Venturing out of Vancouver

Today's adventure--on our first full day in Vancouver--involved a hefty commute (of sorts) and a whole lotta tromping around in Mother Nature's playground. First of all, we had to pack up for our many planned hours in the Great Northwestern Canada Outdoors. (Whew, that's a mouthful...eh? Sorry, couldn't help myself...) So we dressed for 20 degrees (Celsius, pretending like we know what that means), and brought layers for the possibility of colder and/or wetter conditions. (We call this the Rocky Mountain Protocol, after we learned our lesson the hard, miserable way last year!)

Then we piled into our borrowed vehicle and began our trek to Whistler, about 121 kilometers (sigh...again with the perfectly reasonable yet incomprehensible metric units) up Route 99. Almost immediately upon leaving the confines of the city, the vibe changed from "hip metropolitan" to "this is the wilderness for real, folks, so keep your eyes on the road, slow down on the (myriad) curves, prepare for popping ears...oh yeah, and watch for bears". Fortunately, all of this came with absolutely spectacular landscapes, which we enjoyed ogling during our journey.

So, finding the mountain was easy-peasy, as it's directly off the highway, and clearly marked by helpful signage. However, Husband had specifically chosen one particular trail for our wandering and vista-viewing entertainment, which turned out to require following a narrow, unpaved, pitted path...basically until the Altima couldn't manage it anymore, and we were forced to pull over, park it, and continue on foot.

Thus commenced the "uphill climb" portion of the festivities...and by that, I do mean head down, weight on toes, lean forward, plow up the slope with determination and focus...for quite a while. It was hard work, is all I'm saying--but we appreciated the cool, dry, breezy weather, the stunning beauty and peaceful stillness of the forest, and the fact that we hardly saw anyone else for the entire duration of our excursion!

Our ultimate destination was Logger Lake, a serene body of water nestled in the crater of an extinct volcano. Along the way, we were lulled by the hypnotic whooshing of the Cheakamus River (whose rapidly rushing current seemed both impressive and...somewhat terrifying to us non-kayakers), soothed by the crisp, clean, naturally pine-scented atmosphere, and wowed by the soaring, snow-capped peaks towering over us on all sides. It was everything a walk in the woods should be: pleasantly tiring, satisfyingly scenic, and sufficiently challenging.

In fact, as usual, the way DOWN proved more difficult, since it required picking one's way over rocks and tree roots with already-weary legs, while minding the steep incline...and of course trying not to fall forward and land on your face, or worse yet, bounce and roll to the bottom of the hill. But hey, it always feels like such an accomplishment when we all make it back to the car unscathed, you know?

Although it felt amazing simply to sit down after our 5-ish mile jaunt, it was even better to travel a short distance to Whistler Village, where we could tackle our next objective: a well-earned LUNCH. The town itself sits at the base of Whistler and Blackcomb peaks, and is adorable--filled with shops and restaurants crafted in the style of Swiss chalets. Also, copious amounts of both pedestrians...and cyclists, since during the warm months, the resort repurposes the ski lifts to run riders and their bikes up to the top, so the thrill-seekers can then whiz back down on 2 wheels. As for us, we opted to dine at a bakery/cafe called Hot Buns (juvenile snicker), where we procured delicious paninis to appease our rumbling stomachs.


Thus fortified, we meandered up and down the sidewalks, checking out souvenir and tourist opportunities, such as the monument commemorating the 2010 Winter Olympics, some of whose events occurred right there at Whistler. We'd almost had our fill of sightseeing for one day; a single item remained to check off our list. So it was back on the road for a couple of minutes, before we exited at Brandywine Falls. Once there, we took the short stroll (500 meters--don't ask me, it took maybe 5 minutes) to the overlook platform, where we were able to gaze out upon the majestic waterfall, cascading 70 meters (aargh, let me look it up...okay, about 230 feet) down into a pool below.

And with that, all of our athletic, fresh-air, and nature-worshipping goals had officially been met. And whattya know...it was almost time to eat again anyway. So we headed back to Vancouver to figure out our next meal, plan our upcoming outing(s), wash off the day's dust...and schedule in some much-needed and deserved rest and recovery time! Tomorrow's agenda: LESS than 10 miles and 25,000 steps, pleaseandthankyou!