WHISTLER, BRITISH COLUMBIA

So finally…we are off to Alaska! We have been anxiously awaiting this trip and the day finally arrived to climb aboard the RV and hit the road once again.

We took a different route this time than when we went to Alaska in 2008. This time we went northwest to Portland, up through Seattle and on to Vancouver, BC.  All that traffic in those cities reminded us of why we are glad we live in Central Oregon and are not in Los Angeles anymore.

Crossing the border into Canada was an interesting experience no doubt due to our shifty appearances.

Normally the border agents make us get out of the motorhome, stand outside while they do a quick walk through the rig and look for veggies and such that are not allowed into Canada. It usually takes five or so minutes.

This time, after answering all the usual questions, “No, we have no guns, no, we have no ammunition either,” we were given some paperwork and instructed to go into the office after moving the motorhome into an empty lot nearby.

After a few more questions inside, we were told to have a seat while two agents took our keys and went out to inspect the rig. 


This time, as we watched them from the office, we could see them as they spent a full half hour in and around the rig. They even crawled across the bed to get into the back closet, and unlocked and went through all the compartments under the motorhome. They opened up all the containers we had stored there, looking for goodness knows what.

Finally they walked back to the office empty-handed and ushered us on our way. I guess I will have to work on cleaning up my ‘guilty look.’

After leaving Vancouver, we got on highway 99 which heads northwest toward the center of B.C. and back toward the road we had traveled before. However this section is a very different type of road. Most of it is two-lane, very hilly, twisty and drop dead beautiful.

We arrived at our RV Park a few miles outside of Whistler.

I can’t imagine who designed this park. It is a decent park, the spaces are flat and not crowded. It has great mountain views.

However, it is way up on the side of the mountain. The entrance off the highway is a long narrow wind-y road with 11% grades to climb to get up to the parking area.  Funny thing…they didn’t happen to mention that little detail on their website.

So after getting the motorhome settled half-way up the side of the mountain, it was time to do some sightseeing.

Brandywine Falls Provincial Park is one kilometer up the road from here so was an easy visit.

After parking the car, we crossed a roaring stream on a covered bridge.

We followed a path through the beautiful mossy woods toward the falls that we could hear long before we could see it.

From the falls the path continued on to where the stream eventually empties into a lake.

Wild flowers are in bloom everywhere which I am thoroughly enjoying.

Next we head into Whistler Village. Whistler hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and so one sees signs of that everywhere.

Whistler Village is a beautiful place surrounded by tall mountains, many with ski runs in full view. there are lots of (overpriced) shops and more resort hotels than I think I have ever seen in one place. However, it all comes together so beautifully, I won’t complain. Actually we enjoyed walking through the village.

We stopped in to the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Hotel just to look around. We have visited a few other of the Fairmont resort hotel chain in Canada and found them spectacular hotels. Terribly expensive, I’m sure, but fun to stop in and walk around.

Across the road is the Aboriginal Museum.  It is an impressive museum that highlights the culture of four of the First Nations tribes from the area. It was built just before the Olympics and was a beautiful building.

This huge carving was probably 12 feet or so across and was in constant motion.

There were numerous weavings, many like this one, were made out of cedar bark strips.

There were also several handmade and hand carved canoes.

In the village there were the Olympic Circles to commemorate the medal winners.

After walking around the village for a while and sitting down with a Starbucks for a little people-watching, we headed on down the highway.

At a highway pull-off, we looked down at the top of Narin Falls.

Where you see the mist raising, was where the water tumbles over the falls. We couldn’t see anymore than what is in this picture, so hopped back in the car and shortly came to the entrance of Narin Falls Provincial Park.

Here we were faced with a large, wild, very fast moving river.  The sign said the path to the falls was 1.5 kilometers beyond this point. I pulled out a conversion calculator and determined that this was about nine-tens of a mile…one way. It reminds you that it is a narrow trail along a deep, fast moving river, so basically, be careful. No problem. Off we went.

However there are a few details the sign leaves out such as, it is a rather rough trail. Lots of roots and rocks on the trail.

I quickly realize that I don’t get to see much scenery because I have to watch the path and my feet, so I don’t stumble.

The trail is pretty high above the river and most places it is close to straight down to the rushing water. Trip over a rock and you wouldn’t have a chance. It is also not a flat trail. Lots of ups and downs. Not terrible, we have been on much worse, but old hips and knees were complaining anyway.

Thankfully it is not a hot day. That helps, but we were both sweating by the time we reached the falls. I asked Don if he thought there would be a vendor at the falls selling water and diet cokes. He just gave me one of those ‘looks.’  Aw, c’mon! It was just a joke…(but it sure would have been nice!)

We were about three quarters of the way to the falls when a young 20-something met us with her shoes in her hands walking barefoot!!  Whoa!!  That hurts just to think about it!

Shortly before reaching the falls I told Don that maybe I miscalculated the conversion of the distance and that possibly instead of 9/10’s of a mile it was actually nine miles…at least that is what it was beginning to feel like to the hips and knees.

The falls, when we got there were pretty impressive. It is always amazing how the water cuts through the rock.

On our way back to camp, we turned up to the Olympic Park. This is where the games actually took place and was just a few miles from our RV park.

The flags were flying at half-staff at the visitor center. They said it was because of the horrible massacre of all those young people in Norway.

This is what the ski jump looks like when it is not covered with snow. Pretty scary, actually. There are about a zillion steps from the bottom up to the top of the jump.

This totem was just outside the visitor center, part of the influence of the First Nations peoples in this area.

One of the things we had noticed on the road up to the Olympic park was….

…scat. BEAR SCAT!!!  (The polite name for the stinky stuff.) And lots of it.  On the road, on the gravel next to the road…one would think that bears would prefer to take care of business in the woods instead of on the road in plain sight, but obviously not.

A little further down the road we saw the culprit, or at least one of them. This black bear was busy munching on grass on the side of the road.

Around the next curve was a rather beat-up sign that we almost missed that said something about Alexandria Falls. We turned in and drove a very short distance.

A walk of only about a hundred feet showed us the largest and most impressive falls of the day.

Back on the road there were several signs indicating more of those infamous 10% grades, down hill this time.

There were also beautiful mountain views.

Around a curve we spotted a big ol’ brown bear in among the wildflowers, once again eating grass.

Even though this bear is brown, he is actually a black bear as they come in many colors, including white, although that color is not often seen.

After a late dinner in the motorhome, I started working on this blog.  Then I noticed some color on the clouds above the mountains, so grabbed the camera for a couple last shots.

OK, maybe driving up those 11% grades to get up to this RV park was worth it after all.