Day: August 12, 2025

Olympic Biathlon facility

Tucked up on a hill away from everything else is a gun range used to practice one’s Biathlon skills in the summer. Here is a board explaining how a Biathlon works:

So given the lack of snow, athletes train by using skis on wheels. There is a fairly level oval paved loop immediately behind the gun range that the athletes use their ski poles to propel themselves around. When they get to their assigned station at the shooting range they stop, lay their ski poles down and quickly pivot their rifle (a .22 caliber gun with certain weight specifications, containing a 5-round clip) which they have been carrying on their back. They then shoot at 5 white targets which will each change to black when they hit them. Simple, right? Probably not, which is why they constantly train to hone their skills, and it IS an Olympic sport so it certainly isn’t a cakewalk!

Here is the gun range, seen from a distance.

You’ll get a closer look in a moment.

I spoke with a young man working in the small shed to the immediate right of the range as seen in the photo. I asked if he was operating the range and he said no, it is automated. He was cleaning and repairing rifles. Later in the day I could pay to try the shooting part if I wanted to (and could demonstrate I wouldn’t be a threat to myself or others). I told I would pass on that offer, but thanked him anyway. There were a few people, male and female, making laps on their roller skis, some were pobably training, others may have just been doing it for exercise. I imagine it alone is a pretty good workout.

I stood and watched for a while and it soon became clear that one young woman and three young men were clearly here to train.

I didn’t want to take pictures while they were making laps but I did take a few while they were focused on shooting.

When he was done shooting and was talking with his buddy I did engage the guy in the red shirt in a brief conversation. I didn’t bother the young woman who seemed to be getting pointers from someone.

The guy in red has been shooting for ten years. I didn’t ask how old he is but he appeared to be late teens or early 20’s. His shirt indicated he is part of Team Canada, but I don’t know if he is a candidate if he can prove himself or if he is already on the team.

Here is a better look at what they are shooting at:

He was shooting at target 14, below the right-most two Olympic rings. Looks like he hit 2 out of 5 shots.

Keep in mind, he is doing this now in pleasant temperatures, wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Conditions and attire when they are competing would be VERY different.

I thanked him for his time and for discussing things with me and wished him good luck. Later, as I was driving away from the Park I saw his buddy “skating” out on the main road, down a rather steep hill!

2010 Winter Olympic Park

Before getting to the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort in Whistler I took a turnoff to drive back to the Olympic Park, built for the 2010 Winter Olympics which were held here in British Columbia. It isn’t just a dormant facility sitting here rotting. Many of the facilities are actively being used, even in the summer.

First a map of the general layout:

Next, a map of the campgrounds on site, and other details.

After I took that second photo I noticed something written off to the side (not in the photo)

Whoa! – that middle item really got my attention. Let’s have another look at that map but we’ll zoom in a bit:

Perimeter around the remote campground – check.

Perimeter around the primary RV sites and kid’s playground – double check.

Here is a door I found behind the Day Lodge (which contains a cafeteria, gift shop, washrooms and showers for the campers, and various support facilities for running the Park).

PLEASE remember to close & lock the door behind you!!

And here is a look at the Day Lodge itself:

The left side is the front entrance, the right side is the cafeteria and off camera to the left is the gift shop.

Also around back was this item promoting a nearby business. In the US we would call this a bobsled, but here in Canada it is a bobsleigh. And no, I didn’t get in it (after my experience in New Mexico where I got in a life size replica of an IndyCar outside a racing museum and for a few tense moments, couldn’t get out).

This is here to promote the Whistler Sliding Centre. That facility is located high on the mountain above the ski area, further up the road, but unfortunately the Sliding Centre wasn’t open the day I was here.

When my youngest brother and his family lived in Salt Lake City they took me to a similar Olympic Center up in Park City, where the 2002 Winter Olympics were held. We watched sleds some roaring down the track (outfitted for summer use). When they launched one from the top a voice on the loudspeakers would announce “Bob on track !” so those of us down below could get our cameras ready.

People can pay to ride with an experienced “driver” but we didn’t do that in Utah and I wouldn’t have here even if the facility had been open on Mondays.

Next I’ll show you what was happening at the Biathlon facility elsewhere on the property.

Please don’t pet the bears

Monday I had scheduled a daytrip up to Whistler ski resort, northeast of Vancouver. I left Maple Ridge early in the morning so I could bypass the city westward on the Trans Canada Highway before morning rush hour.

