British Columbia 2018

I took a trip all by myself to Vancouver, British Columbia in mid-May 2018, and it was so glorious! I have done individual recaps for parts of the trip, so this is just an overall summary of things, but you can click on the individual titles to find the more detailed overviews of each part of the trip.

This was a healing trip for me. I had checked my husband into an Assisted Living facility three days prior to my trip for a rare form of brain degeneration that will one day take his life, so to say this trip was a necessary part of my healing at that point was a severe understatement. I had planned this trip to be respite from caring from him, but as the cards fell, it just so happened that it ended up being the trip to sort of take a break from the former life I knew with him at home and to ease into the new life without him home with us. As such, I had planned a lot of nothing, beyond a 90 minute massage and a 90 minute facial.

I spent a LOT of time just relaxing, journaling, reading, and taking in the view from the private dock where I was staying.

It was so easy to find things to do once I got there, and the lack of planning was not a problem at all. I could've easily spent a couple weeks here and really enjoyed the longer stay.

Accommodations

I stayed in a cottage I found on vrbo.com just up Mount Seymour from Deep Cove in North Vancouver. It was a little slice of heaven, truly! I did a full recap of the accommodations and my pros/cons of the place here. (The overall gist was that I loved it, but probably wouldn't return to that particular place.)

Dining

I did a full dining recap, but here's the basic rundown:

Honey's Doughnuts in downtown Deep Cove (☆☆☆)

Very yummy cake doughnuts, pretty good coffee, long wait, VERY popular with locals and visitors.

The Lobby Lounge in Fairmont Pacific Rim in downtown Vancouver (☆☆☆☆☆)

Good sushi, great atmosphere! (www.lobbyloungerawbar.com)

The Brasserie in Whistler (☆☆☆☆)

Delicious poutine with pulled pork, great for people watching!

Activities

I did a full recap of all activities in this post, but here's my overall ranking from the activities. (Click on the titles to view my recaps of each place.)

Capilano Suspension Bridge ☆☆☆☆

It was really cool with lots to see and do there. It really made me miss my kiddos, who would have eaten that place right up! VERY touristy and busy.

Willow Stream Day Spa ☆☆☆☆☆

I had a 90 minute facial, and it was an incredible place! Very professional staff and extremely relaxing environment. Don't forget your swimsuit for the rooftop hot tub!

Baden Powell Trail and Quarry Rock (☆☆☆☆)

Beautiful, well-paved trails, very serene in the mornings, Quarry Rock was a nice view of Deep Cove!

Whistler, British Columbia (☆☆☆☆☆)

An easy day drive from Vancouver. Olympic Village was SO cool, the mountain bikers were fun to watch in the "off-season" from skiing and such, and the mountain views are incredible!

Sea to Sky Highway (☆☆☆☆☆)

There is no way I could ever describe in word or picture or video just how it felt to drive this. It was beyond out of this world! Highly, highly, highly recommend this drive!

Overall...

I HIGHLY recommend pretty much all parts of the trip. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and I cannot wait to go back some day!

This particular trip really ended in quite a hurry, and I don't want to get into it here, but let's just say that I'd like to repeat this trip at some point where I'm not rushed and hurried at the end for a super early morning flight. And I'd like to stay somewhere along the Sea to Sky Highway (perhaps in Porteau or Squamish or even Whistler) to really have a great shot at actually sitting back and truly taking in the scenery around there without so much of the hustle and bustle.

British Columbia 2018 :: Activities and Places to Go

Activities and Places to Go

Deep Cove

Deep Cove is a little slice of heaven! I absolutely adored my quiet morning exploring there. I would love to go back! For a full recap of my morning in Deep Cove, click here.

Capillano Suspension Bridge

Capillano Suspension Bridge was pretty cool, although not nearly as death-defying as I had envisioned. It was basically just a busy tourist attraction. They did a lot of awesome work keeping up the grounds, and the tree top experience was really cool. My kids would have LOVED it! It was really expensive, but I do feel worth doing once. Granted, it would only be a half day kind of experience, and I felt like I saw enough after just a couple hours. For a full recap, click here!

Willow Stream Day Spa

The spa was incredible, and I would HIGHLY recommend it! Keep in mind that the cost for parking is crazy high, since it's in downtown Vancouver, and also that you can enjoy the spa ammenities with purchasing even a small package or treatment. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably just get the basic treatment (I did a facial) and then relax in the hot tub (bring your swimsuit) on the gorgeous rooftop lounge area. Oh, and show up at least an hour early. For a full recap, click here!

Baden Powell Trail and Quarry Rock

The long story short is that I ended up hiking a significant portion of the full Baden Powell Trail by accident, but it was really beautiful, and I would do it again! The hike to Quarry Rock should have been significantly shorter, and the view was awesome, although not quite as awesome as the view from Bliss Cottage. For a full recap, click here!

Whistler

Whistler was absolutely beautiful, and a really fun way to spend a day. There is something for everyone in Whistler, and a really fun place to be by yourself or with a huge group. The people watching is awesome, and the little village is so fun! For a full recap of my afternoon in Whistler, click here!

