Whistler and Brandy Wine Falls

I was in Whistler this weekend. First time I stayed there over night. Whistler is busy so I normally drive right past but this time we stayed in a Lodge right in the Village. 

Whistler Village is cute. Lots of shops and restaurants right at the base of both gondolas. You know in ski season that place is going to be packed. We met a nice young couple from Portland on their honeymoon. They came up to ride the peak to peak gondola but unfortunately it was closed.

 

They had just shut down the gondolas for the summer season before the winter season starts. Lots of bikes ride the trails in the summer. There's more lodging just down the road at the base of another gondola called Creek Side. Like Silverstar and Big White you can step out of your accommodation and go skiing or snowboarding. Very nice but no doubt very busy. 

Parking in the Village sucks. Every where you go it's $2.50 an hour. Everywhere. There are two lots where you can park free overnight but it's still $2.50 an hour during the day or $11/00 all day. It cost $25 a night just to park at the Lodge so we chose the free lot just around the corner. 

The lodges in the village are nice because they have kitchens where you can cook your own food. It had snowed at the peak the night before we arrived so someone took a bunch of snow from the peak and put it outside a snowboard shop in town.

I would really like to come here in January one year and do a snowmobile tour on the Pemberton Ice Field. They have snow bike tours there now as well. That's on my bucket list. 

Brandy Wine Fall is just before you get to Whistler driving up from Vancouver. It's nice. I like it better than Shannon Falls in Squamish or Bridal Veil Falls in Chilliwack. It's straight down and it's only a 1 KM walk there and back with no elevation.

This year I walked along the railroad track and took a picture above the falls just as the water was about to go over. It's kind of a cool view. I wouldn't want to ride a kayak over that one. 

If you do stay at a Lodge in Whistler Village that has a fridge and stove, you're probably going to want to bring your own food in a cooler. Groceries are pretty expensive in the Village. 

On the other side of the Village near the Blackcomb gondola there are some high end hotels like the Hilton, Fairmont and the Hilton Properties which is some kind of a country club you have to be  member of to visit. Those are all for people with money to burn and I don't know anyone like that. 

The Bear Foot Bistro has an ice room you can sample Grey Goose in. They give you a parka to wear in sub zero temperatures down to minus 30. That's an interesting twist. 

There's a nice viewpoint on the drive back to Vancouver.