canada 2007 - day 3

Jeremy and I were hoping to hike one of the longer trails in the morning, but felt pretty tired after the long drive the day before and the food poisoning from the Chinese food. I decided that it would be good to get my parents out on a pleasant hike and chose the Cheakamus Lake trail south of Whistler. The weather was sunny and was forecasted to hold like that for the rest of our stay.

The trailhead was at the end of a decently maintained dirt road off of highway 99. The dirt road travelled through forest and my dad was convinced that this was not a safe environment and that it was too remote and shouldn't we turn around and do something else? I did my best to ignore him and I think my parents were both relieved when we got to the parking area and saw several other cars and many hikers and cyclists getting ready to hike.

The trail was very mellow with mild rolling terrain through beautiful old growth forests filled with enormous majestic trees. The condition of the trail can only be described as excellent - wide enough to walk side by side or to allow bikes to pass with soft dirt and pine litter underfoot. When we arrived at the campsite, the trail along Cheakamus Lake became muddy and ponded in large stretches beyond camp. Jeremy picked his way ahead and determined that it wasn't passable for my parents, so we turned around. I think my parents enjoyed the hike and we were able to get a glimpse of the lake from the northwestern tip near camp.

After the hike we drove into Whistler Village for lunch. I chose the Whistler Brew Pub in the hopes of finding more affordable and low key fare. My dad wanted something fancier, but I felt he had blown his choosing rights with Hy's. Turns out the food was one of the better and cheaper meals we had dining out in Whistler - but it was still unbelievably expensive. To walk off our lunch, we wandered through Whistler Village in search of some gifts for my nephew and niece. Wow, Whistler sucks. Just a generic Intrawest tourist trap with low quality wares set at exhorbitant prices. I was really irritated.

When we returned to the time share, I took a short nap. Shopping and keeping track of my dad seem to tire me out more than any 20 mile hike would. We had dinner at the time share and I made a plate of sushi and Mom cooked up some really good stir-fry noodles and vegetables.

As sunset neared, Jeremy and I thought it would be nice to do a quick short hike to Nairn Falls. My parents were tired and told us to go without them, so we high-tailed it to the trailhead and hiked a fast clip to the falls. The trail was an easy mile to the falls which were roaring with the fury of the rushing water. Very impressive. We stuck around to photograph and watch the enormous volumes of water pouring past us until it was time to head back.