Before I got to the road going up the mountain to Whistler I went through the coastal town of Squamish. It is the English name of an indigenous tribe on whose land Whistler resort, and many other towns, sits (their land consists of 2,600 square miles (NOT kilometers)). Most signs carry both the English and Indigenous spellings.

Those numbers are kilometers, not miles, by the way. Things up here are almost always expressed in metric measurements but when I discuss them on my blog I generally use the US system since that is what many of my followers can relate to.

As I approached the town I could see a huge rock formation right by the highway in the distance:

Here is a photo of the rockface looking in right next to the formation (but from the other side of the highway):

And here is another photo which includes the parking lot below the formation. As you might guess, it is VERY popular with rock climbers, and there is a special parking area right below it for their vehicles, which are loaded with their climbing gear.

I didn’t see any climbers on the face either going by in the morning or later in the day as I was heading back to Maple Ridge, but I could see people resting in the afternoon from having climbed earlier in the day when it was cooler and without the sun beating on the face of the formation.

After taking photos here in the morning I continued on up the mountain towards Whistler.

Followed immediately by:

Many of you have perhaps seen a sign like this in your travels (even in the mountains and near the coast in North Carolina) and I think most people assume it only applies to black bears. Well, in places like Yellowstone National Park in the US and most places here in Canada, it also applies to another type of bear.

I was first warned about grizzly bears when I was at the north end of Vancouver Island earlier in my trip. Evidently young males from the mainland swim over to VI in search of new turf and perhaps a place to raise a family. They must have convinced some female grizzlies to tag along, as the grizzly bear population on the island is growing. I didn’t see any, but there were plenty of signs warning about them.

And my nephew, Sam, will be pleased to know that every day that I am near the woods and out of my car I am packing bear spray:

When I visited my brother and sister-in-law, and their son Sam, in Wyoming back in 2021, Sam invited me to the place where he worked, just outside of town. In the hills above the complex where he worked there are petroglyphs on the rock walls. When I got there he asked “where’s your bear spray?” I replied “in my backpack”. He told me “No, when you need bear spray you need it RIGHT NOW”. It comes with a carrying case which you can strap onto your belt. It should be worn at all times when you are in a place which may also be inhabited by bears.

I never needed the can I bought in Wyoming and while it may still work, the expiration date has passed. I still have it but I bought two new cans for this trip and wear one of them at all times when I am out of my car.

My stay in the Vancouver area

I had reserved four nights near Vancouver, hoping to explore the city and the many beautiful sites I’ve heard so much about. My visit got off on the wrong foot, as I documented in a previous post, with an Airbnb venue problem. That plus the fact that I hadn’t budgeted nearly enough time, plus the fact that the public transportation into the city wasn’t to my liking, plus the fact that I’ve read Vancouver is being overrun with tourists (and is already a very busy city), plus other factors, led me to ignore the city on this visit altogether!! I will come back better prepared at the end of this trip, especially since I now know I will be cutting back in other areas of the country due to air quality issues, etc. I would rather take the time to do better planning and give Vancouver the attention it deserves.

I already explained my disagreement with the Surrey Visitor Centre. Here is proof of the exorbitant parking fee I had to pay just to go in the building and find that they weren’t even there any more. I became even more upset this morning when I saw this photo as I was reviewing photos to post and saw that the city even added TAX to the parking fee!!

Fortunately I was easily distracted by something I had seen on my way there. My mind is always distracted by new “shiny objects,” and this one was indeed shiny.

THAT is a spiffy new Ford F-650 Crew Cab pickup truck, outfitted with a removeable camper called Bigfoot. I saw it parked in front of a house as I was driving on a city street, and after I passed it I turned around to go back and get a photo. I was alarmed when I saw it pulling out of where it had been parked and was prepared to pursue it (within reason). Fortunately the driver was only moving it across the street so he could get another vehicle out of his driveway.

My comparatively tiny Toyota Camry parked in front of it:

I spent a few minutes speaking with the owner, who proudly proclaimed the truck is one of only two in the area (camper sold separately). There was a sign in the back window indicating the owner is evidently in the septic system cleaning business, and clearly business is very good! Ironically (and I mean that in the very literal sense of the word) he was wearing a UNC Tarheels t-shirt! I pointed to it and asked if he had gone to school there (he was probably in his late 20’s). He replied no, he had bought it at local thrift shop for just a few bucks.

