The entire Week 5 just kicked ass. I’m not sure how I had the energy for this entire week, as looking back on it, I did A LOT of activities. You can read the beginning of Week 5 here: Trekking Up Mt. Currie and Sightseeing Whistler – Week 5, but to simplify it, it included trail running, hiking Garibaldi Lake, and trekking 1000 metres up Mount Currie before losing the trail in the snow and turning home. Let me now take you to the next day from Mount Currie, or June 8, 2022, where I planned and completed my Gravel Goodness route.

The Gravel Goodness Route

Since arriving in Pemberton, I knew I wanted to do a full gravel ride on the Sea to Sky trail from Pemberton to Brandywine Falls.

When Becca and I were last in Whistler, back in August 2021, we rented a few bikes and completed the Whistler to Brandywine run along the Sea to Sky. With that prior knowledge, I knew I was only adding about 60-70km on the top of that ride by completing it from Pemberton instead.

I also knew that in 2021, our stats consisted of 50km of riding and about 1000 metres of climbing. On top of the line Cervelo gravel bikes. Hmm, this is starting to sound like a BIG route.

As always, I made the right choice, and decided to try this route out on June 8th. I’ll look back on that choice and forever wonder how and why I chose to try the route the day after Becca and I climbed Mount Currie.

Pemberton – Starting Out on the Sea to Sky

I have talked a lot about the Sea to Sky in older blogs, always mentioning how the Trail Builders should be praised for putting together this gravel route that spans massive distances up both the coast and mountain ranges of British Columbia. And even though I have talked about it much, there were multiple sections that I had no recon for – basically, I had no idea what to expect for about half of the route.

Even with no recon, I was still expecting quite the day of climbing, as Pemberton and Whistler rest at an elevation difference of about 450 metres.

BUT what I DID NOT expect was that the Sea to Sky trail would actually go to a point ABOVE Whistler before slowly winding down into the town. This is what they call a blindside. All of a sudden, it wasn’t just the simple climb into Whistler, it was probably an extra 200 metres of climbing in the first quarter of the ride that I wasn’t expecting.

Thankfully, it was a stunning riding. The trail is well maintained, and I only needed to Hike a Bike in a couple spots of steep gravel road. Most of the trail ran in mountain valleys, beside rushing rivers, or beside sparkling lakes. I could not get enough of it.

That being said, I was exhausted a quarter in, and decided to stop at Whistler for some food and water before continuing on to Brandywine. I was also way past my expected time of arrival in Whistler… guess I’ll have to speed it up a bit and make that time back!

Sea to Sky – Whistler to Brandywine Falls

Departing Whistler towards Brandywine Falls was a relief. Refueled, and a downhill pavement section for about 10 kilometres was a NICE treat before the trail resumed into the gravel goodness you know I love.

And thankfully, the whole way to Brandywine remained downhill! This is a must section for everyone touring Whistler. The trail here, on a non-cloudy day, rewards you of images of Whistler and Blackcomb mountain, the Black Tusk, and many more staple peaks in the area. The trail building maintains perfection, manipulating rough terrain in pursuit of a flat surface for your choice of biking or walking. It also crosses over multiple suspension bridges across the Cheakamus River.

I was able to cruise this downhill all the way into Brandywine, enjoying the switchbacks and views along the way. This is also where I realized my brakes needed an adjustment as with a little bit of over-confidence I almost skidded off of a switchback. The drop would’ve been about 2 metres onto jagged rocks, but hey, I bailed out in time! All good here!

Bear Safety Moment

Something stand-out also happened along this section of route. I took a break in a local park near a neighbourhood outside of Whistler. This neighbourhood probably had about 25 signs up all indicating “BEAR IN AREA”, and the bear’s droppings were definitely present on and around the trail.

While snacking on my very smelly beef jerky (sarcasm, don’t worry mom), I had a conversation with a local dog walker. The most intriguing thing I learned was that the locals to an area know where the Grizzly Bears are. No one cares as much about black bears, basically living with the ‘If I leave them alone, they will leave me alone, and don’t go near their young,’ mentality.

But she informed me that across the highway in Callaghan Valley an active grizzly bear was present. And what shocked me the most is that the locals, while wanting to raise awareness to not go to the area, were worried that this news would leak onto social media.

Grizzly Bears are an endangered species, and apparently when news gets out that a grizzly is around a tourist destination like Whistler, people will flock to that area for pictures or just to see the bear! This is DANGEROUS, not recommended whatsoever! Not only could the bear attack (much more likely scenario from a grizzly than a black bear), it increases the chances of it finding human food to eat, leading it to a certain death from the Park Rangers. Another death leading towards the human-led extinction of an animal. Not a good scenario, or feeling, for anyone involved.

