancouver’s weather is to the rest of Canada.

Shielded by the Rocky Mountains to the east, Vancouver is the nation’s fair-weather capital.

Winters are cold and wet but lack the devastatingly freezing temperatures and heavy snowfalls typical everywhere else. Summers are sunny yet mild.

This has helped develop a thriving outdoors culture that embraces the nearby mountains, ocean, lakes and forests.

Every Vancouverite seems to have at least one passion involving the outdoors. Many mountain bike or rock climb, others jog, kayak or spend weekends back-country hiking.

Everyone seems to love hiking.

My list of essentials had one simple aim: to try as many of the things that make Vancouver’s heart beat as I could before I left.

It comprised an array of outdoor activities, from swimming at the locally popular clothing-optional Wreck Beach to completing the 2.9km-long, 853m-high Grouse Grind hike in under an hour to sampling as many local craft beers as I could.

There were many items on the list that I had already completed as part of everyday life in Vancouver.

Routine yet fantastic activities, such as cycling around Stanley Park on a sunny weekend. Or jogging the 22km meandering Seawall after work as the sun set over the distant mountains, turning the evening sky hues of pink, red and orange.

I had already explored chunks of the 73km of trails that run through the hemlock, cedar and maple-leaf forests of Pacific Spirit Regional Park while training for my first half marathon.

Yet there was much left to do.

I absolutely had to hike to the top of the Chief in nearby Squamish. Talk to enough Vancouverites and it feels like scaling this domineering 700m rocky outcrop is as close as you can get to a Vancouver rite of passage. Everyone has done it and everyone raves about it.

It was a clear day when I made the Chief’s summit, and the deep ocean and snow- capped mountain vistas of the Howe Sound spilling out before me were breathtaking. About as breathtaking as the 11km uphill hike I had just completed.

I spent much of summer drinking as many different local craft beers as I could. In recent years, locally produced beer from micro and nano-breweries has become infused in Vancouver’s identity.

“Craft beer has gone from being a niche product to a necessity for any bar or restaurant,” Ben Coli, of Belgium beer-themed Dageraad Brewing, told me.

“Taphouses that offer 30, 50, even 100 different craft beers on draught have started popping up.”

There are now so many craft breweries in East Vancouver that it is affectionately referred to as Yeast Van.

With so many local breweries — and new ones seemingly opening every month — I knew I would never be able to cross them all off my list.

I settled on Brassneck, a brewery that represents Vancouver craft beer at its best.

Ahead of the curve, Brassneck is a nano-brewery on trendy Main Street which has cemented its reputation with a constantly rotating selection of inspired beers. Its chalkboard menu seems always to rotate through hastily scrolled descriptions of the new white Indian pale ales, sours, imperial stouts and no-nonsense ales to grace its taps.

As the summer months spilled into autumn and Vancouver’s rainfall started to re-establish itself, I crossed the final items from my bucket list.

I felt a sense of accomplishment at all I had done, having kayaked, jogged, biked and drank my way across Vancouver culture.

And yet I couldn’t help but feel that for every item I crossed off, there were dozens more to add.

I never got the chance to mountain bike on Cypress or Whistler. Or enjoy a scenic seaplane flight over the rugged mountains of the interior to the north. And there were new craft breweries opening that I wanted to try.

If only I’d had one more summer.

ON THE BUCKET LIST

Hike The Chief, near Squamish. The views are simply unbelievable. If you’re worried about your fitness, the Sea-to-Sky Gondola now ferries tourists up a nearby mountain for a similar view, although without the same sense of achievement.

Kayak or stand-up paddleboard on English Bay/False Creek. SUPs are fun but you will cover far more ground on a kayak. Both can be hired at the Granville Markets.

Ride the Seawall. Bicycles can be hired near Stanley Park. The Seawall is split into two areas: a park loop around Stanley Park and an urban loop around False Creek.

Go to as many local craft breweries as possible. A visit to Brassneck Brewery is essential.

Conquer the Grouse Grind. Often dubbed Mother Nature's Stairmaster, the Grind is a gruelling 2.9km uphill hike that finishes at the top of Grouse Mountain. At the top you get sweeping views across Vancouver.

Watch the sun set over mountains and sea from Jericho or Kitsilano beaches. Jericho is quieter than Kitsilano Beach and more laid-back but is harder to get to.

Experience dense forests of Pacific Spirit Regional Park and Stanley Park. Stanley Park probably tops most visitors’ to-do lists but spending a day on the less-travelled trails of Pacific Spirit is far more rewarding.

Swim at Wreck Beach. Easily the best beach in Vancouver for swimming, Wreck is a boho paradise where clothes are optional and everyone is welcome. Be prepared for a lot of nudity.