A High Note Pivot

 

The art of the pivot is something I am embracing more and more in my life. Instead of seeing the situation that is "not going as planned" as a bad thing, I try to see it as an opportunity for a new plan - possibly even a better plan. 

This is a big help in dealing with disappointments; because let's face it, "not going as planned" happens quite frequently. And of course if we are talking about hiking, the factor that is most likely to wreck any plan is weather. 

And so it was last weekend, when our aspirations of seeing Garibaldi Lake went belly up after the forecast went from "maybe it will be okay" to "hell no." It can be hard to make the pivot when you've struggled and invested in getting competitive permits and also payed for a place to stay in the incredibly overpriced tourist town of Whistler BC.

In fact, because the Whistler RV Park (the only place we could afford) does not offer any sort of refund for your first night's stay, our pivot was going to have to include still going there. There has to be a good day hike close by that would still make the trip to Canada worth it, right? 

Was there ever! Yes, it involved spending even more money because it was right in Whistler and required a lift ticket...but "when in Rome" as they say.   

Thankfully the forecast for Sunday looked far better than Friday/Saturday (when we had our defunct permit) so we were hopeful to maybe stay dry and get to see the views instead of just clouds. 

Heidi taking pics of clouds. Wah wah.

 

The Cloudraker Sky Bridge was super cool though

And not at all scary, IMO

 

Okay, sometimes there's no avoiding disappointment; though honestly it was very minimal. The mountains played peek-a-boo all day, and it was exciting to have them reveal themselves slowly...kind of like a burlesque show where you are wondering if a nipple is going to finally pop out. 

Sadly, we never got the full monty from most the peaks, but it was still an extremely beautiful day. I may even argue that Cheakamus Lake is as vibrant a blue as Garibaldi - but I do hope that someday I'll know for sure. My "things to know" list about the High Note Trail is below if you're thinking about making the comparison yourself. Happy "only slightly disappointing" trails! 

 

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HIGH NOTE:

1) As I mentioned, you need the $75 Summer Alpine Experience Pass. There is no cheaper option; but the good news is this gets you unlimited access to all the lifts, including the Peak to Peak. You can buy it online, but you still need to pick up the ticket right there at the Whistler Gondola, so I'm not sure if it saves you that much time. (Though there is a "paid in advance" window, so it might. For us it didn't, as the line was short for any of the windows.) 

Nothing says Whistler like this guy!

2) You need to take the gondola up 20 minutes to the Roundhouse Lodge, and then hike down a bit to the other lift which takes you to the tippy top. The second lift does not open though until 11 am, so we had some time to kill.

Second lift (Peak Express) is short, but kind of thrilling! No kids under a certain height though

We decided to take the Peak to Peak over to Blackcomb Mountain and do the short one mile Alpine Walk Trail. I'm glad we did, because we would have been too pooped if we waited to do it until after doing the High Note. And if I was going to pay $75, you know I HAD to do the Peak to Peak Gondola! It was really amazing and Sammie loved the glass bottom. (See video of the day on my YouTube.) 

3) The High Note Hike is stated as 6.4 miles with 2.5 K in elevation. There are shorter or longer variations you can do though, like the "Half Note" or the "Musical Bumps"

4) There is a little section (after you pass the turn off for the shorter Half Note) I had read about that sounded sketchy, and it probably was at some point. But now it has "reinforcements" and isn't scary at all. 

5) There is a small section near the end where AllTrails wants to take you where you shouldn't be going. There's a big sign at that intersection that is trying to make sure you don't take this stupid detour...we ignored it of course. ;) We made it down okay, but it was dumb. Trust the sign.

Smile! This is marmot central...we must have seen at least 20

6) You know I love ending a hike at a bar, and the Umbrella Bar at the Roundhouse Lodge did not disappoint! (Except for the prices...ugh) There were signs saying it closed at 4:45 pm, but thankfully we walked up there to check it out anyway and found it's open later on the weekends. 

7) You should stop to check out Brandywine Falls which is right off the Hwy near Whistler. It's less than a mile round trip, but most importantly it's FREE PARKING! A miracle! ;)