Sunday, 9 July 2023

40th on a High Note : best birthday surprise ever.


This is the year of a milestone birthday for me. My sweet husband wanted it to be unforgettable and it was. 
This is how he did it....

Step 1: Come up with an amazing plan. Apparently he came up with the idea when he was doing the Whistler GranFondo race last September. I don't know how you can come up with a surprise for your wife when you're biking from Stanley Park to Whistler with 2136m of elevation but that's Simon. He is just incredible.

 Step 2:  Enlist friends as coconspirators.  My best friends lie and tell me that Simon has not included them in whatever secret he is planning. Meanwhile, they have a secret chat group discussing the details, apparently they labelled the chat group "Sheet Metal Man Stuff" or something ridiculous like that so I wouldn't read the texts. 

Step 3: Enlist family into the scheme. My parents and sister are in on it too. They message me about getting together to make sushi together one evening. I suggest Friday July 7th not knowing that is the exact date they needed me to land on. I had no idea I made it really easy to walk right into their scheme. 

Step 4: Feed into the lies. Simon tells me nothing other than to be available on July 8-9. My Type-A control freak personality was having a bit of a crisis accepting that I didn't have a single clue what was happening. It's my weekly ritual to write down The Plan and schedule all the events every week and I literally wrote “Dad's Super Secret Surprise that Mom knows nothing about” on the calendar for the weekend. Closer to the day, I tried asking questions and Simon gave me no clues...but he said, I would find out after breakfast on Saturday morning. Little did I know that was another lie and the real surprise would actually be the evening before on Friday night.

Step 5: Execute the surprise. I have no idea that Friday evening was actually when Operation 40 was happening. The whole time I thought my parents and my sister are coming over to make sushi like we had talked about. My parents bring over all the ingredients to make sushi. My sister starts looking up the recipe for the rice...

Door Bell Rings.....Simon opens the door and....

My best friends are all standing in the door. They are holding huge trays of catered food. They yell SURPRISE!


*Blink* Blink * Blink * 

No words come out of my mouth. 

I have no idea why my friends are standing at the door. I'm supposed to be making sushi with my parents and my sister for dinner. I just stand there in my door way stunned.


My dear husband tell says in his best game-show host voice, "Congratulations, you have won a trip for you and your friends to your favourite hotel for the weekend. You will be taking the Peak to Peak gondola and doing the amazing High Note Trail at Whistler tomorrow. You will be leaving right after dinner. Go pack your bag."

*Blink* Blink * Blink * 

No words come out of my mouth. I am still so confused and in shock. I am literally holding a bag of Japanese rice while my sister is reviewing the recipe with my daughter. I have a hard time processing that the whole let's-make-sushi-together was just a cover story. My mom had even packed the sushi trays and my sister brought over all the seaweed. 

While I am still standing in my house speechless, my friends bring in the trays of the delicious Greek feast and spread it out on the table. There's even calamari. I love calamari! Simon tells me I need to eat first so I can pack and get going on the road.


I eat the scrumptious chicken souvlaki and Greek potatoes and my mind still not comprehending the moment. My sister made me a Tres Leches cake with the strawberries arranged a chicken because she says that even though I may be turning 40, I am still a spring chicken. It was so lovely to have a meal together with friends and family. I still don't say much because my brain is still processing what is happening, I am still in disbelief that everyone in the room was in on this scheme. 


I quickly pack my bags and with my friends reminding me of things that I didn't have like pants, underwear and contact solution. It's hard to pack when you're in shock. Eventually, we were on the road and headed to the Pan Pacific hotel in Whistler. We took two vehicles and my friends in the other car greeted me at the hotel with hilarious masks. You know you have lifelong friends when they can put on a crying baby mask and a gorilla mask in front of a swanky hotel. 


The most EPIC part of the birthday surprise was the High Note Trail. If you are going to do one hike in Whistler, this is it. The High Note Trail requires a gondola ticket which isn't cheap but what an unforgettable experience. You start by taking the Blackcomb Gondola up. Then you take the Peak to Peak Gondola. 



The Express Peak chairlift is the next step but it doesn’t open till 11:00 am so you take your obligatory touristy pictures by the Olympic rings while you wait. 

Then you get in line for the Peak Express chairlift. It is so weird being on the chairlift without my ski or snowboard gear and not having any snow on the slopes.




Finally after all that, you get to the start of the hike which in itself is already a breath-taking view of Black Tusk. There's another mandatory photo opportunity with the Inuksuk.


And then you get to the Cloudraker Sky bridge. It is a pretty spectacular suspension bridge overlooking magnificent views. I like being up high, it's pretty epic. And that is how you get to the trail head.




The High Note Trail  is 9.4 km long and it is the most EPIC trail because you start in the alpine and the entire hike is breath-taking and gorgeous. There is no waiting to get to a majestic viewpoint, the entire hike is just wow.

You wind along the side of the mountain with spectacular views of the mountain ranges.

You get beautiful views of Cheakamus Lake. The green blue water is just stunning.



There's beautiful alpine flowers adorning the trail. Some flowers look straight out of a Dr. Suess book.


There's adventurous parts on the hike with ropes and metal planks and creeks



It was pretty hot even in the alpine elevation. You pass through Symphony Lake where you can go for a swim (even if you're wearing white shorts) because you're here and it's beautiful and there really isn't many other people around


Some hikes you are shrouded in the forest and you eventually get to a view point where everyone crowds around to take a photo. This hike is SPECTACTULAR the entire way and it was wasn't crowded. The snow-capped mountains and the view just makes you want to burst out singing, "The Hills Are Alive" from the Sound of Music.



