Whistler, British Columbia - May 29th, 2022
If you only explore outside during sunny days, then you will miss out on a lot. Rain, clouds, and fog can add a lot of drama and a different feel to a place. If we had not purchased our gondola tickets ahead of time, we might have skipped Whistler due to the weather. And we would have missed out on a wonderful time.
Sunday was a short driving day. We were just moving from Stawamus Chief Provincial Park to Nairn Falls Provincial Park. Whistler is in between the two, so we spent most of the day there. There was no dump station at Stawamus Chief Provincial Park and no dump station again at Nairn Falls, so we pulled out our AllStays app to look for a dump station. There was a free one at the Canadian Tire store in the town of Squamish, not far from Stawamus Chief, so we went there first thing after we pulled out of of the campground. After emptying our gray water containers, we were all set to hit the road.
On the way to Whistler, we stopped to check out Brandywine Falls at the provincial park with the same name. From the parking lot, it is a short walk to the falls. The falls are a single sheer drop and you view them somewhat from afar. They didn’t seem as impressive as the cascading Shannon Falls we saw a couple of days earlier, but perhaps that was because you can get right up next to Shannon Falls and sense its power.
Whistler is a ski resort town. We purchased our Peak to Peak gondola sight seeing ticket online a few days earlier. It was raining pretty steadily when we arrived at Whistler, so we’re not sure if we would have chosen to go up the gondolas had we not already purchased our tickets.
The Peak to Peak Gondola goes between Whistler Mountain and Blackcoombs Mountain. It has one of the longest free spans for a cable car in the world. It was the longest until 2017, when the Seilbahn Zugspitze beat the record by 189 meters. To reach the Peak to Peak Gondola, you have to either take the Whistler Village Gondola up to one end of the Peak to Peak, or the Blackcoombs Gondola up to the other end. However, when we were there, the Blackcoombs Gondola was closed for maintenance, so we had to take the Whistler Village Gondola both up and down and ride the Peak to Peak twice.
On the way up, we watched all the mountain bikers riding the chair lifts up and biking down the mountain. We were surprised to see so many of them in the cold rain, but they seemed to be enjoying the rain and mud. We guess that makes a better story to tell their buddies later, with a mud streak up their backs to prove it.
We also spotted a black bear walking along a log right under the chair lift. Ann managed to snap one decent picture of the bear as we flew by overhead. It was hard taking pictures out of the windows of the gondola because her camera kept wanting to focus on the rain drops that covered the glass.
When we reached the top of Whistler Mountain, it was covered with several feet of snow. The rain below had turned into snow at the top. Just like we expected, there was no view due to the clouds. There are some hiking trails on Whistler Mountain and Blackcoombs Mountain, but, as the person at the ticket booth had warned us, the trails were all closed due to the snow.
We hopped into the Peak to Peak Gondola and headed off into the mist. We managed to get on the only glass bottomed car that was running that day. However, the view through the bottom was not that great. Once the trees dropped out of view, all we saw was white. However, as we approached the center of the long free span, the clouds parted. We could see all the way down to the valley. But the amazing view was of the cable car itself. The cables drooped down in front of us and we felt like we were floating through the air. The clouds provided a neat affect, with the other cable cars appearing out of the haze, suspended by the dangling cables, then disappearing again as they returned back into the fog on the other side. That view alone was worth the price of the ticket. We’re so glad we decided to go up despite the weather.
By the time we returned to the base of the mountain, we were ready to eat lunch. For some reason, we were both in the mood for a pizza. The Handlebar had good ratings in Google, so we walked over there. Not only did they have pizza, they also had craft beer. Ann wonders if the beer had anything to do with Keith suggesting Handlebar. They sold their New York style pizza by the slice. Ann had a slice of the Spicy Calbrese and a slice of the White Out. Keith also had a slice of the Spicy Calbrese, but paired it with a slice of the Crispy PepperoNY. We both loved the pizza crust. Thin and crispy, but with a nice chew to it. The way a New York style pizza should be. Keith, of course, also had a beer. He enjoyed his unfiltered Slow Hand Pilsner.
Just outside Handlebar, along the Upper Village, they were having an outdoor market. By this time, the rain had turned to a light drizzle and the sun was trying to make an appearance. We strolled up and down the market. The pocket pies from Golden Crust Specialties caught our eye, so we bought a couple of them for dessert after dinner, one cherry and one blackberry apple.
Since the weather was holding out for us, we wandered around Whistler Village. As we were near the end of our stroll, guess who we run into! The wonderful German family we met the day before on the Sea to Summit Trail. They had just arrived. We told them about the market and how interesting the Peak to Peak Gondola ride was. However, it looked like the mountains were still shrouded in clouds, so they probably didn’t spend the money to go up the mountain. The tickets are rather pricy. We hope they enjoyed their day in Whistler and wish them the best on the rest of their vacation. Gute Reise!
As we were driving out of the large parking lot area, the vehicle in front of us was stopped. It took us a minute to realize there was a black bear right next to it. Ann frantically tried to get a picture of it as Keith didn’t feel like he could stop and drove on by. Our first two bear sightings of the season, and both in the same day! We were a little surprised that this bear was in town. There were a lot of people out walking around in the area. Hopefully everyone stayed safe.
We are so thankful that we visited Whistler. The cool Peak to Peak gondola ride in the misty clouds and the two bear sightings made our visit very memorable. A warm, sunny day in Whistler would have been a totally different experience, but not necessarily better.
Check out our related video: Whistler, British Columbia
(Ann)