As I said in my previous blog, Living the Dream in Pemberton – Week 4, Pemberton was a longer term stay for Becca and I. We finally were getting into a routine in one place, meaning we were able to unpack the bags and stop living out of a suitcase for once! It gave us more time to explore the sea to sky, and it also cut down on time spent in the Subaru!

We were happy to finally settle down after almost a full month of weekly travelling!

The Beer Farmers

Pemberton had a surprisingly great selection of restaurants and breweries, but our favourite was the Beer Farmers. Situated in the Pemberton Meadows just 13km outside of the town itself, this “Farm to Tap” style brewery resided in a renovated barn and served up some awesome brews with beautiful mountain views. Between the views and the brewery being an easy bike ride away, you can understand why this was both ours, and the locals, favourite spot.

With the brewery also doubling as an active farm, it housed animals such as pigs and goats, and a nice garden was the final touch.

A food truck was also situated outside of the barn, closer to the picnic table patio that seemed to always be full. They served up incredible smash burgers and poutine, a perfect pairing with a Beer Farmer’s draught.

The vibes were great, and each friend that came to visit us up in Pemberton ended up visiting the brewery – in my opinion, it is a must-stop for people in the area.

Joffre Lakes (Again?)

If you’ve been following the blog, you know I made a destination spotlight on the beautiful Joffre Lakes previously. You can read that entry here: Joffre Lakes Trail – Destination Spotlight. I’ve now reached May 30th on our weekly journal, which meant it was our first time at the popular hiking trail just off the Sea to Sky Highway.

Our first hike of Joffre consisted of the middle and upper lakes still being frozen, while the lower lake had just thawed. Trudging through hard packed snow (read: basically ice) with our hiking boots and micro-spikes worked well enough to get to the top of the trail, especially when compared to the amount of people we saw slipping and sliding in running shoes!

Since I have already discussed much of this hike in the other entry, I won’t touch the main components of the hike, but I’ll add in some extra information that had previously got skipped.

Joffre Lakes Waterfall

Between Middle and Upper Joffre lakes, there is an incredible waterfall that connects the two. Freezing cold water cascading down the side of a rock face, this spot is great for a quick rest stop between the two lakes. Also, sneaking in a picture or two is never a bad idea!

The water is still at alpine temperatures, but it’s neat to see how all the lakes are interconnected to each other throughout the trail with waterways such as this.

Joffre Lakes Wildlife

There is also plentiful wildlife throughout the Lillooet and Joffre Lakes regions. While the wildlife tends to avoid the high-trafficked trail, there is some wildlife that flocks to it. Specifically, Whisky Jacks! These little birds are famous throughout B.C. for congregating in areas of human activity. Usually, people will feed these birds out of the palm of their hands for an awesome picture of how “connected” they are with wildlife.

On the other side of all this, feeding wildlife is known to negatively harm or kill animals. They become dependent on human support, and in some cases become too aggressive or too fearless for their own safety. Bears, for example, have to be put down when they are fed by humans, or they cannot digest the human food and it kills them.

These little Whisky Jacks have gotten away with it for so long that they have become a fearless bunch, even flying into human hands that don’t have food. All you have to do is hold out a hand and they’ll come flying in, as you can see from the image below. This little guy only got a perch, no food reward for all it’s hard work!

But in the end, please, do not feed any wildlife, all the way from bears to birds. The damage being caused is slow, but can change an animal’s outlook on what ‘hunting/foraging for food’ really means. Fearless birds may seem cute, fearless bears not so much.

Sea to Sky Riding

A day after the hike in Joffre, Becca and I bolted out for a quick ride up the Sea to Sky Highway towards Whistler. Being the same direction as Rutherford Creek FSR (from my last entry), I wanted to attempt a specific segment on Strava again and go for the ‘King of the Mountain’ title.

I turned off the Sea to Sky highway onto Rutherford and started the segment, pushing hard up the climb. As I approached the end of the segment, thinking I had got the top time with only one hundred meters left, I started hearing gun shots from ahead. Just a few young people out target practicing down what I thought was a deserted section of road. Well, that was enough to turn me around before the end of the segment, and I vacated the area quickly.

