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Leaving North Vancouver for a day in the "country" was full of anticipation. It wasn't long before we had left the suburb behind and was on the main hughway to Squamish. This road had been greatly improved and widened for the 2010 Winter Olympics, mostly four lanes all the way. It was a stunning drive with mountains on one side and beautiful water ways on the other side. The mountains took on a variety of colours from shades of grey to blue to green, some even had snow caps, this was certainly a different landscape to the coastal plain if Perth.
Just on the outskirts of Squamish we stopped to have a look at the latest attraction in the area - the Sea to Sky Gondola. It was a stop that would end up lasting for quite a few hours. As we walked up to the entrance of the Gondola, we decided it would be a good ide to take a ride up the mountain and see what we could see! The Sea to Sky Gondola had only been open for 4 months, so it was a great opportunity for even Tina and Ken to experience this new attraction.
As we waited for the Gondola to arrive, I wondered what I had let myself in for as I was sure it was going to a fairly steep ride to the top and I wasn't particularly fond of heights! As it turned out, it was a very very steep and long ride to the top, a ride where I chose to concentrate on the water below rather than the drop beneath the Gondola. I thought the ride finished at the 3rd pylon, but this was barely half way. The gondola just kept climbing up the mountain, and the further we went, the more amazing were the views around us! The waterways became clearer as I could see the spit that separated the water at the town of Squamish, glacier and snow on mountains came closer, and the town of Squamish and other habitation came into view. On our ride up the mountain we had been joined by two locals who were slightly amused at my terror, but filled us in with tales about how good this attraction was for thectown of Squamish, particularly as many tourists simply drove through the town on their way to Whistler (something we had been planning to do before stopping to check this out!) They also told us about the day that a pod of dolphins had come into the spit at Squamish to feed on smaller fish, but were instead bait for Orcas. They had watched a feeding frenzy in the town which was both awful and amazing as the orcas decimated the pod of dolphins. At least this story took my mind away from the dizzying heights we were ascending, although my ears were a constant reninder of the climb as they attempted to adjust to the changing altitude.
Finally we were at the top and I was horrified to see a rather large steel and wooden swing bridge emanating from the shop/restaurant to woodland on the mountain. It was obvious I would have to walk over the bridge to access the walk trails on the mountain, or go a less exciting way.....I chose the swing bridge and my terror! This bridge reminded me if the ones in Nepal, except all the wooden flooring was intact. It had a rather large span, high steel handcrails and crossed a deep ravine , although I couldn't see a river below. I found the walk across the bridge not very pleasant, particularly as those coming from the other direction paid no attention to my fear and just seemed to push past. I was certainly glad to reach the other side. There really was no logic to my fear as this bridge was solidly and safely made, even had side and end supports to reduce the sway.
The trails were all new and in excellent condition and clearly marked. We set off for a 1.6km walk on the mountain trails to various lookouts where we had incredible views of the surrounding landscape. Stretched out before us we saw Shannon Falls, Chief Mountain, Squamish, other settlements, glaciers, snow on mountain ridges, climbers on steep granite cliff faces, ships and wind surfers on the inlets and river systems, gondolas ascending the mountain, roadways and highways, and the new development of this tourist atteaction "Sea to Sky". It was marvellous, quite stunning. A perfectly beautiful sunny day in Canada, with the sun illuminating the glaciers in the distance, they glistened and shone on the horizon. It would have been terrific to see them much closer, but that will be saved for anither trip.
Back at the shop/cafe on the mountain we decided to have lunch where I had a coffee and very tasty sandwich. Sitting on the cafe deck, watching gondolas ascend and descend the mountain, it was the best view I have ever had to eat a turkeyand cheese sandwich on cranberry bread! Eventually it was time to face the obvious, what comes up must go down, and we were soon back in the gondola ascending to the carpark below. It was good to gave my feet on firm ground, but it was worth the fear of a gondola ride to experience such a fantastic morning on the mountains over Squamish.
We drove into Squamish, had a walk around, checked out a baby shop and a hotel and then decided to find the wind surfers. After a few false turns, rather inadequate signage a dirt road, we finally found ourselves on the spit that separated the river system and the wind surfers. The water had that glacier look..blue green frozen appearance that spoke of hypothermia for those who dared to brave it, but with wet suits on there were plenty of people out on the water trying their skills in the afternoon winds. It was a risky sport out here, but they didn't seem to care. Only an hour earlier we had seen rock climbers slowly edging their way up the granite cliff face of Chief. This was a place for high risk adrenaline pumping sports in extreme conditions, a place that attracted those risk takers who pushed their bodies to the limit.
Driving back to North Vancouver we stopped off to see Shannon Falls, a 200metre plus water fall cascading over granite rock to the river bed below. It was a pretty location, a lovely wooded walk through the forrest. All our walks today had been on clearly marked paths that had warnings about bears and cougars, but today we only saw brown squirrels and birds. As we made our descent back down the mountain road to home, the scenery remained stunning and we reflected upon what a great day we had shared in the Squamish area.
Tonight's dinner was at a Greek restaurant. I chose seared wild salmon and it was delicious. A fabulous day in Vancouver!
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