Maybe all that the prairie riding on the gravel bikes has softened us up; maybe we had just forgotten the heartrate rock ‘n roll that is mountain trail riding … either way that was a tough little 48km with more than 700m of climb.
We’re in Whistler for the weekend and since the Great Trail folks have added a spur on the trail up here we decided over dinner last night to give it a go today.
Starting on the Valley Trail network in Whistler, the Sea-to-Sky trail sweeps past three local lakes and out of town past Function Junction, which features the condos that were built as the Olympic Village for 2010. It’s a lovely meandering tarred path that was pretty quiet in the morning but filled with families and other groups on the return trip.
Outside Function Junction the Cheakamus forest trail becomes a winding, uppy-downy, sometimes gnarly single track perched above the river of the same name that takes turquoise alpine waters down to Howe Sound at Squamish some 30km away. The forests haven’t been logged as the terrain is rough, so we were able to enjoy cycling past some old growth trees, which together with the mossy undergrowth made it feel like hobbit-land at times. The trail winds through Garibaldi Provincial Park in Squamish and Lil’wat first nations territory, and for much of our ride we could see the Black Tusk, an arrow-shaped volcanic rock peak that is home to the mythical Thunderbird, and which is a spiritual place for the Squamish people. Those taking on the Whistler Bungee over the River have a perfect view of the Tusk just before they leap.
We watched them for a bit then wound on down to Brandywine falls, where the river has cut itself a canyon through the basalt.
Knowing what we would be in for riding the reverse direction back up the mountain trail, we skipped it for the uphill return journey and opted instead for Highway 99, along the route that’s used for the Whistler Gran Fondo from Vancouver to Whistler.
By now as we turned off to wind along the back of Alta lake, the shores were packed with people. We didn’t join them and collapsed instead under some aspen trees on the lawns of the Whistler village green, feasting from the local bakery, Pure Bread.
Most years, Whistler receives as many visitors is summer as it does as a ski resort in winter and it has been something of a local playground for us for more than a decade – on the bikes or hikes in summer and skis in winter. Its sale to the Vail group two years ago has made it astronomically expensive but it’s still busy, even during COVID-19 times.
This was a great day on the trail … it just didn’t get us a single inch closer to our destination across the country!
#thegreattrail
#transcanadatrail
Trans Canada Epic 