I returned to Becca and we continued our way up to Whistler on the highway.

The Ride to Whistler

Pemberton to Whistler is an incredible bike ride. It’s mostly an uphill slog, but the views of mountains and rivers on both sides of the road makes you forget about the elevation.

We did this ride multiple times during our stay in Pemberton. There always seemed to be something going on in Whistler, whether a farmer’s market, a concert, or just touring the village itself. But the most fun on the ride would be had on the way back down to Pemberton!

The way from Pemberton to Whistler consists of 616m of climbing, and 155m of descent over 34km. So, flip those elevation numbers around for the way back from Whistler to Pemberton, and you have yourself a speedy and fun ride home that takes about 2/3rds the amount of time as it did on the way there. This was a highlight of riding around Pemberton, even though it was road riding and not gravel, like I was used to.

Cool Creek Canyon

June 1st! It is hard to believe how quick time has passed on this journey already. At this point, we had officially been out travelling for an entire month. And look at how much we’ve already done! Probably enough for anyone to need a break from this so-called ‘travelling’ schtick.

But Becca and I weren’t slowing down. After a big week of riding and hiking, we decided to do a bit of an easier hike close to Birken, called Cool Creek Canyon.

This hike was shorter, yet extremely scenic. The entire hike runs beside a waterfall, the trail running up one side and then down the other. Every gain in elevation rewards you with a new scenic view of the rushing waterfall.

The name Cool Creek Canyon also does not only relate to how cool this hike is, but also the temperature of the hike. June 1st was a warm and sunny day, but the creek area itself emitted an intense cooling sensation, likely dropping the temperature about 5 degrees. What a feeling! Just being in the area cooled you off, and I’m sure it was a lot of people’s secret getaway during the B.C. heat waves.

Airbnb and Travelling Life

I talk an awful lot about different adventures Becca and I have gone on, but not too much about our lifestyle when it comes to travelling. We made a few loose rules for ourselves along the way to manage our money a little better.

The two main ones are controlling how much we eat out and becoming ‘social’ drinkers.

These have obviously been tough rules to follow, as you may have noticed I’ve given multiple food and drink recommendations throughout the blog. But we follow them as best as possible, and like any good plan, there is always an opportunity to cheat it just a little bit.

With the first one, we have become efficient meal preppers, making food for 10 people at a time. Ask any of the friends that have come to visit us, they are probably sick of having the same meal the entire time. But for cost efficiency, aka buying in bulk, and saving time overall during our stay, having meals in the fridge or freezer that can easily be heated up makes a bunch of sense.

We have hit our first month on vacation with this blog, but we have plans for the rest of the year, so reducing food costs while saving time to do more exploring makes a lot of sense.

Becoming social drinkers is also a way to combat costs of travelling. I enjoy the occasional beer, especially with these new craft breweries popping up due to a massively bump in popularity over the last 10 years. But when it comes to checking out new drinking establishments, I leave that for when friends come to visit. While it’s something we could do just the two of us, it saves money and allows a richer experience when you have other friends to share it with.

Pemberton Review

A quick note on Pemberton before I end the blog, this place is incredible. Between the young families, outdoorsy type people, and well behaved dogs (Ontario could learn a thing or two about the last one), the overall feeling in this town is very welcoming. Additionally, you can’t be closer in proximity to mountains and adventure. It’s literally at your doorstep, being in the shadow of Mount Currie.

Becca and I are slowly putting together a list of potential places to move in the future, and Pemberton is definitely on it.

Closing Comments

Thanks a ton for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Life’s getting busy since I’ve travelled back to Ontario for the end of August/beginning of September to see friends and family, but I’m thankfully still finding time to write and share my experiences with you all. Next week I’ll be detailing out a slightly more dangerous adventure, my Meager Creek ride.

Hope everyone is well out there and having an enjoyable end of summer. Until next week, cheers!