Monday, July 11, 2011

Our GCTT Pt 10 - Whistler

 Me under an immense tree on the way to Whistler 
- you could camp in here!

 We spotted this sign at Shannon Falls but didn't see a cougar there. 
However, we did see a large cougar standing in a field 
about 2 hours west of Winnipeg! 
They sure are large cats!

 Beautiful smaller waterfall at Shannon Falls...

 Oh the green moss... 

 Part of the falls... a drop of more than 1100 ft or 335 meters.

 There were still snowboarders and skiers at Whistler! 
Several of the runs were still open in mid-June 
and we were told that most of the peaks have snow on them year-round. 
I think that's amazing.

 Black Tusk
Black Tusk is a remarkably abrupt pinnacle of volcanic rock located in Garibaldi Provincial Park of British ColumbiaCanada. At 2,319 m (7,608 ft) above sea level, the upper spire is visible from a great distance in all directions. It is particularly noticeable from the Sea-to-Sky Highway just south of Whistler, British Columbia. Distinctive and immediately identifiable, the Black Tusk is among the best known mountains in the Garibaldi Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The volcano is part of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt which is a segment of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, but it is not within the geographic boundary of the Cascade Range. (Wikipedia)
 Peter practicing his baseball pitch with a snowball...

 Me mimicking the pose of the huge Inuksuk. 
I love Inuksuks as much as I love Totem Poles and trees now...
An inuksuk is a stone landmark or cairn built by humans, used by the InuitInupiatKalaallitYupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. The inuksuk may have been used for navigation, as a point of reference, a marker for travel routes, fishing places, camps, hunting grounds, places of veneration, drift fences used in hunting or as a food cache. Varying in shape and size, the inuksuit have longtime roots in the Inuit culture. Historically the most common type of inuksuk is a single stone positioned in an upright manner. An inuksuk is often confused with an inunnguaq, a cairn representing a human figure. There is some debate as to whether the appearance of human- or cross-shaped cairns developed in the Inuit culture before the arrival of European missionaries and explorers. The size of some innaguait suggest that the construction was often a communal effort.
Well well, before reading this article on Wikipedia 
I thought I was posing in front of an inuksuk... 
but I guess it should be called an Innaguait!
 I learn something new everyday :) 

 One of 2 Black Bears we saw in the Whistler area. 
The other was smaller than this one 
and both were peacefully munching grass on the edge of the forest. 

We enjoyed our train trip so much that we tried to flag one down near Whistler but alas... no train came along.

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