Sea to Sky

Where to start…Friday took me from Commercial drive to Jeff and Linda's place here in Burnaby. We spent a large portion of the of the next morning eating a relaxing breakfast and packing everything but the kitchen sink for our camping/party experience, which is awesome when the weather can turn on you in a second out here.

Between the two of them Jeff and Linda provided for me in terms of camping gear and warm clothes. We had a visitor to provide some smokeables and our other trip mate, Jenny arrived and we set out.

We took the 99 – a twisty, “sea to sky” highway, which is just unbelievably gorgeous. Passing Bowen Island, The Chief and Shannon Falls were some highlights.

We stopped for last minute items and Wal Mart in Squamish provided me some disposable dancing shoes, hot dogs and sugary snacks. We also made a pit stop in Whistler for a burger and some beer. Whistler is so strange…absolutely gorgeous, but really touristy. All the buildings in Whistler Village are designed like Sesame Street meets chalet, and I found them really tacky in the summertime heat. People hustled and bustled, getting groceries for the long weekend, and drunken frat boys turned boarders, literally hung off of hotel balconies.

The site for the party was north of central Whistler and we arrived around 6pm ish. It looked like a very small turnout…just a handful of cars and people. After feeling it out and asking some questions, it was determined that the party was moving to another location. We ended up following some of the organizers toward the meeting spot in Function Junction to find out the new plan. We quickly realized that being around for this part of the party was of no interest to us, so we drove up to D’arcy to Rob’s place, J+L’s close friend.

I’m tired now, so a string of consciousness follows…

Hiking, flooded rivers, bear talk, campfires, beer, hot dogs, sweat lodge, pull out couch, full moon, valley, creek, cuts, bruises, bites, fallen logs, thistles, walking sticks, horsetail, gardens, wild strawberries, washing a mountain of dishes, bee in the toilet…

We left Rob’s place around 5ish to head to the new location for the “Great Outdoors” party. Once there, we set up camp after much debate about our rocky choices. Jeff heated up our dinner and shortly afterward we headed for the stages.

Basically the night was super wicked; the DJ’s in Whistler are awesome. Loads of dirty, dirty breaks, MIA and Bjork remixes tech house and other such danceable-ness. We partied it up and I met some of the video artists from the area. As morning approached and I, not having gotten high, was feeling like a bit of a wreck. Bunked with Rob in his 4x4. A number of hours later, we packed up and went to town for breakfast. Looking out on Black Tusk, the 4 of us sipped coffee and tried desperately to keep it together. Fond farewells and we were back on the 99 home.


Back here in Burnaby, I showered for about 1/2 hour, feeling exceptionally dirty. Cleaned up, we all sit here vegging in our burnt out-ness. I’ll be headed to Courtney, with possibly no stop in Victoria before the wedding.