Those of you who know me are keenly aware of my obsession with buying unusual new t-shirts for only a few bucks at one of my favorite chain stores in the Mid-Atlantic states, so between the cool truck and the t-shirt story it helped make my day and get my mind off the goofy parking fee.

Another thing that impressed me during my brief stay near Vancouver were it’s many bridges. I will show you three of the ones I used personally. Most of these photos I found on the internet. Believe me I tried to find places where I could take my own photos but that quickly became a huge waste of time.

The first one I crossed was the Pattullo Bridge. As I crossed the old bridge I could see the ongoing construction of a much larger new bridge right next to it. For this one I have to resort to internet photos:

The old bridge, on the left, still in use:

(Photo credit: readsitenews.com)

You can see them beginning to build the concrete superstructure supports in the center of the photo above. They are much further along now than when that photo was taken.

The new bridge. The photo below is pretty much how it looked the day I drove over the old bridge:

(Photo credit: TI Corp)

And to prove my point about it being a waste of time trying to take my own photos, I went out of my way to go to a place called Bridgeview Park. This was all I got for that effort:

I tried.

Another bridge I crossed several times while I was in the area is the Port Mann bridge. Perseverance paid off as I was finally able to find a nearby city street where I could get a good photo of it:

And finally, the Golden Ears Bridge, which I probably crossed at least a dozen time while I was staying in Maple Ridge.

(Photo credit: hgcacoustics.com)

I’ve tried to enlarge that photo but don’t seem to be able to. I don’t know why it was so difficult to find a photo of this beautiful bridge. I want to get this post finished but will try to find a better photo later and replace the one above.

First day on the mainland

Let’s see, where was I ? Oh yes, the ferry had just taken me to the north side of Vancouver. It was late morning and I wanted to get around the city before traffic increased so I just got on the Trans Canada Highway and headed east towards the suburb on the east side where my Airbnb for 4 nights was reserved.

The suburb is called Surrey and on the maps it looked like a nice area and close to public transportation. When I mentioned to my Airbnb hosts in Campbell River that I was lucky to be able to snag a spot on an early morning ferry at the last minute because I needed to get to Surrey to find my Airbnb, my hostess exclaimed “Oh no, you don’t want to stay in Surrey!!” Evidently Surrey has a very bad reputation for gang violence, among other unsavory things. Before I went to bed I reread the listing and reviews that the family had. The photo looked very nice – a new house on a nice residential street. The reviews were all favorable about how charming the family that lived there was and how the mother often included the Airbnb guests in family meals. No mention of gangs or cars being vandalized or broken into. I decided to wait and have a look for myself before jumping to conclusions.

I first stopped at the Visitor Centre in Surrey. Well, I went to where Google Maps said it was. A business complex in which I had to pay to park. I have never had to pay to park at a visitor center!!

I went in the lobby and didn’t see the Visitor Centre listed in Suite 100. I called the number in the Google listing and a man answered, saying simply “hello?”. I asked if this was the Visitor Centre and he replied, “yes, that is the number you called”. I asked “Where are you? I am standing in the lobby of the building you are supposed to be in”. He said “Oh, we closed that location and now everything is virtual”. I asked “How am I supposed to get maps of the area?” He paused, like I was speaking Martian, and said “Maps?” I said “Yes, maps! I am a VISITOR that JUST ARRIVED IN TOWN and I need MAPS to show me where the various things I want to do are so I can organize my days here”. He hung up on me.

So I went back to my car and drove to where my Airbnb was, after having wasted at least 45 minutes going out of my way.

I found the house in a rather scruffy neighborhood and it looked NOTHING LIKE the photos in the listing. Oh, it was the same house, but it was clearly much older than when the photo was taken and the yard and shrubs in the front yard were WAY overgrown and untrimmed. The neighborhood looked sketchy and I was uncomfortable being there. So I left, drove to a safe location, cancelled the reservation and sent a message to the host explaining why I had done so.

I got on Airbnb and after some searching, and being turned down by the first host I sent a request to, found a very nice place in a suburb even further east, called Maple Ridge. I was much happier there and don’t regret my choice one iota.

I rely very heavily on guest reviews, and maybe I’m too uppity, but I can’t believe so many people stayed there and never mentioned the condition of the house or the neighborhood. The family may have been very nice, but….

It was almost 6 by the time I got settled in the new place and I just stayed put and went to bed early. And my host there also knew of the reputation Surrey has.