Sea to Sky, Brandywine Falls to Pemberton

Alright, so I made it to Brandywine Falls and took yet another break. This ride was all about the breaks, I’ll tell you that. Make or break it, ha. Well, I chose both.

But mentally, at the turn around point, I started debating whether I would head back on the trail or the Sea to Sky highway that runs basically alongside the trail. The pavement is the easier option, but would I look back on that as a cop out? Probably.

So I started back on the Sea to Sky trail and made the climb back into Whistler.

This was a slog. I was approaching about 5 hours and 30 minutes of riding by the time I was in Whistler with 2 hours of stoppage time for breaks, food, and overall enjoyment of the scenery. I decided that instead of taking the trail back all the way to Pemberton, I would officially short-cut the route and take the highway back. Cop out or not, I was tired.

This probably saved me an extra hour of pedaling and it was already dinner time on top of that. I cruised the highway home over the next hour and stumbled in the door, ready for food, a shower, and an early bed time. This is one of those days that will stick with me forever.

The statistics at the end of the day for my Pemberton to Brandywine Falls Gravel Goodness ride showed:

• 2300 metres of climbing
• 123.5 kilometres of biking
• 8.5 hours total time
• 6.5 hours on the bike
• 5500 calories burned (rough estimate)

Phew, I officially need a rest day.

More Gravel Goodness – Soo River Road

On June 10th, Becca and I decided to go exploring. Each trip up the Sea to Sky highway afforded us a passing glance at the Soo River Road, a gravel Forest Service Road that looked primed and ready for our bikes.

We set out up the highway before turning onto the gravel and were rewarded quite quickly with beautiful views of the rushing Soo river along with cliff faces on the other side of the water. The gravel was smooth with not too much elevation, making for a nice leisurely pace as we strolled along the north side of the river.

After a while on the gravel road, we turned back and I convinced Becca to take a portion of the Sea to Sky trail known as Gord’s Garden to head back to Pemberton. This would be seen in the future as a mistake.

Gord’s Garden

I had taken Gord’s Garden on my Pemberton to Brandywine Falls and absolutely loved it. Rolling over rockslides beside the rushing river with tight corners and fun terrain. After we enter the trail, we begin heading down to Pemberton, the opposite direction from the way I had come on my first ride of Gord’s Garden.

We end up at the bottom of this huge hill in the middle of the forest, and come across four other bikers coming from the opposite way. They let us know that in about 500 metres from where we are standing down trail, a black bear was spotted on the left side of the trail.

GREAT. So we now have two options. Turn around and climb this massive hill that we just descended and add 10km onto the journey or take our chances with the bear ahead. I left the vote up to Becca.

Surprisingly, she chose the bear route.

Anyone 5 kilometres away would’ve heard Becca and I coming down that trail. Music loud, absolutely belting the wrong lyrics, we were trying to make sure the bear both heard us, and did not want anything to do with us. I thought there would be a chance that we would pass by, the bear already gone from the path, but I was wrong.

We hit about 500 metres ahead and heard this massive crashing sound in the forest off to our left. Brush and branches were swinging wildly as this bear ran full tilt away from the crazy noises he heard on the trail. And just like that, we were past the bear, still spinning our legs quickly to put distance between ourselves and the creature in the woods. Yet again, phew, we luckily avoided that confrontation!

We made it home again, thankful that no larger incident occurred. Another bike ride that will stick in our minds forever – the day we chose to take the bear route.

Entertaining Around Pemberton

Introducing Brandon, a friend from high school who moved out to Vancouver over the past 1.5 years. I’ve likely mentioned him in a few other blogs, such as the Vancouver’s Triple Crown Attempt – Destination Spotlight where I left his apartment in the morning on the hunt for the elusive Triple Crown. But chronologically, this is the first time we met up with him on this trip, as this was before the Triple Crown!

He drove up from Vancouver to spend the weekend with us, as he had never been north of Whistler.

We showed him around the breweries and restaurants in Pemberton, and did some hiking such as Nairn Falls and the Whistler Train Wreck. The Train Wreck is a bunch of old train cars that jumped the tracks at one point in the past, leading the locals to get their tractors and pull the cars into the woods off the side of the railway.

This old growth forest is a spot for people to hike and see the old damage that was done to the trains through both the accident and the movement of the cars. It’s also Whistler’s “Authorized Graffiti Area”, as all the trains sport layers and layers of paint graffiti on every accessible level.

After the hiking around the trains, we moved on to a few different breweries located in Function Junction outside of Whistler village for a couple of flights, and headed back to Pemberton. While a short stay for Brandon, we made the most of it and enjoyed exploring the area (and the drinks as remember, we are “social drinkers” now) with him.

Cheers! Thanks for reading everyone, hope Fall is treating you well.