Exploring Whistler

Hi all,

We've had a great day exploring Whister. We are here at a strange time of year - it is shoulder season. With the time of year we are here it's not the peak season for either skiing or hiking, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. It means there are not many people here and it's pretty quiet!

Firstly today we went to the Visitor Centre which wasn't very helpful, so we wandered around the Village Stroll taking in the cute buildings and big open spaces. As we would later learn at the museum today, Whistler gets its name from the whistle like call of the Hoary Marmot that inhabits its slopes. It is a very proud Winter Olympics town. The town bid for the Winter Olympics four times and was finally successful to host the 2010 games in conjunction with Vancouver. Canada had never won a gold medal in a Winter Olympics prior to this, but they won 14 during these games and became the most successful host country in history. Due to the games, much like Vancouver, Whistler gained a lot of infrastructure around the town that we noticed today such as new playgrounds, public spaces and updates of walking tracks and gondolas. They also had three Olympic venues built.

Before we went and did anything else today, we bought some bear spray at a local shop, which is basically capsicum spray. Apparently the bears in Whistler are pretty shy and walk away when they see or hear humans, but we are also going to Jasper and Banff where it's a bit more wild. The time of year we are here means they are already emerging from hibernation and we figured it's nice peace of mind if we see one and it tries to follow us.

We then hired bikes and rode for two hours along the Valley Trail, a fairly well signed trail through the beautiful forest. We passed three lakes - Alta, Nita and Alpha. They were very peaceful At one point we passed a hotel that had the Rocky Mountaineer station for Whistler. We saw lots of people out walking their dogs, and it reminds me of being in Switzerland here as everyone has big fluffy dogs suited to the conditions just like they did when Mum and I visited Switzerland in Winter in 2013.

After our ride, we had lunch at a local bakery. We shared a coffee and each enjoyed a ham and cheese croissant, then shared a yummy chocolate brownie. We sat here for a while and people (and dog!) watched. We then walked back to our hotel and visited the free Whistler Museum opposite. Here we learned about the town's Olympic history I mentioned above, as well as how Whistler became the popular place to visit that it is today. In the 1960s, a man named Franz Wilhelmsen from Norway settled here and led the Garibaldi Olympic Development Assocation, who set about getting the Winter Olympics to Whistler. They wouldn't be successful until five years after he died, when Whistler was in 2003 awarded the 2010 games. However, he set Whistler up and put it on the map by building gondolas, ski runs etc and turning Whistler into the winter sports lovers paradise that it is today. Prior to the 60s, people were already skiing in Whistler but it was not as accessible. In the early 1900s, a number of lodges were in the area that people would come and stay at and enjoy hiking, swimming in lakes etc. But in the 60s and 70s a lot more development began, with many people even building houses on land they hadn't purchased that were later evicted by the government. Today, Whistler is an expensive ski town with property prices through the roof. The beauty of shoulder season is our hotel has been pretty good value, especially for its central location.

We had a quick rest in our hotel room and then drove our car to the parking lot for the Train Wreck walk. On the 11th of August 1956, a train heading south through Whistler was bound for Vancouver. It was running behind schedule so its crew decided to speed up to make up lost time. Travelling 56 km/h in a 24 km/h zone, they rounded a tight curve and the train derailed. Five of the boxcars involved were salvageable, but the remaining seven were too damaged to save. Those boxcars were stripped of any useful materials before being dragged out of the way using heavy duty logging equipment and dumped here in the forest. Until recent years, people had to illegally scale the still functioning railway line to come and see the abandoned boxcars, but these days a suspension bridge over the Cheakamus River has been built so you can come and visit easily. We (mostly me) became very aware and a little nervous about how isolated we were on this trail once we started walking. There was no one else around and lots of skunk cabbage growing up through wetland type areas, which apparently bears enjoy eating. However, we crossed the suspension bridge and checked out the boxcars uninterrupted. They've been covered in graffiti and are pretty interesting to see. I really like abandoned building and vehicles and always find them interesting, seeing how their surrounds have adapted around them and what has become of them. We had a laugh at a group of young boys who climbed onto the roof of one of the train cars. I took a photo and one of them waved. On the way back to the car, plenty more people were walking the trail so we felt a little better. As it turned out, the most ferocious beast we would come across on this hike were the giant mosquitoes. Somehow thus far we seem to have avoided any bites though. This may be because they are so huge that we notice them landing on us!!

We then drove back to our hotel via the Olympic Village accommodation that these days are used as apartments. We are now having a rest at the hotel and will later go out for dinner. We are enjoying the bit of downtime that staying here is affording us as there is enough to do but not a heap if you are not a skier this time of year.

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox