Squamish, British Columbia, CanadaSquamish – Sept 4, 2010
Beautiful sea to sky HighwayThis street is famous for its beautiful views on Howe Sound and the islands as well as the mountains lining the inlet. And it is a truly spectacular trip… good thing there is not a lot of co-piloting work to do… I was too busy to look and to take pictures J
Porteau Cove PPOk so we may were not thinking to clearly, and thought that on a Friday on a long weekend we get a camping spot at Porteau Cove…. All full – like this provincial park always is, but still we had time and could stop and enjoy that breathtaking view.
What is really unique is the ferry dock – for emergencies only – but super when you are a tourist and you want to walk out and have a breathtaking view up and down Howe Sound.
And yes it is extremely windy here!!!
The InukshukWe needed to stop at the Visitor info, not only to pick up more "papers" and info, but mostly to touch the first huge Inukshuk.
And here in Squamish:
- Or let's say in the Howe Sound: Captain George Vancouver anchored in 1972
- Over 16 Squamish villages were once along the river
- And the word Squamish is Salish and means 'mother of the winds’ – no wonder it is so windy
- It is today the outdoor recreation capital of Canada
- And it is right in the middle between Vancouver and Whistler: 60 km each direction
The green waters and the Stawamus ChiefIn case you don’t know what Squamish is famous for: then you have never seen the green waters and the most amazing mountain: the Stawamus chief: a nearly solid rock wall overlooking Howe Sound… this is really a not to miss: because you stand in front of the Grand Wall
And the best view you have from the Squamish Spit – so we parked there and enjoyed the view and the wind: and where is wind there are kite surfers, so we had fun watching them too…
And where there is a Marina we have to check it out…
Why is the Stawamus Chief so special?
- It is not a mountain it is a monolith and when you see this huge one you can understand that it is the 2nd largest granite monolith on earth
- And what is a monolith: it’s a Greek word: mono = one and lithos = stone. Which means it is one single massive rock – often they talk about island mountains to describe an isolated hill or lone mountain
- Stawamus Chief it towers 700m over the Howe Sound and they say 95 Mill years old
- The First Nations consider it a place of spiritual significance: calling it Siam = chief
Finding a campsite on the long weekendSo the only way to camp is on a private not so preferred campground… because everything else is booked out…. But then all what we need is a place to park
West Coast Railway Heritage ParkPaul loves trains and here they have a lot of them and so we explore this super cool museum:
- You enter via the old Squamish Train station
- we went through a beautiful restored old carriage
- we found and discovered the unrestored ones
- climbed on snow plow seat in drivers seats
- we’re sitting on the wheels and axles
- got invited to settle in the Great Canadian country after travelling with Canada’s railway
Shannon FallsYou have to stop here: I mean it is the 3rd highest waterfall in BC, water falling 335 m over rocks. Named after William Shannon who settled here in 1889.
This is one beautiful waterfall – and what I like best you can climb very close to it and then the falls look even better. When climbing around you also get a cool view on the mountains around the inlet. So after a lot of climbing around – it was finally time to the next adventure.
Britannia Mining MuseumIf you drive up the sea to sky Hwy you can’t miss this huge buildings and so we discovered here too:
- a huge mining truck
- drove through the underground and discovered how they were mining in the good old days
- saw the old mining equipment like the first drills
- but also the moving toilet for the miners: which Paul had to try out
- were glad we had a guide because you can get lost
- saw a lot of old historic machinery: some quite rusty
- we tried to pan for gold (not very successful: we are still both working)
- went inside the impressive Mill 3 building: where ore was processed – you can only wonder how they did it
- it was operating for 70 years
- on it’s high: 60.000 people lived and worked here
- they did pioneering work on ore and it’s extraction: the first flotation machine in North America was installed here in 1912
- During its peak it was the largest copper mine in the British empire
- It was mainly a copper main, but they also found some gold and silver
- Acid rock mining is a natural process: rain and oxygen reacted with the minerals dissolving metals and forming sulphuric acid
- They dug 210 km of tunnels to get a larger surface for the chemical reaction… all going and polluting Howe Sound
- Everyone who lived in Brittanie worked in the mine
- On March 22, 1915 Canada’s 2nd worst landslide happened here – killing 56 people
- In 1921 a fire in Mill 2 destroyed the ore processing plant
- Also in 1921 a dam broke up on the Britannia river destroying 50 houses , killing 36 and injuring 15 people
- Over 50 nationalities worked here
- In 1956 the railway came up and in 1958 the highway – before everyone came and went by steamship
- Mill 3 was built in 1923 and a concentrator – it was a gravity fed mill for bulk froth flotation
- The mine closed in 1974 and is since 2007 a museum and a national historic site
2025-05-22