[Home] [Birding Journal] [Bird Photos] [Flowers] [Dragonflies] [Scenery] [Hiking] [Writing] [Books] My Trip to Vancouver Susan and I took a plane from San Francisco to Vancouver early Saturday morning, March 11, 2006. The plane was half empty so I sat by the window and had a bird's eye view of Mount Olympus in Washington before we passed into Canada with superb views of the Coast Range. At the airport we rented a brand new Jeep Commander 4x4 and drove to the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Delta, British Columbia, just south of Vancouver. We saw twelve different species of ducks including a Eurasian Wigeon and two Wood Ducks. We also saw three Sandhill Cranes and thousands of Snow Geese and Canada Geese. Aft er walking the trails there we went grocery shopping in the town of Ladner and then went to Boundary Bay Park. There we walked along the dyke and were so lucky to see our first ever Snowy Owl. We couldn't get too close but got some video and nice binocular looks at this handsome elegant bird. What a thrill! Then we drove from Delta through downtown Vancouver to Whistler Ski Resort where we stayed the next four days at the Pan Pacific Whistler Mountainside Hotel. Incredibly there is no direct route from Vancouver to Whistler but on our drive through Vancouver we spotted a Bald Eagle soaring over downtown. We had a studio apartment at Whistler just steps away from the Blackcomb and Whistler Gondolas. On Sunday morning I signed Susan up for a private snowboard lesson as an anniversary present. While she had her lesson I skied on Blackcomb Mountain. At the top of the Seventh Heaven Chair which has outstanding views into the Coast Range, I spotted a Black-crowned Rosy Finch hopping around and took some video of it.
Last year John, Ree, Susan, and I went to Whistler and the conditions were very bad so I decided to learn how to ski and in April of last year I went so far as to buy myself some Volkl skis which I took with me this year. In the afternoon I met up with Susan and we went to Whistler Peak. Whistler Peak is 7140 feet and has a black diamond (most difficult) run, Whistler Bowl, that is very challenging because it always has Volkswagen sized moguls on it. We went down it a couple of times and then did some other things . Near the end of the day I wanted one more run on Whistler Peak to work on my mogul technique but Susan opted out. I told her to meet me at the bottom of the Peak Chair. As I started down the mountain I was thinking how it probably wasn't a good idea to take this difficult run alone at the end of the day. A few minutes later I flew into the trough of a giant mogul, my right ski came flying off, and I toppled down the hill a bit. As I fell I heard a sickening sound – the sound of my ski cracking in two. I felt sick. I scampered back up to where my ski lay buried in the snow and looked at i t. It wasn't completely broken in half but it would be difficult getting down a diamond run on a broken ski. I somehow made some turns and got to where I could see Susan at the base of the Peak Chair. I tried to call her on my phone because by then my ski was flopping around about to become two pieces and I didn't know what to do because it was no longer possible to make any kind of turn without possibly breaking my leg. I slipped down the rest of the way sideways much the way I got down the hill the very first time on skis at Whistler last year when John abandoned me on the alleged green run (easiest) with no instructions or advise whatsoever except not to make a pizza (where you point the tips of your skis toward each other when you are learning) because according to John it looked dumb. That first day it took me two hours to get down a green run which turned into a blue run (intermediate — meaning not for someone on her first day on skis)! It only took me about 20 minutes to slide down Whistler Bowl on a broken ski to the Peak Chair. The lift operator called the ski patrol and they took me on a snow mobile to the Gondola where I had to take a miserable ride down the mountain. We spent Sunday evening walking around the Village looking at skis. I ended up buying a scratched up pair of used rental skis, Salomon Siam No. 10, for less than half of the retail price. On Monday morning I got out of our Murphy bed, pulled the shade back, and to my surprise it was snowing. Yeah! I decided to ski again. There were few people and conditions were excellent. We took many runs on the Harmony Ridge, Sun Bowl, Little Whistler, and Whistler Bowl. Tuesday it snowed all day and there was a foot of fresh powder. I