Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

up the mountain

For Day Two in Canada, we forayed further north into British Columbia to Whistler, the ski resort that will host the snow-related events for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. We had found a brochure for the resort town with some spectacular summer photos, and we hoped to go hiking on the mountain.

Whistler Village was an incredible disappointment. Most of the buildings seemed pretty new, like they had sprung up within the last ten years, all with the same cookie-cutter, fresh-paint feel to them. I had been expecting something a lot sleepier, more rustic. Instead, the town felt like a huge tourist trap (we even found several WiFi hotspots there). Disenchanted by the ambiance (and unwilling to fork over $20-something each to ride the ski lift/gondola up the mountain to where we thought the hiking trails were), we left soon after a lackluster lunch.

But the drive to and from Whistler more than made up for the disappointment. By the time we left, the overcast skies had begun to show patches of blue, and the sun soon burned away most of the clouds. Rob, Steve and I had a short hike at the lovely Brandywine Falls. And I loved Porteau Cove so much that part of me really wanted to linger there until sunset.