Sea to Sky Highway

This drive is a MUST! This two hour stretch of mountainous road between Vancouver and Whistler is absolutely stunning. It took my breath away and left me with goosebumps numerous times. Our God is so incredible, and it was absolutely magnificent! The stops along the way back that I took included Brandywine Falls, Shannon Falls, a random pull over on the side of the road in Squamish, Porteau Cove and Horseshoe Bay. For a full recap of this drive and my stops, click here!

Baden Powell Trail and Quarry Rock :: British Columbia 2018

I typically wake up between 4-5am during the week when home in Minnesota, so having my normal wake up time be so early at HOME, subtracting 2 hours from that for the time difference and add in the luxury of sleeping through the night and sleeping "in", I was up and ready for my day by 5am British Columbia time. I had planned to head out for Whistler around 9 or 10am so that I could grab some lunch and explore there, and had a little time to kill. I had heard about nearby Quarry Rock, just a short hike from where I was staying, so I opted to park near the trailhead, grab some water and snacks and my Bible and head on up there for my devotions that morning.

Let me start by saying: Don't be like me. Don't be stupid and naiive. Take at very least a whistle and some mace should you come across a bear (which I was fortunate to not have), extra water, and extra snacks. And a water proof jacket. And...oh...I don't know...a MAP?! I mean...I obviously don't hike a lot, but man was I ever unprepared. Fortunately, everything turned out completely fine, as I'm here, but this hike reminded me over and over how stupid I was. I mean...my DSLR weighed more than the entire rest of my pack, if that says anything.

A "short hike", I was told, and I mean...I should've known after the first 45 minutes that I had gone the wrong way. I should've turned around and re-grouped at that point. But...here...at this bridge...immediately across from where I parked, I took a right when I should've taken a left, and well...90 minutes later, I turned around to head back the "right" way, which was actually LEFT at this bridge:

I mean, really, seriously - I had only 3/8 of the "essentials" for hiking, and some tennis shoes on, so if you HAD found me dead on the trail eaten by a hungry bear, it wouldn't have been too far-fetched.

I will say, hiking out in the woods (albeit completely ill-prepared) at 5:30am was extremely peaceful! It was so beautiful, and I saw so many cool little slugs and my first ever snail.

I had these great visions of sitting on Quarry Rock enjoying an incredible, refreshing devotional overlooking the cove with little boats going by out in the distance. Yeah...that just wasn't really a "thing", and I finally just stopped after hiking about 45 minutes and plopped down on a rock along the trail. The Lord led me to Matthew 22, where Jesus walks on the Water. It was a really good reminder to me that even in the midst of this crazy year, the most important thing is just continue to keep my focus on Christ. When I lose my focus and begin to notice just how enormous the storm is that I'm in the midst of with our family crisis in 2017/2018, I am going to drown. And the hike was an incredible reminder to me that I just have to take the next step, even when I'm weary and beat down and overwhelmed. Just the next step.

Before long, I reached this point, and seriously - it was at this point that I should've known better. The owners didn't mention anything about crossing a road. And if there had been a place to park that would've shortened my hike, they would've told me about it, right? The thought crossed my mind, but I convinced myself that I had just forgotten.

As a reference, I should've taken the green path, but I ended up taking the red path...and then having to come all the way back down and THEN following the green trail. WAYYYYYYY out of my way. And did I mention that the hike was pretty much entirely uphill? It was a whole lot of work, and I didn't even bring a hair tie to put my hair up. I thought often that I was so very glad that it was at least nice and cool that morning, so I wasn't in the heat of the summer sun.

In fairness, I kept thinking they were just referring to "Deep Cove Lookout" as Quarry Rock, which was probably stupid, but that's why I kept going. If I hadn't seen that on the guideposts, I probably would've turned around much sooner.

I did snap a few "trail selfies" along the way to document my little hike ;)

At some point around in there, I ran into a guy going for a morning run (no doubt coming from a home right up the street - gah - I should've known better) who told me that yes, I *could* get to Quarry Rock from here, but it'd be a LONNNNNGGGGG hike, and he advised I turn around and follow the Baden Powell Trail all the way back to where I came from, and then also ran into another guy out mountain biking with his dog who specifically told me where I went wrong, and so I turned around and hiked ALLLLLLLLL the way back to here, which was when I started. By then, it was 7:50am, so I had already been hiking for about an hour and twenty minutes before I got back to where I was supposed to have started ;)

By that point, I was a little tired of pictures, and I just wanted to get there and get back. I made a quick 10 minute pit stop at the car to rest for a short bit and to grab a hair tie and to drop off my empty water bottle and grab my iced latte (that I thought I'd be back for in half an hour earlier haha) It was a pretty crazy, but very short hike to the Indian Arm lookout, which was beautiful, but no more beautiful than the view from my cottage.

Not long after, I made it to Quarry Rock!

It took me all of 20 minutes to take the hike. Twenty minutes! I was there by 8:20am. After my crazy long day of hiking, and my desire to get on the road for the 2 hour drive to Whistler, I didn't opt to stick around very long once I got there. The view was stunning, but again, not significantly better than the view at the cottage where I was staying.

After that whole day, I think I'd do the hike again, but I just would actually PLAN to hike to the top of Mount Seymour, and well...park WAY up at that last road I made it to so I wouldn't have to waste so much time hiking that far lol Quarry Rock was beautiful, but I don't think I'd make THAT hike again.