BrandyWine Falls
The picture to the left is of Brandywine Falls. There are several little trails which
cover this park. The trail to the falls is quite tame and is only a short distance
at approximately 400m. The trail follows Brandywine Creek until the falls. The
viewpoint offers spectacular views of the falls and the creek below as it leads to
Daisy Lake. The named origin of Brandywine falls was when two men bet on the
height of the falls. One bet a bottle of wine, the other... you guessed it, a
bottle of brandy.
I have been to the falls several times. It's a nice diversion on your way to Whistler.
Each time you visit, the falls look slightly different. In the early spring, they
look the most powerful because of the runoff after the winter season. Most visitors
to Brandywine Park only visit the falls then make their way to Whistler. There
are actually a few other interesting things at this park. I chose to do the 8km walk to
the suspension bridge on the Cheakamus River.
In the early spring ('97), after checking out the falls, I decided to explore a little. I had
never taken the trail to the suspension bridge so I thought about seeing where it led. Taking
the trail in reverse is a little difficult as it is not well marked for that direction. While
at the tracks on the edge of a rocky embankment, a train decided to grace my presence. Of course
I figured it would be an ideal photo op. I did get the picture of the train as you see. However,
when getting away from the tracks I slipped on the rocky embankment and screwed up my ankle.
That put a dent in the hiking for a good six weeks. Sure glad the photo turned out. I guess
I should've used the telephoto lens to take that shot.. (grin).
I decided to head to the suspension bridge one of the times I was there in the summer (Aug 97).
It definitely was an interesting walk. It began with a quick 100m climb to a very level point above
the rest of the park. This is actually a cross country skiing trail. The walk wasn't all that long
(3 km) but it seemed much longer. The trail was very dry and the foilage had mostly dried up or
died. As a result there was not much shelter from the sun. Felt kinda like a desert. As I made
my way along the trail, I came across several lily ponds (the only life up there).
Once the walk along the cross country ski trail ended there was a small dropoff to a gravel road
near McGuire Station. After a short walk I was finally under the cover of forest. What a relief that
was too! I had brought two bottles of water with me and they were almost empty.
After a short walk in
the forest I could finally hear the river. The coolness from the river was very refeshing. The
first chance I had, I made my way down to the river to fill the bottles.
Continuing along the trail eventually led me to the suspension bridge. Cool bridge but fairly small.
I relaxed for a bit near the bridge and took some shots of the neighboring area. I also watched some
people kayaking on the river as well.
On my way back to the trailhead I decided to take the other route. This route was far better
compared to the first route. It was alot more up and down and was rockier. This made it far more
interesting to hike. Not only was it more interesting, but it was also under the cover of
forest for the most part. Besides, there was no way I wanted to go back the way I came. (grin).
On my way back I could get glimpses of Swim lake. A neat lake as it seems inset from the rest of the land.
After passing the lake I eventually found the railroad tracks (no trains this time) and followed it to
the same trail which takes you to the falls.
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