While we really don't have that much going on culture-wise in Vancouver, we do have high mountains. So on what the weather service was calling "the last day of summer", we made the 2 hour drive up to the "resort municipality" of Whistler. Whistler is indeed that; it is a town entirely created with the idea of entertaining its visitors, primarily through outdoor recreational activities. And, of course, extracting as many dollars as possible from those visitors. Just like Las Vegas, only with skiing, mountain biking, hiking, etc. replacing gambling as the major pretexts for visiting. But for those of us of a certain age when we can no longer manage 10 hour hikes into the wilderness, the Whistler gondola represents an easier way to get up into the high alpine landscape. (Many years ago, while staying in Switzerland, I used to take the Swiss postal buses up to the small villages in the high Alps, and hike higher from there.) So we took the gondola and chairlift up to the peak of Whistler Mountain on what was a hot and completely cloudless day. The landscape is magnificent; glacier-topped peaks in every direction, and rocky landscapes with bits of alpine vegetation here and there. We did a few hours of hiking and ambling about. And, at the end of the day, we drove back home to Vancouver.
Pictures (Click to enlarge):
Black Tusk mountain:
This lake is not on any marked trail; it looks like paradise to me.
There was still lots of snow leftover, even in September.
The view from the Peak to Peak Gondola. You don't want to be looking down.
