Whistler!

The whole LeGoues/Jasinski clan came to Whistler a couple of times in the early 2000’s for skiing. It was great! So in my memories, it is indeed very pretty, but definitely a winter destination. Turns out, it is even prettier in the summer, with many varied activities: hiking, biking, swimming, kayaking, just going ooh and ahh at how pretty it is…. I could really see spending a few weeks here (we are only here for 2 days however, because that’s how road trips work….). Apparently, I’m not the only person who feels that way, because it was really busy in town, even though it’s not full season yet. It got very quiet in the afternoon, because Canada was playing Quatar in the word cup - they won 6-0. So yeah Canada!

    We  certainly lucked out with the weather and were able to enjoy a lot of what the area has to offer. We started with a short helicopter ride over the glacier, because we like seeing things from above and helicopters are cool. The glaciers are shrinking, like everywhere else, but still pretty healthy here.This time of year, they create waterfalls just about everywhere.  

 

There are 2 lakes in Whistler, one called Alta and the other (showing a lack of imagination), “Green Lake”. Here are both of them from above: Green Lake is fed from the glacier, and the finely ground particles refract the light, making the water look green. Alta is fed by melting snow and a river, so does not contain suspended particles, thus is has the more typical blue alpine color.   

   We then took the Whistler Gondola to go to the top of the mountain - there is a nice bar/ viewing area, where Joe chose to enjoy the view, while I walked down to the Peak Chairlift that takes you to the very top of Whistler. There, they have built the Cloud Raker Bridge - a suspended 430 foot metal bridge that goes over the Whistler Bowl, and a cantilevered view point called the Raven’s Nest.  It is very impressive, and just a bit scary (yes, the bridge does sway a bit….).  

The panoramic view at the top is amazing:  top picture of the blog is of Mount Garibaldi (described as a “potentially still active volcano…. I’m bit puzzled by what that means) and the well named “Black Tusk”.  

 

 I love that, as the snow melts, in every nook and cranny, some flower starts blooming.

  

On the way back, I finally got to take a picture of a hoary marmot: Whistler is named after them - they whistle when they feel threatened, and there are enough of them that sometimes it sounds like the mountain whistles. They are under stress right now because coyotes have moved in and are a new predator. I saw several, but they move fast! This one was nice enough to pose for a picture. We, of course, did not see them when we came in the winter - they hibernate. Right now, they are busy getting fat, and it looks like it’s working!

  

After this, I joined Joe at the bar for a “Bloody Mary with a view” (It’s actually called a Cesar, which is uniquely Canadian - has slightly different spices, comes with sausage and vegetables on top - so counts as a meal)!  There are many interesting birds around, but few who will sit still enough to take a picture of. This Clark’s Nutcracker was an exception, because he was too busy eating to pay attention to me.  

  After that meal, we took the Peak-to-Peak gondola, which joins the top of Whistler to the top of Blackcomb - the mountain next to it;  in fact, when we came here to ski, we stayed in  Blackcomb and it was complicated to ski on the Whistler side. So this was build in 2018 and is quite a marvel of engineering: it has the longest unsupported span - 1.88 miles between posts, and the highest point above ground (1430 feet) in the world.   It is impressive!  It provides nice views of the Fitzsimmons ravine, and of the dam that was built on it - this “micro dam” provides enough power for 70% of the entire mountain - the goal being to be 100% self sustaining by 2030.  

We got a bit confused on the way down, and ended up in the Blackcomb part of town, but there is an extensive set of pedestrian/bicycle trails that are lovely, and got us back to our hotel.  

 

On the way was a Cow’s ice cream store, and I think there is a law that says that, when in Whistler, you have to have some Cows ice cream.  So I did…..

 It was just too pretty a day to not do some more walking - so I walked to the Alta Park - again, I could stay here a few more days.  

 On the way, I took pictures of the many wild flowers - this is my favorite picture because it’s being photobombed by a little creature (more pictures at end of blog).  We had a simple and lovely dinner at the hotel, sitting outside in the warm late afternoon sun- just a charcuterie platter and salad. It was delicious!

