The Blood Blog: Tundra Tour: Whistler (Day 4)

We pulled into Nairn Falls Campground on Sunday evening. After setting up camp, eating dinner, and romping around the woods for a while, we noticed that Isaac was starting to get a rash. It was kind of everywhere faintly, but had bigger splotches on his hands, feet, and mouth. We took pictures and sent them to a Dermatologist while bracing ourselves for a full blown outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease. Miraculously, no one else caught it, and it cleared itself up after a few days with just some applications of hydrocortisone. Isaac was a bit cranky and slept more for a couple days, but overall it ended up not being a big deal at all.

An example of the aforementioned woods romping. I think she was collecting materials for fairy houses here.

There were seriously beautiful bodies of water around every turn.

Our "Big Thing" of the trip was the gondola rides up Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. The crazy thing is that there is a "Peak 2 Peak" Gondola that connects the two mountain peaks. It is the world's longest unsupported span at almost 2 miles long. It is also the world's highest lift at 1,427 ft above the valley floor.

My Gondola Girl

We thought we were approaching the top, but the doors opened and informed us that we were only half way to the top! I guess some mountain bikers (or skiers in the winter) get off at the halfway point for easier runs.

Note how we are now above several clouds. It was warm and sunny at the bottom of the mountain but rainy and cold at the top. We anticipated the rain and brought ponchos with us, but foolishly left our warm jackets in the car. We did not anticipate how much colder it would be at the higher elevation. It is rather obvious in retrospect- I just didn't really understand how big the lift system was! It was leagues beyond the scope of any slopes I've ever skied on.

Beginning our short tundra hike on top of Whistler Mountain. Elliot is generally a "wear shorts in the snow" type of guy, but even he was getting chilly. We had to distribute many snacks and sticks of gum to keep the kids going.

A hoary marmot! These little chub balls hibernate for 9 months of the year and spend the remaining 3 stuffing themselves to restore their fat reserves. I like how this one is posing like he's in the Lion King. Alice spotted the little fella from across a boulder field. I have no idea how she noticed it.

After we hiked the little loop on Whistler mountain, we got in line for the Peak 2 Peak experience. We waited a little longer to get one of the glass bottomed gondolas for the full experience. By now it was raining hard. We were lucky really- the forecast showed rain for most of our trip, but this ended up being our only fully rainy day.

Don't let Lakin's white knuckled grip fool you- this was super fun and relaxing!

I hear there is a thing called fashion, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Aaron had an equally attractive green poncho, but he took it off the second we were under any sort of shelter.

Giant trees and a winding river a thousand feet below! Truly some amazing 360 views, although we would have been able to see more of the valley if it hadn't been so rainy. It was kind of cool looking ahead and seeing the steel cables carrying us disappear into the mist.

We ate more snacks in the lodge on top of Blackcomb mountain, but the kids were hiked out and cold, so we decided to take the long ride down the gondola to get back to warmer climes. The best part of that ride was the trail map on the gondola wall. The runs had names like "Clown Shoes" (a double black diamond) and "Samurai Pizza Cat" (blue square).

Back down in Whistler Village, we got our warm jackets and then set out in the rain to find a sheltered spot to eat our picnic lunch. We found a good table under a pavilion, and the storm finally passed while we ate. We got to watch the village come to life with the sunshine. We enjoyed a small local museum and a stump filled play area outside, then headed back to camp.