Sea to Sky Highway :: British Columbia 2018

There really wasn't a "bad" excursion on my whole trip, but the Sea to Sky Highway was by far one of my very favorite parts of my trip! It was absolutely stunning. It took my breath away. I want to go back today. I opted not to stop much at all on the way up to Whistler, but let's just say that the drive back FROM Whistler took me 4 hours, so yeah - I stopped. A LOT. I'm going to break down my Sea to Sky Highway experience down to my stops so that it breaks the beauty up a bit ;) Highlights, however, were Brandywine Falls, Shannon Falls, a random pull over on the side of the road in Squamish, Porteau Cove and Horseshoe Bay.

Brandywine Falls

It was raining fairly steadily when I stopped at Brandywine Falls, so I was thankful that I had snatched up an umbrella from the place I stayed at on my trip. I enjoyed that it was a short walk, as I had sandals on (rainboots would have been nice!) and

The falls were incredible, and I certainly wasn't expecting them to be quite THAT incredible. But going just a short jaunt further, the view literally stopped me in my tracks and took my breath away. The cool thing about going to check them out in the steady rain was that not many other people decided to also go out in the rain, so I had the whole view to myself, and it was just...there are no words.

Tauntalus Lookout

There weren't nearly as many of these little lookouts along the way as I felt there should be. I feel like while the views were incredible, there were even MORE incredible views that I had to just drive right on by and there was nowhere to stop and take it in, so while my jaw was dropped and I felt like I wanted to just sit there in awe and wonder, I had to also still drive on a windy mountain road and not drive off the cliff, so I had to just pass them by. This lookout was just a very, very small taste of how beautiful it is.

Shannon Falls

Shannon Falls was a lot busier than Brandywine Falls, probably partially on account of it not raining anymore, but also on account of it actually having a little gift shop and being more spread out. It wasn't nearly as easy to snap a picture of the falls, as it was more covered by trees, but through the trees, it was easier to see in person.

Squamish stop

Technically, this was two stops, but I'm going to combine it into one. The first stop was just a slam on my brakes at the last second stop as I was coming into Squamish. It was just such a breathtaking view right there on the side of the road that I had to stop. I didn't stay long here, maybe 10 minutes, but as the photos show, it was totally worth the quick pull over. It made me want to move to Squamish, considering this is just commonplace there.

The second stop, however, I stayed for more like half an hour. I had to sorta jump down this cliff (after checking to make sure there was a safe way to climb back up), and it was just full of driftwood and

Porteau Cove

Porteau Cove may have been my favorite stop of the entire trip. It was busier than most of the other stops, but so spread out that it felt like I was the only person there. It was just so...quiet. It sounded...hollow, for lack of better words. The sounds of the sea were amplifie.

Horseshoe Bay

I would never have made this stop, but it was getting closer and closer to sunset, and I was just really wanting to get a beautiful picture of the sunset with an incredible backdrop, so I kept trying to decide where I needed to stop in order to get a really neat sunset picture. Well...I didn't have enough patience to actually stick around long enough, as I was still a jaunt from the cottage I was staying at near Deep Cove, and they had invited me to dinner. Still, I was glad to have stopped here! There wasn't much to it, but I would have enjoyed meandering a little longer. It was just your typical little town, however. It looked like there was a small cruise ship docked there. It would've been a neat little town to stay in, close to Vancouver, along the Sea to Sky Highway, and with this beautiful view!

I WILL be back to tackle the Sea to Sky Highway again, most definitely. I'd like to stay along the shoreline in a little cottage somewhere and just really soak in the immensity that is there. It's so astoundingly beautiful! It's hard to imagine without actually being there, but you feel so alive and so tiny and just...free. I'd love to feel that feeling every single day.

Whistler :: British Columbia 2018

My second (and final) day in Vancouver, at the suggestion of the owners of the cottage I stayed at, after an early morning hike that eventually took me to Quarry Rock, I made a day trip to Whistler and enjoyed the incredible beauty of the Sea to Sky Highway, going from Vancouver up to Whistler. It literally took my breath away and gave me goosebumps. The signs kinda taunted me, saying absolutely no stopping, because all I wanted to do was slam on the brakes and sit there in the middle of the mountain road staring. Seriously. Incredible!

I took off around 10am from North Vancouver, and although I WANTED to stop along the way up to capture the insane raw natural beauty along the way up, I made it a straight shot, with this being my only stop:

How crazy is it that when I stopped, I was sad that they chose THIS spot to have as a stop for photo op, because compared to what I had just seen, it was NOTHING.

I made it to Whistler around noon time and found parking, and then some lunch in the ADORABLE little Whistler Village.

I walked around the village for a good half hour before deciding to stop for some lunch at The Brasserie.

I decided at the urging of a few of my Canadian friends to give poutine another try. The only other time I had tried it was at the Toronto airport before we went to Ireland, and I was sorely disappointed. This time I opted to add some shredded pork to it, and it was a HUGE hit! I still wasn't overly fond of any bite that I took where it was just the fries and gravy and cheese curds, but any bite with the pork was AWESOME!

While Whistler is known for its incredible skiing in the winter time, when it gets into summer time, it isn't skiing, but mountain biking that takes over. There was a really cool course, and I'm assuming some sort of tournament while I was there. There were mountain biker dudes (and dudettes...and little biker kiddos) EVERYWHERE.

The people watching was paramount here! It was the perfect place to just sort of sit back, relax and watch all the different people.

After lunch, I explored more and did some light shopping for the kiddos and myself.

Whistler was such a wonderful little place! I would absolutely go back, given the opportunity! It was such an easy, relaxing place to stroll around, shop a little, eat a little, relax a little. I think it'd be an excellent place for families and kids, was SO walkable, and the village was just so quaint and cozy and inviting. It was absolutely worth the drive up from Vancouver.