Following are are a few pictures of flowers and sights.  

 

Road trip!!!!

 

We love a road trip, and we love Canada! This time, we will be exploring the Canadian Rockies, but starting on the West coast. So we are flying to Vancouver, getting a car there and then off to Whistler (which we have seen before, but in the winter) and turning East though the Rockies, to Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff. The return from Banff to Vancouver will be on a panoramic train, which takes 2 days - something new to us.  

Our flight is at a reasonable time, so we did not even have to get up before sunrise, an unusual treat! Since we are flying from Newark airport, the traditional picture of the Manhattan skyline from the Whitestone Bridge has been replaced by a picture of the Catskills from the Bear Mountain Bridge. Still, nice view of the Manhattan skyline from the airport itself. And then another one from the air, just after takeoff.  

   The flight was uneventful (which is the way we like it) and mostly over very flat landscapes, until at last, we started seeing the Rockies, flying over cool rivers (I love the shadow of the clouds on this one) ,  and then over the Fraser river into Vancouver.   

 We even got to see Mt Rainier- all the way in Seattle, poking above the clouds - not a great picture, but it made me happy!

  Anyone who knows us knows that we are not city people, so we drove straight out of Vancouver to Whistler (where the 2020 Winter Olympics were held). It’s only 75 miles, but it does go through Vancouver, so it takes longer than you’d think (then again, it sometimes takes 3 hours to go from JFK to home…..).  

 Once out of Vancouver, the drive is along the rugged coast and very pretty (if a bit twisty). We made it to Whistler by 5:00pm local time. The village is lovely, but we are too tired to really enjoy it this evening, so we will have more about it tomorrow.    

  

             

Good bye Hawaii!

 

We have a late flight (10:00 pm), which means we had the whole day to enjoy this beautiful resort, and even part of the evening Luau at sunset.  I could stay here a few days more doing just that….  But then again, we are now eager to go home.

 I went for an early snorkel, because the waves are calmer in the morning.  Well, not that early….  9 am-ish… we had to have a luxurious breakfast first….These common myna’s like breakfast too…. They stalk the tables and even though the waiters are very prompt at clearing them, if there is a 10 second delay, they descend on them!  

I love snorkeling almost as much as I love helicopter rides…… and it is a lot cheaper….There were not quite as many fish as last  time (there were plenty, see bottom of blog), but the corals were very beautiful!

 I was glad to get a better picture of the Hawaiian official fish - the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a (not making that up, it’s its actual name).  They are plentiful, but shy, so I’ve had a hard time getting a good picture.  Then I swam a bit in the clear and warm water, before sitting on the beach for a good long time, reading my book.  It was wonderful!

Joe met with another one of his grad school friends from Stanford (apparently, Hawaii is popular with those that got a PhD in Chemistry at Stanford in the 1980’s….)

In the afternoon, I walked along the Wailea Beach path, which follows the seashore for few miles.  

On the one side are many (MANY!) resorts and luxury condos.  But you don’t have to look at them.

 Instead, you can look at the ocean and the rocky coast, and sit for a long time watching the turtles swim around.  

There were 3 or 4 in this little cove, but they refused to stay still long enough for me to take a picture.  This is the best I could do.  

  

In spite of the many resorts, the beaches are not very crowded, and in fact, if you walk a little bit past the hotels, you get the beach all to yourself.   

Our guide told us that there are many homeless people in Hawaii (I have to say…. Not a bad place to be homeless….), and indeed, along the farthest beach, there were homeless encampments.  They have a nice view. 

In the evening, we had time to join our group for a luau at sunset, before heading out to the airport.   That’s always bittersweet, and we hope to see some of them again (maybe in Perth, Australia??) or maybe in NYC.

Flowers and egrets from the walk:

This is a breadfruit, which is in fact a type of fig:  you can see this well from the shape of the leaf.

Fish and corals from snorkeling.  

Koy fish and heron from hotel pool: