Entry 9 – Sept 20th – 25th where we explored the country side north of Vancouver - driving to the township of Lillooet about
250 kilometres north before returning via a loop back to Vancouver.
Exiting the
cruise ship terminal was a very different experience from our entry. We departed
the ship entering into the terminal, located our luggage, handed a questionnaire
to a Canadian customs officer, answering a few questions, negotiated our way
around the terminal till we found an independent exit point, (we initially
exited into a large bus, taxi collection area where everyone was being directed
into the lower levels of the terminal,) making it to our last picture location
out in front of our ship in about 15 minutes, very different to the 2 ½ hours from
entry into the terminal and boarding our ship.
We walked
about another 100 metres up the road, collected a hire car and were on our way
again heading towards Northern America’s largest ski resort, Whistler, location
of the 2010 winter Olympic games, about a 120-kilometre drive.
Evidently it
had rained in Vancouver during the last week assisting with clearing the
scenery sapping smoke haze, providing far more pleasurable viewing. It wasn’t
long before we were stretching our necks up into the sky trying to get a
glimpse of the snow-covered mountain peaks towering above us.
After driving about 70 kilometres nearing the township of Squamish, we stopped to stretch out our legs with a walk to Shannon Falls. Mary said she didn’t think she was up to it, laid her seat back and was instantly asleep. Sometime later Mary eventually viewed Steve’s pictures of Shannon Falls.
Squamish is a mountain town with an amazing spectacular geographical setting of
mountainous terrain connecting with the Pacific Ocean. It is a very popular
destination for rock climbers from around the world with a massive granite
monolith towering over the town. We were both exhausted from our last week’s cruise
ship activities, deciding Squamish was it for the day where we located
accommodation and were in bed by 7 pm.
Squamish with some amazing pedestrian crossings |
12 hours of
sleep and our bodies were still feeling sluggish. We continued to Whistler
admiring the scenery along the route and into Whistler.
Our
accommodation for the night (Thursday) was in the Whistler Village precinct.
All the tourist information literature for Whistler we had previously seen,
highlighted the peak to peak gondola ride and we were looking forward to
getting up close to the upper peaks of Whistler. As per normal process we started
our exploration at the towns information centre and were very disappointed to
find the Gondola ride was now only operating during weekends and we were rather
bluntly informed we should have checked the web site for the latest operating
times. Unfortunately, we may have struck an unhelpful information centre representative
as they weren’t interested in providing other informative information about
Whistler or any available walking tracks. Our whole Whistler experience was
disappointing and thought it would have been more enjoyable if we had spent a
week there to learn more about the town and what it had to offer for us.
there were many motorhomes in the public parking area |
Our driving
route through scenic rugged mountains kept us alert with magnificent views.
Stopping at
Joffre Lake we found the carpark full of vehicles and people. A ten-minute walk
into the forest and we were confronted by stunning views overlooking a green
blue lake surrounded by a forest of tall trees and a back drop of snow covered
mountain peaks.
The hike to
a second lake was sign posted at 2 ½ hours one way and we were unsure whether
to allocate 5 hours of hard yakka considering the magnificent view before us.
We overheard a conversation about the second lake hike where the last section
was described as rather hard going but the view of the second lake was way
better than the one we were presently mesmerised with.
That
description clinched it for our senses and we were on our way to the second
lake. The trail was quite good with a steady flow of people in both directions.
It got steeper and steeper where we needed many rest breaks to settle our heavy
breathing and provide our legs with some time out. The last ten minutes Mary
was very quiet and had stopped communicating. It seems she had hit the wall
with her body screaming out, “No More.” People returning from the second lake
continually encouraged us on as the view was worth it.
Exhausted Mary with view of bottom lake and we had further to go
|
See how hot I am and we are walking through ice covered terrain |
With our
first glimpse of the second lake and its setting all our aches and pains
evaporated.
Add caption |
These birds thought we may have had food in our hands but we didn't |
In the middle of the picture was possibly the melting Matier Glacier |
Water flowing off the glacier |
We continued
travelling north through rugged mountains with fascinating scenery keeping us wide
awake.
this picture was taken to show another element popular in the mountains, bicycle riding but look to the right of the parked vehicle with the driver relieving himself. |
We arrived
at the next town of Lillooet at about 6.30 pm and obtained a room in a motel
sleeping soundly all night.
Lillooet was
the point where we executed a U turn heading back to Vancouver.
We continued
to be in awe with the mountainous route scenery, at times finding the road to
be somewhat daunting.
Train travelling along the edge |
Accommodation for the night was an
Airbnb with a hot cooked breakfast provided. It was a lovely setting based on
organic farming with plenty of different types of produce growing around the
yard. There were dogs, cats, kittens, chickens with lots of chicks running
around.
Moving on,
our first stop was viewing Alexander Bridge built in 1926.
Steve had to scamper through some rough terrain to get some of these pictures |
Our next
stop at the township of Harrison Hot Springs located next to the large Harrison
Lake. There was some great scenery but there was no access to the hot springs
as a resort had been built at the springs. The only access to the springs was as
a resort guest at $300 to $1000 a night.
Our last
night was spent at another Airbnb where we washed all our clothes as we had
nothing left clean. Our afternoon / night was spent in a comfortable setting.
We decided
to upload the blog whilst we had good internet provided by our hosts as we were
going to be quite busy the following day, returning the hire car to Vancouver
and making our way about another 70 kilometres i to collect a motorhome and be
on our way to explore the Rocky Mountains.
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