Squamish – British Columbia – 2013 – Day 6

10/14/13

Bright and early again we had awoken to hit the road towards Squamish. We arrived at 8AM and began our ascent. It is a slightly difficult hike/climb. All that heavy breathing and heavy legs going up plus the fact I kept stopping made me the last in the pack. It didn’t help the fact I was also carrying my camera bag up this steep climb. We made it to the fork in the road to Peak 1 and 2 so we decided to goto 1 instead of 2. We were lucky to have good weather as this ascension would have been even more difficult if it were raining and wet. There are parts that are actual wooden stairs that change into stepping stones to even areas where you need to hold a chain to pull yourself up. We made it to the top and had a little break and snack while taking in the views before heading down.

On our descent, we met a 45 year old lady named Deb who was originally from North York, ON and went to Queens and McMaster University but moved out to BC. She hadn’t climbed Squamish in almost 14 years but did it with her family so her kids would know how to get down. As we went down, we talked about travel especially Cambodia and Laos. By the end when we reached the bottom at Shannon falls, all our legs were quivering. The best is that we finished around 11AM so we had plenty of time to stop at lookout points such as Porteau Cove and had time to shop and eat at Aberdeen Centre in Richmond before Vicky had to catch her flight. The Daiso sells items for around $2 and has all sorts of products which I definitely recommend visiting – It reminded me of Japan so much. There is an extensive array of food in the food court.

We dropped off Vicky at 330PM and then dropped Joanne off at her cousins. We made it back to her apartment to hang for a bit before Jordan came and picked us up for dinner. We were meeting with one of our friend Lisa who also moved to Vancouver. Our location for dinner was The Eatery for some fun sushi. They had very interesting decor with a huge makeshift Astroboy above the bar and their slogan – miso horny with faces like Bruce Lee, Mao and a few others. That place was definitely dark though. We got the Queen roll, Paper Crane and San Francisco plus the seafood Okonomiyaki. The Queen roll was by far the best.

Itinerary – British Columbia 2013

This is my 1 week trip to British Columbia (Kelowna, Vernon, Vancouver, Whistler & Squamish). The main reason for this trip in particular was for my friend Miranda’s wedding to Tom. I travelled with my friend Joanne first to Kelowna to help set-up for the annual BMO Okanagan Marathon. During our time in Vancouver, we stayed with our friend Yolande who recently moved to Vancouver and were also joined by our friend Vicky. We added on 2 day trips to Whistler & Squamish.

1009-1713 – British Columbia

10/09

FLY – Air Canada – YYZ – YVR

­Rent car
Drive to Kelowna, BC ­- volunteer for the BMO Okanagan Marathon prep

Airport ­- Kelowna ­ 398KM ­ 4h 6min

 

10/10 – Kelowna

BMO Okanagan Marathon prep

Kelowna – Vernon

 

10/11 – Kelowna – Vancouver

BMO Okanagan Marathon prep
­

Drive – Kelowna -­ Downtown Vancouver 389KM ­ 3h 58min

Pick-up Vicky from Airport

Meet for dinner with Nelson & Jordan

 

10/12 ­- Vancouver / Burnaby

­Miranda & Tom’s Wedding
Dinner reception -­ Empire Seafood Restaurant ­ #200 ­ 5951 No.3 Road, Richmond BC

 

10/13 ­ – Whistler

­

Downtown Vancouver – Whistler­ 123km 1h36min

Whistler – Treetop Trekking, Ziplining & Scandinave Spa

Whistler Museum – Visit friend Trish

­Whistler ­- Surrey ­ 150km ­ 1h 54min

Surrey – Have Thanksgiving dinner with Joanne’s extended family

 

10/14 – Vancouver – Squamish

Downtown Vancouver – Squamish ­ 63.5km ­ 53min

Squamish ­ Stawamus Chief ­ Start (Park at Shannon Falls)
­Goto Daiso in Richmond
­Drop off Vicky at Airport

Dinner with friends Lisa & Jordan

 

10/15 – Vancouver

Final clean up of BMO Okanagan stuff at BMO office
Lunch with Ben – Minato Sushi ­

Dinner with Christian & Robbin – Cactus Club

Meet up with Jamie

 

10/16 – Vancouver

­

Visit Joanne’s family friend in West Vancouver

South Richmond – West Vancouver – Steveson’s Pier

Dinner with Miranda, Tom & Nelson – Kintaro Ramen

 

10/10 – HOMEBOUND – YVR – YYZ

­Return car rental
FLY – Air Canada – YVR – YYZ