Thursday, July 24, 2014

On Top Of The World! (well almost...)


Last week this is where Miss M. and myself spent a few days: Whistler, Canada. (north of Vancouver B.C., about a four and a half hour drive from our end)


We were invited by good friends who had other good friends with their three sons flying out from Great Britain and all together we had a fabulous time. The first day it got close to 40 degrees Celsius (about 100 Fahrenheit?) and it was waaaay too hot (for me anyway) so a jump in Lost Lake was just what we needed. (see above)


Another lake nearby. Almost all the lakes had this beautiful
green color...
Our friends had brought their black Labrador Bo with them and he was also very happy with a quick dip in the lake...


The second day we (I!) faced the chairlifts all the way to the top of Whistler Mountain. (Elevation 7156 feet / 2181 meters, fear of heights etc) The views were utterly amazing!

(Click on all of these panoramic pictures to enlarge...)

Our hosts on the left...
'Black Tusk' all the way to the left, 
the town of Whistler all the way below on the right...
Looking towards the 'Black Tusk'....

From this point we were going to take a 'short' hike which became an almost 3 hour hike! Hiking is not really my thing, but the weather was just perfect with lots of sunshine and a nice breeze, so I buckled up and did it. (although I think my lung capacity tripled in size at that elevation)

Some impressions taken with my Canon camera:


Miss M.







And some impressions with my IPhone:


The horizontal part of the trail...


Spot the kids!
A path to be found anywhere???

Taken from the 'Peak to Peak' Gondola...
(towards 'Blackcomb')
And yes, there was some wild life to be found as well. Look at these Hoary Marmots (that's their name!) that we came across. A little fight ensued...

Click! to enlarge...
Look at those teeth!

And in the last chair lift down we came across this rather large (for me!) specimen just below us: a Bear!!!! Thank goodness we didn't encounter him on our hike...


And yes,  the "The Hills Are Alive!" song was sung too many a time...  <wink>

12 comments:

  1. Simply in awe of the landscape! Beautiful, and beautiful pictures too. I just went on a teeny tiny mini vacation just looking at them.How fun for you two!

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  2. Mooi! Wel pittig stukje wandelen inderdaad!

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  3. Het hele landschap lijkt daar zo enorm imposant... Het lijkt "groter" dan hier in Europa...
    Het meer is gewoon prachtig - moet zalig zijn om daar een zwemmetje in te doen !
    En die grote marmotten, hihi, ik ben fan ! Ik had ze al eens op documentaires gezien, het moet geweldig zijn ze in het wild te zien !

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    1. Ze waren echt maar op iets van drie meter afstand. Ik had gelukkig m'n goede lens op de camera en kon ze dus goed dichtbij halen.

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    2. Op drie meter - zo kortbij !!!! Da's gewoon fantastisch !

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  4. Haha, ik snap helemaal dat je dat hebt lopen zingen.. wow, wat een geweldige tocht!!!!! Ik zit helemaal mee te genieten van de prachtige en vooral indrukwekkende foto's! Tja, daar kunnen de Vogezen niet tegenop ;))
    Alleen die beer, dat vind ik toch wat minder. Leuk om op je foto te zien maar het idee alleen al.. brrrr!

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    Replies
    1. Die beer was echt veel groter dan ik verwacht had. Wel eng inderdaad!

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  5. Such beautiful surroundings and landscapes - wow. After reading about how polluted the earth is, I am always happy and relieved to see photos such as these.

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  6. What a lovely place, so would love to go there someday! :)

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  7. I've actually only been to whistler in the summer and it is just beautiful up there! These pictures are gorgeous! But I really love the marmot pictures! I didn't even know what a marmot was!

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