Thursday, July 8, 2010

Day 19: A 21st Birthday Along the Sea to Sky Highway



It was another gorgeous day out. There wasn’t a single cloud to be seen, and we already knew how we were spending the day. It was Martina’s 21st birthday, and it could not have been prettier out. Martina happily made her first adult beverage purchase at a government owned liquor store, and we headed to Porteau Cove, one of the many harbors on the strait. Turquoise seawater licked at the shoreline of grey pebbles and the forested mountains looked a hazy blue in the distance. It was the first day without a hectic schedule, and we were looking forward to lying on the beach with no plans but to relax. It seemed this was the plan for plenty of other campers as we noticed the narrow beaches and rocky inlets become dotted with people young and old.





After a few hours of relaxing in the sun, we packed up and returned to our favorite scenic inlet we discovered in Lion’s Bay the day before. The other four groups of beach-goers on the tiny beach each had a black lab with them, and looked at us as if wondering where our canine companion was. Within the hour, another three dogs had joined the four labs and we watched as they endlessly retrieved sticks thrown into the water. One stick would often return with two or three mouths attached to it; the high spirits and energy of the dogs just about got us to jump in and help fetch too. After having soaked up almost an entire day of sun, we grew brave, and jumped into the chilly glacier seawater. It was cold enough to knock the air out of our lungs for a second but it felt wonderfully refreshing.



We left the beach and drove to Shannon Falls Provincial Park to hike. This beautiful waterfall reminded us of Multnomah Falls, and felt that it was quite a bit grander. The water was roaring down a huge granite rock wall and flowed toward Howe Sound. There was an absolutely perfect rainbow arched over the falls: unfortunately though, no pot of gold. Right past these falls is the famous Stawamus Chief, a huge granite rock face that is very popular with rock climbers. We read a plaque that said there are over 300 climbing routes across it! The couple climbers we saw on the rocks looked like little neon ants – what an adrenaline rush that must be to climb!




We sat down outside for dinner at Boston’s Pizza and enjoyed the last bit of the setting sun and the last couple hours of Martina’s birthday.

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