Exploring the Whistler area
Yesterday was a combination of exploring Whistler Village on foot, and driving down Howe Sound to see some of the attractions. The first photo was shot near the gondolas, and is very much a typical Whistler scene. Cathy and I are really enjoying this place – it’s a wonderful mix of ski bums and millionaires. Real estate prices are extremely high, and there are scores of multi-million-dollar homes.
My non-Canadian readers may have read that French is Canada’s other official language. That’s true, but the reality is that few Canadians outside Quebec speak French, and there are second-languages of commerce that vary by region. In the Yukon it’s German, and in Whistler for the same reason (tourism) it’s Japanese.
Britannia Beach is home to the BC Museum of Mining, and we went in for a tour.
Being underground has always fascinated me, and the time I spent working underground as the First Aid Attendant for the huge Granduc copper mine at Stewart, BC, didn’t diminish that. Our guide, Rina, did an excellent job of explaining the history and technologies used at Britannia Copper. The little machine she’s explaining was a portable toilet that was wheeled around the mine to help keep the miners comfortable.
This is the concentrator at the mine – wouldn’t I love to be able to wander through that place! A tour comparison seems appropriate here: you can take a tour at Juneau, Alaska, that’s very similar to this one – it costs $64 US. The Britannia tour is better and costs $18.50 CDN.
Back on the road, we stopped at Shannon Falls and went for a walk through the damp forest – the smell was wonderful 🙂
The Stawamus Chief dominates the northbound view for several miles and draws climbers from around the world. You don’t have to go straight up the face to reach the summit, though – there’s also an excellent hiking trail that gets hikers to the summit the easy way.
This is the view of Howe Sound from the climber’s parking lot.
And this is the view of “The Chief” from the climber’s parking lot. I’ll stick with the hiking trail!
The final photo shows the view from our new room last night. We switched rooms due to my belief, after a long list of problems, that the other one was cursed – or at least had bad vibes.
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