Riding the Open-Air Gondola and Exploring at the Top of Blue Mountain

On our last day at Blue Mountain we rode the Open-Air Gondola to the top of the mountain. I’ve got a bit of a fear of heights, and I quickly discovered that the gondola made me nervous. It rocks a bit, bumps a bit, and looking down the mountain as we headed upwards gave me a serious sense of vertigo. I snapped photos, smiled and hid my misgivings, because I was hoping the kids wouldn’t pick up on my fear and would enjoy the ride. And so they did. My mom carefully lifted the three year old so she could see and Rocket let out a happy squeal saying “Oh, Mimi, Mimi! I can see the whole wide world!”

The view was magnificent. I certainly can’t argue that. I’m not a great photographer, but I think it has something to do with depth of field? There is just something missing from these pictures that doesn’t quite convey how amazing the view truly was.

We hiked around on the top of the mountain for a bit. We sat at one of the plentiful picnic bench areas and had a snack. We walked to a few look out points and enjoyed the mountaintop view of the Georgian Bay. We also quickly discovered that we had went the wrong way when we got to the top of the mountain. We ended up on one of the multi-use trails, open for both mountain bike, segway and pedestrian use. It was a wide open flat gravel trail. I prefer thin winding footpaths. Walking from ski run to ski run on the big wide multi-use trail, and dodging the occasional segway, just wasn’t doing it for me.

We turned around and headed back to the place where the gondola disembarks. I wanted to stay and explore some more but the kids were past ready for lunch. (Note to self for future trips, at the top of the gondola head to the right.) While my mom and the girls had a break and sat for a bit, I did a quick scouting trip off in the opposite direction of our original trek and discovered just the trail I had in my mind’s eye. It was a bit rocky, it was close in and windy and absolutely stunning. It was also probably not great for three year old legs, so maybe it was for the best that we had headed the “wrong” way.

The gondola ride to the top has made me nervous, but our options at this point were fall down the mountain, ride down the mountain or walk down the mountain. I remember thinking to myself, “Well, walking down the mountain with the kids in tow doesn’t seem likely, falling certainly isn’t an option, and so gondola ride it is!” And surprise, surprise, I enjoyed the ride back down. Was the difference that I was looking through my own eyes and not a camera lens on the way down? Or was it the fact that I was looking down the mountain while heading downwards, instead of moving backwards away from my viewpoint? Whatever the case may be I loved the ride down. I loved it in a “Yay, let’s go back up to the top and do it again!” sort of way.

Overall I thought the Open-Air Gondola ride was well worth the ticket price (You pay to ride to the top, the return ride back down the mountain was free). The view was stunning, and the hiking options at the top of the mountain were plentiful. Next time we’re at Blue Mountain I’m really looking forward riding the gondola again and further exploring the various trails.

Disclosure: My family was invited to visit Blue Mountain as part of their Family Blogger Retreat. We stayed at the Westin Trillium House and and enjoyed three days as guests of Blue Mountain Resorts. We were given tickets for the gondola as part of our stay. As always, my words and opinions are my own.