skied again. There were few people and we had a fantastic day going down Harmony Ridge over and over into the Kaleidoscope Run (black diamond) which was full of powder. Wednesday the storm descended in earnest with gale force winds and heavy snow. We packed the car and checked out of the hotel. I decided to snowboard on the last day but as we exited the elevator from the hotel to get on the Gondola Susan said wait and picked up the latch to my right binding which had fallen off! Now what? It was snowing hard and I was anxious to get up the mountain and do what all skiers and snowboarders dream of—make first tracks in the fresh fallen snow. We went to the Tune Shop and they couldn't fix it. They referred us to the snowboard shop. They couldn't fix it either and referred us to the Hardware Store. We walked dejectedly to the Hardware Store but it was closed until 9:00 AM (lift opens at 8:30). I was ready to go get my skis but the Snowboard shop tied a piece of Kevlar string on my latch and off we went to the Whistler Gondola. We went straight up to Whistler Peak but it was a blizzard with zero visibility so we decided not to attempt Whistler Bowl (black diamond). We felt our way in the white-out like Paralympians to the Peak-to-Creek Trail. After descending about 1000 feet it cleared enough for us to see. Vancouver will host the 2010 Winter Olympics and part of this trail descends on what will become the Women's Downhill. I was very disappointed to learn that while the men's downhill is on a black diamond, the women's downhill is just a wimpy blue run. We cut over off the women's downhill to a diamond and took it through some woods where Susan found a Three-toed Woodpecker, all the way to the Creek Gondola. This will become the Olympic Village by 2010 but is just a little town for the rich and famous for the time being. The entire Peak-to-Creek Run is lined with billion dollar homes facing the mountain. After taking the Creek Gondola back up the mountain we decided to head back to Harmony Ridge. The ridge was treacherous with wind blowing ice into our faces and zero visibility. But the reward for the brave and the few who could stay afloat on Harmony Ridge was a powder filled basin at the end on the
Kaleidoscope (black diamond). We went down this diamond again and again until lunch time. After lunch Susan didn't want to snowboard through the blizzard on Harmony Ridge so we decided to try Blackcomb. We took the Glacier Chair at Blackcomb where the wind continued to howl. You can hike up from the top of the Glacier Chair to Spanky's Ladder, an entrance to a (DOUBLE black diamond) into the Blackcomb Glacier where you can ski into July. Susan adamantly refused to try Spanky's Ladder (DOUBLE black diamond) so we skied down a (black diamond), Heavenly Trail, back to Glacier Chair. It wasn't as powdery as Whistler so we decided to go back to Whistler Mountain which meant another ride up the Whistler Gondola. We started snowboarding down Blackcomb but Susan got caught up where some kids were making basketball sized, no she says House-sized, snowballs and rolling them down the hill. She had to stop in order to avoid a collision with a boulder. In the course of this misadventure we got separated and I had to go up Whistler Gondola without her. I rode up with an elderly couple with a ten year old child with an out of control imagination. At one point the Gondola stopped and the child said it was because a skier was caught between the chairs and his guts were coming out. At the top I waited and waited in the snow storm for Susan and finally on the last ride there she was. Our last ride of the day we took part of the Dave Murray Trail (black diamond), the proposed Men's Downhill for the 2010 Olympics (piece of cake). As we reluctantly left Whistler the snow continued to fall and we thought wistfully of what tomorrow would be like. At the Vancouver Airport the next day the Custom's Agent asked us if we were a family. I said, "what do you mean family?" prepared for a lengthy discussion but Susan butted in and said we were registered domestic partners which he accepted and let us pass. Our flight was delayed two hours due to weather in San Francisco which meant a few clouds and wispy wind out of the south.
March 11-16, 2006
Other Trips
Grand Staircase November 2006
Vancouver, BC - March 2006
Grand Staircase/Escalante
Zion - Thanksgiving 2004
Stange People
Warner Mountains
Yosemite - August 2003
Mount Diablo
Summer Hikes
Yosemite - July 2003
Canyonlands in Summer
San Luis Wildlife Refuge
Canyonlands in Winter
Point Reyes
Yosemite
Monterey