Whistler, BC, 6-7 June 2011

Today we drove from Portland to Whistler, a fairly long day's drive. It was cloudy and drizzly when we left Portland, but cleared up as we headed north. We stopped in Lynden, Washington for lunch at a Dutch restaurant and had Dutch Pancakes, reminiscent of those we had had in Holland.

Howe Sound

The border crossing was fairly quick and quite easy. Even going around Vancouver was no problem, except finding a gas station. With that accomplished, we headed to Horseshoe Bay and turned north along Howe Sound toward Whistler. This was new territory for us along Howe Sound and up into the Coast Mountains.

Howe Sound

Howe Sound is a beautiful broad fjord-like inlet. The mountain backdrop is spectacular. And the water was a gorgeous blue from the clear sky. Near the north end of the sound, we came to Shannon Falls, a 335 meter high cascade. It is spectacular, and one of the highest falls in BC. And only a little way off the highway.

(most of) Shannon Falls

Going inland from the end of the sound through the town of Squamish, the road climbs through the forest into the Coast Range. This is known as the "Sea to Sky" highway, and for good reason. It climbs into the mountains to Whistler, in a valley between high ridges of coast range mountains.

On the way, we stopped at Brandywine Falls Provincial Park. These falls are a short hike from the parking lot. A beautiful straight fall and well worth the trip. It is a 70 meter single drop above Daisy Lake.

The Clock Tower
Home for a week

We arrived in Whistler after about ten hours on the road, including stops. We easily found our condo (GPS is a wonderful invention!) and checked in. We are near Village Square in the heart of Whistler. We had been warned it could be noisy, but we are on the side away from the square and in a relatively non-busy time. Being in the center of the village area gives us good access to almost anything we want or need.

Upper Nairn Falls

On Tuesday we drove north to explore Pemberton. It's not really too much of a town, but the drive there was well worth it. A little way south of Pemberton is Nairn Falls Provincial Park, another place well worth stopping for.

The falls are about 1.5 Km from the parking lot on a typical mountain trail, not paved or well graded, but also not difficult to hike. It follows the Green River to the falls, a spectacular double fall through a quite narrow cleft in the rocks. Since there is still plenty of snow melt, the river is full as are the falls. Watching them was somewhat like watching waves at the coast, with water splashing to different heights. There was also a good variety of wildflowers along the banks of the river.

Returning to Whistler, we spent a relaxing late afternoon and evening and ate at a brew pub. It had very good pizza and beer.

P.S. Pictures of the adventure will be posted on Flickr and Kodak Gallery soon.