Down the Sea to Sky Highway

Williams Lake to Horseshoe Bay

After some restocking of supplies in Williams Lake, we started heading south. Highway 99 is a really pretty drive though canyons and cliffs. Unfortunately the rain caught up with us in Pemberton. I actually think it rains fairly frequently here and people just get out and enjoy the outdoors regardless. So we tried to follow suit – gearing up in our rain gear but then taking it off once the rain let up or just being patient for a break in the clouds to go biking knowing the rain could start again at anytime. We stayed at Nairn Provincial Park just south of Pemberton which had great access to both hiking and biking trails. We also had another random encounter with a former Kenora resident on a popular walking trail near town.

After Pemberton, we headed south to Whistler. Mike was drooling watching the mountain bikers on their souped up down-hill bikes but if it was raining in Pemberton, it was pouring in Whistler and those bikers looked pretty dirty. Being wet and dirty is fine if there is a warm shower and dry clothes back at home or in a hotel but wet and dirty in a van isn’t very much fun) so he didn’t go but I have a feeling he may be back in this area again. Instead, we walked around the very walkable touristy area, found the recycling centre (that took our compost too!) and then headed to a BC Rec Site just south of the town (so we could pay $14 to camp rather than $50 – welcome to Whistler).

At the Rec Site, a very nice German couple knocked on our van door and asked if we could give them a ride to either Whistler or Squamish (whichever way we were going) the next morning so they could have access to a bus that would eventually take them to Vancouver. They were backpacking around the area but didn’t yet have back pack covers or an umbrella and so they didn’t want to chance walking and hitchhiking and having all their stuff get wet (again it was pouring in Whistler). We invited them into our van that night for hot chocolate and they taught us Tutto (a German dice game very similar to Farkle). The dogs were thrilled to cuddle with new dog loving friends who didn’t mind a wet dog sitting in their lap. We gave them a ride to Squamish the next morning and ended up spending 2 more nights in the same campground as them so there was more dog cuddling and sharing of information of where they might consider going for the rest of their time in Canada.

In Squamish we did a pretty rainforest hike at Alice Lake Provincial Park. We also drove back towards Whistler to check out Brandy Wine Falls which was a neat area not only for the falls but for the lava rocks (although not as prominent as in Nisga’a). After 2 nights in Squamish, we drove the rest of the sea to sky highway to Horseshoe Bay. You could definitely feel that we were no longer in northern BC anymore. Fast highways and even faster cars that come zooming up behind you out of nowhere. Initially, we were going to head from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo but the Sunshine Coast was also an option. It is “mainland” per se but only accessible by ferry. In discussion with friends doing a Vancouver Island trip themselves (and who we met up with in Squamish), we decided to give the Sunshine Coast a try and hope that it was true to its name as we were continuing to get rained on every day. Doing the Sunshine Coast would still allow us to head to VAncouver island but this time we would cross in Powell River (over to Comox) rather than at Horseshoe Bay (to Nanaimo).

**No pictures here – Mike’s camera broke back in the Yukon and during this stretch of the journey, he was having issues with his phone not taking pictures. So where is my camera? Where it always is, in the van. I have just never been much of a picture taker. So even when I do remember to take it, I never use it. Mike thinks he has his phone fixed so stay tuned and hopefully we will have pictures on the next stretch.