BRIAN REID PHOTOGRAPHER

Canada West Day 13- Sea to the Sky Highway and a Ferry

Friday, 19 May 2023 02:33

I had a cunning plan for today which included a few stops on the Sea to Sky Highway from Whistler to Horseshoe Bay where I would take the ferry to Langdale for my overnight stop on the Sunshine Coast at Gibsons. It just about worked, at least I caught the ferry as planned. I stopped at a viewpoint that claimed to show the Cheakamus Canyon. No just trees and shrubs obscuring the deep canyon that I had followed on the road. Never mind. The next stop was worth it at the Tantalus viewpoint with panoramic views of the Tantalus range and its high altitude glaciers as you can see above. The wildfire smoke is still a factor. My next stop was a serious mistake at Murrin Provincial Park where there is a trail to a viewpoint looking down to the Howe Sound. Trail implies some managed track with indications on where it goes. Not here apparently. I had a very unpleasant experience trying to find the trail causing me to slip into a gully grazing my arm and for a few moments I wondered how I was going to get out. Clearly I did, but it was a scary few minutes, To make it worse there was no view due to the smoke. I’ve made bad decisions in the past but this was right up there. Here are a few illustrations of what appears to be classed as a trail. I was seduced by the early part of the trail alongside spectacular climbing cliffs. I will be more careful in the future. On down to Horseshoe Bay for the giant ferry to Langdale and after little bit of a hot delay we were off moving away from the smoke. So settled in at Gibsons and relaxed after a couple of beers and tacos at a local pub. A day of highs and serious lows but all ends that ends well.