Vancouver and Whistler Canada

So my wife and I decided to take a trip to Canada, since I had never been and it had been about 15 years for her. We had a good time, it is a very picturesque, clean, and diverse place. I planned most of the trip through trip advisor, and since we rented a car we were able to travel to various locations outside the city.

Once we got in, we made the trip up the sea-to-sky highway to Whistler. The drive is about 1.5 hours but we stopped off at various scenic points along the way including Shannon Falls, Tantalus Viewpoint, and Brandywine Falls. We weren't that impressed, but this is after coming back from a trip to Yosemite when the falls were roaring.

Tantalus lookout, Sea to sky highway

We only spent one day in Whistler, so we took the Gondola up to hike on Whistler and Blackcomb Mountain. It turned out to be a great day, and we even spotted a bear on the way up. We spent the day hiking both mountains and took the Peak 2 peak gondola that took us from mountain to mountain. Both mountains had great views of Whistler Villiage and of the snow-capped mountain backdrops.

Whistler Mountain, Canada


We drove back to Vancouver that evening and spent 3 days there. The Japadog cart was right outside our hotel, and we ended up eating there twice because we wanted to try all the stuff on the menu. I had to try their Yakisoba dog, and we both agreed that the best was their bratwurst with Japanese radish, green onions and soy sauce.




The first full day we made two trips to Stanley Park, one in the morning and one in the evening. The morning trip was to scout out all the locations that I wanted to come back for evening photos. I must say, Stanley park is huge, and even with our car it took a while to make a loop around the outskirts of the park. We ended up going back around sunset and were able to get some pretty nice pictures.


3rd beach sunset, Stanley Park

Vancouver skyline from Stanley Park


Lions gate Bridge from Stanley Park

The next day we went to Lynn Canyon Park and Grouse Mountain. I found Lynn Canyon park through trip advisor, and its known as the free version of Capilano. Lynn Canyon park was nice, very peaceful with hiking trails along the stream and through the trees.


Jaime on the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge

Grouse Mountain was more touristy, but I wanted to get a shot of the city in the evening, so we ended up staying up there from 12pm - 9pm. While it was a loooooooong day, we did get a chance to go ziplining, which took a good chunk of the day.

Ziplining on Grouse Mountain


View of city from Grouse Mountain

As it got dark, all of the flies and nats came out. We were camped out on the side of the mountain for about an hour waiting for the sun to go down. I look over at Jaime and she has her Ipod on, and her jacket over her head protecting herself from the bugs. I actually wanted to stay longer until it got a little darker, but it was getting cold and we were both ready to go.

We went to Granville island the last day and visited the market and shops before catching our flight back home. Overall it was a great trip. We would definitely love to go back to other parts of Canada to see other natual landscapes and national parks. We will put it on our "places to go" list.

Brandon Yoshizawa
B.A.Y | photography
Landscape and Wildlife photography
http://bayphotography.smugmug.com/