Sunday, August 17, 2008

Waterfalls, Waterfalls Everywhere!

Our trip to Whistler was mostly about having fun and relaxing but we did find some super easy kid friendly hikes to do with the little ones. We had super strange weather our whole trip. First day was hot, the next three were cold and rainy and the last three were all with varying degrees of sunshine and heat. Strange. I am only assuming that the Seattle area was having similar weather though. When I saw the news at night (you know, before all my Olympic watching) it seemed we were following the same general pattern.

The first hike we went on was to Nairn Falls. It was about 40 minutes each way and the kids did great. The falls create this whirlpool effect from the water force and actually carved out the rock. You couldn't see where the water came from after the falls. If just was in a pool. Pretty neat. This hike was certainly worth it too. The views were beautiful and the weather was fantastic for hiking. I am never too fond of hiking in the extreme heat. Give me a overcast slightly cool day and I am happy. I will even take some rain as long as it isn't too chilly. Anything to keep me from sweating to death.

Nairn Falls

The view from the falls


Our second day hike was to Brandywine Falls. This hike was shorter than the first but the views were even more amazing. This lake was what the falls (and I am assuming several other stream/rivers) created. There is a chance that this lake is also the backup from a dam. We couldn't tell for sure on the way home but it certainly looked that way from the road.

Brandywine Falls

In the process of trying to take an amazing picture I was the ever daring one and crawled under a fence to go "off trail." Eric was concerned that I was going to fall off the cliff but I managed to not hurt myself. I did however get stuck trying to climb back over the fence. Eric had to pick me up off the top part. My shorts got stuck and I saw no way that it was going to end well for me without assistance. Thank goodness for that Michael Phelps diet he has been on. It certainly helped!

Lucy enjoying the waterfalls in her own unique way!

I need to mention one last thing about the hiking in Canada. The trails and the state (are they considered states there?) parks are kept immaculately! The bathrooms were wonderful even though they were just outhouse types. I was fully comfortable using there facilities. Here I am always a little leary of the outhouse type things. They never seem super clean. These ones though were sparkling clean and didn't even smell. I wondered if it was due to the Olympics coming but that seemed a very long time to keep things sparkling. I am choosing to believe that they just care for there parks and trails much better up there.

3 comments:

Kaleb said...

Okay, so I am not on my computer (this is Joanna, not Kaleb) as Gabe has me kicked out for all possible computer time (when he is sleeping in my room). I was just catching up on your blog, it is great fun to read about your trip and Eric's new diet (are you going to start raising chickens because I think I heard Phelps eats a dozen eggs a day -- plus it would give the dogs something to chase!) I am personally very glad you didn't fall off the cliff! I would have been the one begging Kaleb not to climb over the fence as I am afraid of heights.. yikes! Beatiful photos! We have been enjoying watching the Olympics online, mainly Swimming and Gymnastics. See you soon!
Joanna

Kelly said...

I think they are Provincial Parks, since they have Provinces, not states. Canadians are a cleaner bunch and seem to have more national pride. Of course 90% live within 100 miles of the US border so they don't really have that much land mass to mess up... The pictures are great! I am glad your mom got to go. How is she doing?

Little Blessings said...

Mom's doing good. She seems to like to be busy though (not an uncommon thing for her). It was very nice to have her company.