Britannia Mine Museum

On our way out of Whistler, we stopped at the Britannia Mine Museum.  This was a really cool place where we got to ride a car down into a (shallow) part of the mine.  Riding this car and going into the pitch black dark underground was a pretty big step for me.  I still can't believe that I did it.  We also were able to see all of the other buildings and structures that were used in the operation.  The kids enjoyed the onsite playground and Charlie and Andy did some gold panning.  This is definitely a place we would stop again!  We will have to, since I waited five months to document this part of the trip and don't clearly remember things that I would have said.  :)

The Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Center

While we were in Whistler we decided to visit the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Center.  We all had a lot of fun.

I already posted pictures of the boys admiring the bear skin and cougar skin that were there.  We did a lot of other things there too!

We started by watching one of the employees perform a traditional song.  Ephram was completely entranced.  Afterward we watched a movie about the Squamish and Lil'wat people.  It was really interesting to learn some of the stories about the land that we were visiting.

One of the boys' favorite parts was the interactive section... where they had traditional outfits that the kids could wear and lots of drums to try.  Both Ephram and Charlie are relatively musical and particularly enjoy making noise.  So we were here for quite awhile.

After looking at some of the exhibits we moved to the outside area, where a totem pole was drying after recently being carved.  Ephram and Charlie were really excited about this as well.

Then, after Charlie and I made cedar bracelets, we took a little nature walk in the wooded area behind the cultural center.

We spent some time exploring the other buildings outside of the cultural center and then headed on the trail back to our condo.

We had such a great time in Whistler, and knew that we would miss it once we were gone.  We will definitely go back... soon!

The Long and Winding Trail

Speaking of our hike to Alta Lake, it was beautiful.
This was our last hike of the trip and it took us a couple of hours.
It was a beautiful day and a great way to spend our last afternoon in Whistler!

A Bear Tale

Whistler is known for many things, among them a large population of black bears.
We saw a couple sitting by the highway as we drove into town.
And saw them in the distance during most of our trips.

The village is also littered with cute bear statues.
The boys had a ton of fun with them.

Then there was the bear skin in the cultural center.
More realistic, yet still very appealing to the boys.

None of this prepared the boys for an actual bear encounter.
Which did happen, on a beautiful hike to Alta Lake.

Alta Lake was a long hike, but it didn't take long for us to see the bear.
It was about 20 feet past the trail head.
And only about 10 feet off the trail.
It was sitting there eating grass and flowers from the ground.
Andy was wearing Ephram in a pack, Charlie was in the middle, and I was in the back.
Andy quietly called back "Bear on the trail."
And before I could register what he'd said, he'd taken off.
Then I saw Charlie.
So curious about the cute bear picking flowers on the side of the trail.
A potential new friend to Charlie.

He started to step towards it and was attempting to make eye contact.
I didn't quite know what to do.
I knew that I didn't want my son to go closer to any bear, no matter how small or cute he was.
I also knew that I couldn't exactly stop and have a conversation about this at that moment.
And, I certainly wanted to be as quiet and calm as possible.
So I gently pulled his hand and led him as calmly as I could away from that bear.

When I felt we'd gone far enough, (and caught up to Andy,) I stopped to explain that bears are powerful animals.
This was good because it was not the last bear we saw that day.
But it was the last one that Charlie tried to make friends with.

Good thing we didn't see a mountain lion.