June 29 – To Whistler and Brandywine Falls

Needless to say that after our hike up The Chief, we took yesterday off.

Today we made what I think is our shortest move ever. When I had looked at the map it seemed that Squamish and Whistler were far enough apart to justify staying at each one. What I didn’t check was that Alice Lake Provincial Park is north of Squamish and Whistler RV Park is actually 19 km south of Whistler so our drive today was only 35 km.

After driving up a steep access road with 2 hairpin turns, the RV park seems have been dug into a ledge on the side of a hill. It is long and narrow with most sites looking down on the valley below.

The view behind us. Hopefully it gets better when it isn’t so grey, cold and cloudy.

I had thought about facing the RV outwards but it puts the hookups on the wrong side and the site had a slope such that if we faced outwards the back of the RV would have to be raised to get level. I really don’t like doing that.

After we got setup and had lunch we drove to Brandywine Falls Provincial Park, which is just down the hill and across the highway from the park.

The falls go over a cliff made of basalt columns. They used some for the park sign.

It’s just a short walk over and then along the river.

More very clear, slightly greenish water.

We haven’t had a fungus picture in a while. A stump beside the trail was covered.

There are two viewpoints along the rim.

Beside the falls was an arch where the basalt columns had collapsed.

We are not sure how but we saw some people down beside the river at the foot of the falls. I think they had to do some serious bushwhacking to get there. You can see a tiny white spot beside the river near the bottom of the next picture.

Farther down the trail for a longer view.

And the back to the RV.

We are here for 10 days, although I don’t think I planned this very well. We are here for two weekends, one of which is the upcoming Canada Day long weekend. Whistler is liable to be a complete zoo.

The forecast for the next week is also pretty bad, calling for showers almost every day. On with the rain gear.

June 27 - Stawamus Chief

We made it to the top but I am not sure how. Many times on the way up we said , “Why are we doing this?”.

Yesterday, the forecast for today had called for cloudy and overcast skies. Today it changed to partly sunny. It was not as nice as yesterday but was still much better than expected. It was also relatively cool which helped during the hike.

The climb to the Stawamus Chief First (and lowest) Peak is 1.7 km one way and you gain about 550 meters or 1800 feet in elevation.

I had told my friend Eddie from Vancouver that we were going to try this today. He and his daughter drove up to join us. Actually, join us is probably not the correct term. We are so slow on these steep trails that we urged them to go ahead. We saw his daughter at the bottom and then at the top. Eddie insisted on staying with us until we were about 2/3 of the way up. He did a lot of waiting. At the top we visited for a while and enjoyed the view. Since they had not planned on taking so long they had not brought lunch. They eventually headed down together while we had our lunch and then slowly made our way back down.

It is actually a good thing they were “with” us or we might have turned around. I am glad we didn’t.

The guides I have read said that it normal people about 1 1/2 hours to reach the First Peak. It took us 2 1/2 hours. They waited a long time for us. Going down we cut it to only 1 hour 45 minutes.

Knowing how hard it would be I emptied the knapsack as much as possible but we still needed lunch and a lot of water so it only got a bit lighter. I also didn’t bring my heavy SLR camera. It swings around a lot on its strap and would be a real pain on the steps. So all the pictures are with my phone camera.

I am going to intersperse the pictures from going up and down so the direction we seem to be going will change.

The only easy section was the walk through the campground.

From then on it was basically the route that took you the fastest way up no matter how steep it was. Just to get our hearts going, first up was a LONG flight of stairs.

Eddie’s daughter is already well ahead of us.

It was much sunnier on the way down.

Then the stone steps began. They were a challenge for Jennie because they were so tall.

This place looks flat but no…

This huge slab of rock had peeled off the cliff.

I think this was one of the few spots that was almost flat.

In the next one, I am just a few steps above Jennie and they go straight down and past the man below.

About 2/3 of the way up there was a rocky outcrop for a rest.

Onwards and upwards.

There were two short ladders.

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Near the top it got much more open and rocky.

There was a short section where a chain helped. The slope was steep but not as steep as the picture suggests. It almost looks like she is going straight up.

A notch to work your way up, or down in this case.

The second ladder.

A short pause before we continue

Eddie was waiting for us at the top of this section.

His picture back down.

The top is a very open rocky expanse with sheer cliffs all around you. It was not a great place for Jennie’s vertigo. She found a nice resting spot while I explored with Eddie for a while.

The very top.

Looking on to some people working their way up the chains to Second Peak.

Behind and above us was the Panorama Trail lookout at the Sea to Sky Gondola from yesterday.

Squamish behind me.

And Howe Sound.

I did 3 photospheres.

One near the cliff looking toward Second Peak.

One near the cliff looking down at Squamish.

And one just down from the top on the Howe Sound side.

Eddie and his daughter headed down to get some lunch.

Jennie came up farther and we had lunch. She had made a orzo pasta salad but we discovered that we had forgotten the utensils so we had to improvise. It got a bit messy.

And eventually we started our way down.

We had started up at 9 am. The trail was not vey busy so there were not a huge number of people that had to pass us. On the way down it was busier but still not too bad. We got back to the car around 2 pm.

This is the rock climber’s face of the The Chief taken form the parking lot.

June 26 – Sea to Sky Gondola and Shannon Falls

It was a mostly sunny day in an otherwise lousy weather week so we decided to pay the exorbitant price and go up the Sea to Sky Gondola for its views of Howe Sound and the Squamish Valley.

Up we go.

Once at the top we checked out the main viewing deck. I walked across the suspension bridge. Then it was off to the Panorama Trail and its viewing platform over the Stawamus Chief and Squamish Valley. Finally we took the Highline Trail, which seems to be so new that it was on the printed brochure that we got but was not on the online version.

Lots of family photos and selfies.

Howe Sound.

The wide view.

And the photosphere.

I headed across the suspension bridge. It was very bouncy so it was a no go for Jennie.

The photosphere.

From the viewpoint on the other side.

Then off to the 1.6 km long Panorama Trail. It was all about the viewing platform at the end.

The photosphere.

The valley with the city of Squamish.

Looking down on the three peaks of the Stawamus Chief monolith. It is much more impressive from the other side.

You can hike to each peak but most people only go to the first, lowest one.

We had our lunch here and people watched more selfies.

Jennie liked all the shades of green as the river entered the sound.

On the way to the next trail we saw these carved roots.

Next up was the 1.4 km Highline Trail loop. You could tell it was new because it was much rougher. The sign said that there were “Some steep scrambles”. I think it was almost all steep.

You first climb up along side this huge rocky outcrop. We eventually came down its other side.

Then we came to a huge open cliff for some more great views.

Jennie is silhouetted between the two trees, top right below.

The photosphere.

Onward passed a small cave.

And one more photosphere.

There were lots of interesting rocky features.

Then back down to the other side of that starting rock.

I thought that this was a great little trail. I think Jennie enjoyed the scenery but not the steepness.

I went back out the Panorama Trail to get a shot up to the rocky outcrop (center below) that had been the HIghline Trail destination.

We headed back to the main deck for a rest and to people watch.

Since Shannon Falls is right next door we decided to stop in for a quick look.

On the way down we got a side view of the Stawamus Chief.

Shannon Falls is huge and with all the rain was really roaring. The pictures don’t do it justice because you couldn’t get very close.

The first easy viewpoint.

Then another viewpoint that required you to climb up 99 steps. It got you a bit closer.

Then back down to the car and home for, I think, our well deserved ice cream.