Visiting Squamish on a Foggy Day

A brief break to see blue skies through the fog at the top

The other day I took a quick side trip to Squamish, which is just over an hour away by car, north of Vancouver. 

We set off early in the morning at around 9am, and despite the one-lane traffic going across the Lion's Gate Bridge, we were able to get to the Sea-to-Sky Gondola in less than an hour and a half, which is just before the municipality of Squamish.

We were supposed to see this mountain...

The gondola takes visitors up 885 metres to have reportedly stunning views of the mountains, but the day we went it was lightly raining -- a good thing since it has been so dry and hot this summer -- but it was really foggy when we went up to the top.

Tickets are not cheap, at C$65.95 for adults, C$59.95 for seniors, but we made the most of it. The ride up was smooth, and less than 10 minutes was up at the top.

We couldn't see much, but could imagine the views were stunning if the fog had lifted. In any event we had a quick bite to eat in the cafeteria (sandwiches, tacos, poutine) before trekking one of the 12 hiking trails, six frontcountry, the others backcountry, from very easy in 20 minutes and short to a long eight-hour hikes. 

Panorama Trail was recommended to us so we took the frontcountry route that was estimated to take 30 to 60 minutes. If you don't stop at various scenic points along the loop, it will take 30 minutes, and for us relatively fast walkers, we finished in about 40 minutes.

The trails are very clean and natural, and we were most impressed by the diversity of the trees and plants. It seemed much more diverse than in Pacific Spirit Park, a place I frequently walk in. Here there were different species of trees, such as cedar and pine, along with various plants and huge boulders.

Walking along the Panorama Trail

Scenic stopping points encouraged people to try to spot birds, though there was another sign pointing out various wild animals like cougars which was not very reassuring! 

We did see a tiny chipmunk, sitting in the middle of the trail eating something. At first it seemed completely unaware we were there, but as soon as we pulled out our phones it ran away into the trees.

Overall we enjoyed the easy walk and if we had more time we would have chosen a longer route.

The gondola was opened in 2014 after a year of construction, but was plagued by two incidents of vandalism. Someone cut the table of the gondola on August 10, 2019 and it took months to repair, but was vandalised again on September 14, 2020. Still to this day no one has been arrested for these crimes.

We also made a quick trip to the municipality of Squamish which was a short distance from the gondola. The main street is lined with small shops, cafes, and restaurants. There's a ramen/sushi place and another to get Vietnamese food. There are many coffee places as well as for wine. A sign on the sidewalk read: "Day Drinkers Welcome."

A welcoming mural in the town

Xoco is a shop that makes local chocolate. The salted caramel chocolates are apparently best sellers and they are packaged in boxes designed by the artist in the next door gallery. 

What a great way to support the community!