Photos just don't capture the glory of this hike. It is just amazing from start to finish. The only thing that I did not like were the bugs so douse yourself with bug spray (we had the kind that apparently smelled like pickles) and I limited the damage to 4 bug bites. 


And that is the High Note Trail. You will want to have easy access to your phone/camera because you will be taking a picture every 15 seconds. Every time you think that view was the most picturesque view, you turn a corner and wow, the next view is just as beautiful. 

Side note: if you have less time you can take the Half Note trail which leads you back to the gondola as well. Or if you have endless energy and time you can take Musical Bumps trail which takes you to Garibaldi where you can camp overnight. The trails are well marked and you can get a paper map when you buy your lift ticket.



The rest of the weekend continued to be awesome. We spent time in the hotel pool and hot tub.

We rewarded our hiking effort with a great dinner at 21 Steps.



We walked around the village and because we are 40 year old ladies we came back to the hotel early, changed into our PJs early and did not want to leave our hotel room after 8:30 pm. Instead, we sat on the couch and chatted and shared good stretches for our backs and hip flexors. Ha ha. 

I can't believe that my amazing husband pulled off this spectacular surprise. I am really impressed that he had been planning this for almost a year and managed to keep it top secret for the entire time. So amazing that my family and friends were all colluding together to make this weekend happen. Thank you to everyone involved, my 40th year is starting out on a pretty High Note. 




Saturday, 1 July 2023

O Canada you are beautiful: Pitt Lake to Widgeon Falls



All adventures seem to start by waking up early and this one was no different. The alarm went off at 6:00AM on Canada Day and we got to work preparing for the day. SUPs, kayaks, life jackets, sunscreen, lunches, snacks, candy and oh yes...the kids, we should wake up the kids.

Kids are in the truck with everything and we're off....

No wait, the paddles are still in the garage...go back for the paddles...now we're off

No traffic when it's this early on Saturday and in 45 minutes we are at Pitt Lake and dropping off all our gear at the  boat launch. 

We meet up with our friends that doubted that we needed to get to the parking lot by 8:30 AM but the lot is already packed. So now I don't feel bad making them wake up early too.

We eventually get everything pumped and we launch off for our adventure...start the GPS now...




The first part of the paddle requires crossing into Widgeon Slough, it was pretty calm on the way there. It is a gorgeous paddle and we saw at least half a dozen eagles swooping in the sky and one diving down with a fish. It is gorgeous, it's like paddling in a painting.


At the fork on the road, you take the left side where there is a sign that says to campsite. The kids have cheap $100 kayaks and they weren't going super fast so each took a kid and connected them to our SUP so they didn't trail too far behind.

After an hour and a half of paddling, we made it to the campsite. Yes, you can camp here if you want to paddle your tent and gear to the site. We saw lots of tents set up. The area is used by both campers and day-trippers. There are dozens and dozens of canoes, kayaks and SUPs all perched on the beach. I had read about people potentially stealing gear while you go hiking so we came prepared with lots of locks. We chained everything down and started our hike. 

The first part of the hike is a gravel road and super boring for the kids but you get to a junction where you can choose a scenic but longer trail to Widgeon Falls or continue on the super boring gravel but quicker gravel road. Of course, we chose the more scenic trail.

Once we were in the beauty of the tall tress, the kids transformed from "how looooong is this hike?" to happy, scampering squirrels in the forest. They kept on racing far ahead and then jumping out from behind a tree and making me scream. I was on high-alert but they got me every time.

There’s a nice look out spot before you reach Widgeon falls. Make sure you stop to look in awe of the green water or jump in the water if you’re feeling brave. 



We timed it perfectly and it was just around noon when we got to Widgeon Falls. It was the perfect spot for lunch. After we ate on the rocks just taking in the beauty of the falls, the kids were wanting to jump in the water and we found some fantastic spots just past the waterfall to play in.




Warning - the water is reeeeeaaaaalllly cold but on a hot day, it was amazing. 

We even found a neat grotto/cove under the falls, it reminded me of the caves and waterfalls we found in Cumberland last year.


 The hike back was great, the kids scampered along the trail and when we got back to our kayaks and SUPs, nothing was taken so we didn't have to swim back. Phew.



The tide had changed from when we paddled out there in the morning so there were so many spots along the way where it was so shallow, we had to get out of the kayak/off our SUPs and portage further until we go paddle again. It felt very Canadian to be portaging our vessels on Canada Day. O Canada, our home and native land....

The wind. Oh the wind. It was not helping us on the way back, we had to work twice as hard to get back to shore. The kid's kayaks were still leashed to our SUPs which added to the challenge. The kids were pretty tired by then but not complaining. SuperDad had packed some of the energy gels that we use for half marathons and bike races, we told them it was like rocket fuel and it would give them super powers. They tried it but said it tasted awful and I don't blame them, it does. Our friend shared some super power energy bar that they get specially brought in from New Zealand. So with the replenished rocket fuel, we steadily made it back to the dock. 



In total it was 18.47 km day - about 4.6 km paddle there, about 9 km hike and 4.6 km back.

My arms fee like spaghetti noodles today but that’s OK, yesterday was pretty amazing and more summer adventures await…