Blackcomb and Whistler Hiking Excursion

Stunning views of the Rockies at Whistler

Today was another gorgeous day, perfect for hiking at Whistler. And the trails are all up in the mountains.

And to get up there after Labour Day, only the Blackcomb gondola is open. The lift ticket is CAD$85, but gives you access to all the lifts once you get up to the top of Blackcomb.

These little birds are friendly!

When I bought my ticket I was told not to walk all the way down -- at most at the halfway point -- because the trails are quite steep. However, if you are a glutton for punishment you could walk all the way up...

It's a long ride up -- about 15 minutes and it's a scenic ride, with lots of trees, blue skies and sparse clouds.

At the top there is an area for non-hikers to take pictures of the dramatic skyline in the distance, while hikers can walk up higher to the few hiking trails. As it was my first time up there, I took a conservative approach, going on the green and blue trails.

Started off on Alpine Loop, described as a gentle walk, but really it's a bit of a hike up on gravel. Then I checked out Fitzsimmons Lookout where I sat down on a bench and ate my sandwich among the trees. 

Then I started off on Overlord Trail, which was pretty straight forward with a relatively wide trail. There were some grey birds with white chests flying around and I stopped to take a picture and they didn't mind to pose. One even hopped closer and closer to my feet! I was very surprised they were not afraid of humans.

A young couple ahead of me wanted to go on Marmot Trail but didn't see it and kept going on Overlord Trail which later connects to a more advanced trail called Decker Loop -- which I wanted to avoid.

Taking the Peak2Peak gondola to Whistler

But I could see a small, narrow trail veering up and to the left, and I checked my Strava map and I was going the right direction. This Marmot Trail was my cardio workout -- at times it entailed climbing up the hill, other times slightly flat for a bit of a breather before hiking uphill again. 

I didn't see any marmots, and luckily no bears either -- but the end of the hike was a drag -- giant pebbles that were hardly smooth which made it easy to lose balance. 

Since it was only just after 1.30pm, I decided to take the Peak2Peak gondola to go to Whistler Mountain. The last time I went skiing this gondola wasn't available, and since I don't ski anymore, I had to take this opportunity to check it out.

This is also a long gondola ride that goes down a valley and then back up, though the ride itself is very smooth -- when you pass the towers, there is no shaking at all.

After the skybridge you can see this landscape

When I reached the other side, there was a row of rubber ducks greeting visitors off the gondola -- what was that about? 

In any event, I thought I would do the relatively easy hike called Whistler Summit Interpretive Walk, but then I discovered after walking along the gravel path that it led to yet another chairlift ride up to the summit!

And taking that chairlift was very scary for me! I could not look down and had to try to keep looking up and to the distance, while holding onto the safety bar! I did not dare even take my phone out to take pictures!

At the top is the Cloudraker Skybridge -- basically a cable suspension bridge. Again I could not bring myself to have my phone out until I got to the other side. The bridge itself has bars along for people to hold on to, and one man in front was holding onto both sides as he went along.

An Olympic inukshuk greets visitors

We were rewarded with amazing views of mountains in the distance along with two lakes. There's also an Olympics inukshuk near the skybridge to take pictures of too. Whistler Mountain was windier and slightly colder than Blackcomb, but still necessary to keep a hat and sunglasses on.

By around 3.30pm I took the scary chairlift down Whistler Mountain, then the Peak2Peak before finally taking the Blackcomb gondola back home. Needless to say this excursion merited ice cream!

Cows Ice Cream is locally owned and I took the opportunity to try a scoop of "Royal Cownadian Mint" -- chocolate with peppermint oil and bits of chocolate in a waffle cone. Delicious and not too sweet.

What a day!