Mud and Hops: A Love Story
Can you hear it? Behind the rocks and through the trees? The piercing call of the Western Hoary Marmot.
Or maybe those are just my screams of laughter and excitement echoing from an amazing weekend in Whistler for the Whistler Village Beer Festival.
FUN FACT: Did you know that Whistler got it’s name because of the Western Hoary Marmot? It’s true. The early settlers around Alta Lake decided to name the area after the “whistle pig” due to the shrill whistling sound it made when frightened.
A Trip Within A Trip? That’s A Trip!
Firstly I need to thank to Gibbon’s Whistler and the Aava Hotel for hosting us. While I love visiting Whistler, coming up to consume copious amounts of delicious beer and then having to drive 2 1/2 hours home is not a good mix. Thankfully the fine folks mentioned above helped us out and found us a place to rest our heads.
With the accommodations locked in and the car fully charged, Mrs. Thirsty Explorer and I began our trek up to the beautiful mountain town.
The drive to Whistler is one of the most epic in the world and living so close it’s easy to take it for granted. Where else can you drive through snowcapped mountains while still having views of islands and ocean fed bodies of water? Having this majestic landscape in your backyard is truly amazing. To anybody that’s never done the drive up the Sea To Sky Highway, it’s almost worth the trip to Whistler on it’s own.
There are so many spots along the way that you could make a full weekend trip out of just the drive from North Vancouver to Whistler. There are multiple view points overlooking the water and mountains, hikes along the way like Tunnel Bluffs & Brunswick Mountain, golfing in Furry Creek, the waterfall at Shannon Falls, the Sea To Sky gondola…. and the list goes on. Still one of my favorites parts of the drive is rolling in to Squamish and seeing the Chief, in all it’s glory, towering over you while you try to spot tiny ant sized climbers scaling the massive walls. It’s a beauty to behold.
Squamish also has a great beer scene with Backcountry Brewing, A-Frame Brewing and Howe Sound (the OG) all serving up delectable drinks. There are also a couple new breweries opening soon that will be serving the growing community; Boltage Brewing (aiming for a 2023 opening) and House of Lager (sister brewery to House of Funk in North Vancouver).
But this time, the Mrs. and I were heading straight to Whistler. See you next time, Squamish!
Will We Get In Trouble For Swinging?
The 2 1/2 hour drive in to Whistler got our bellies growling so we decided to make a pit stop at Whistler Brewing for some bites and a pint of their famous Chestnut Ale.
The beer is delicious and the tasting room gives you cabin vibes that put you right in the mood for the mountains. While this is all great, what really keeps me coming back is Hugues. He’s the hilariously friendly French-Canadian who seems to run the whole show on the tasting room side. Although I don’t know his actual title, I personally consider him the brand ambassador for Whistler Brewing. We did a tour of the brewery a couple years ago and Hugues was a comedian and a scholar of all things beer and brewing. He had our undivided attention the entire time. He should do a TED Talk. I’m not sure what the topic would be but I’d definitely listen attentively.
With our whistles wet and our bellies full we headed to Whistler Village to check in to the hotel.
The Aava Hotel is conveniently located about 10 minutes from the ski lifts and 2 minutes from the centre of Whistler Village. They have a bike tuning station, a heated pool & hot tub, underground parking (with Tesla chargers, yipee!) but most noteworthy are the hanging pod chairs in their lobby. They’re so much fun! I want to install some in my house.
We had a great room with a view of the mountains and the driving range. Perfect for yelling “FORE!” and then hiding under the window sill (yes, I’m a man-child).
We dropped our bags on the bed and then went for a brisk walk around the village to get some exercise. Okay, okay, we went for a walk to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to fill up on fudge and ice cream. So what!? Time for bed.
I’d Rather Eat Mud Than That Croissant
I woke up early the next day and went for a little solo walk at 7am. The village was empty aside from a few other early risers whom, I’m assuming, didn’t hit the Longhorn Saloon the night before.
My mission this morning was to acquire coffee and pastries for breakfast. I slowly strolled over to Pure Bread to be first in line as I know there’s always a wait to get in there. Lucky I did too, by 7:55 (they open at 8) there were at least 20 people behind me in line. A grabbed a croissant and a couple scones then walked over to Mount Currie coffee for our morning brew.
Now, I typically don’t post negative reviews but, wow, we were disappointed with Pure Bread. There’s so much hype around this place but our croissant was as hard as a sack of pennies and the scones were sub-par at best. Sometimes hype is just….. hype. The coffee from Mount Currie was great though. Although, Mrs. Explorer said her mocha was weak.
The let down from the poor breakfast wouldn’t last long though as we had a morning adventure planned with The Adventure Group Whistler.
I Ate Mud And It Was Way Better Than The Croissant
The start of our adventure brought us to Cougar Mountain, home base for TAG Whistler. This is where they host amazing experiences like; Vallea Lumina, Superfly Ziplines, and the Aerial Obstacle Course (think, American Ninja Warrior but in the trees) but today we’d be taking part in one of their famous RZR backcountry tours.
Mrs. Explorer and I did one a few years back and it was honestly one of the most fun things I’ve ever experienced. The most memorable part was splashing through massive mud puddles and getting absolutely drenched. This time around I was keeping my fingers crossed for some showers leading up to the weekend and I got my wish.
It rained two days before our tour and on the morning of, the sun was out. It was perfect, sunshine and big puddles, I hope.
Before we started, we hung out at their base camp which has a fire pit and some games to keep you occupied while you wait for your tour guide. At 11 o’clock Taren, our tour guide, wrangled us together and got us set up in rain gear (a very good sign of things to come). After some quick instructions and safety talks we were on our way in the RZR.
Last time Mrs. Explorer and I went on the RZR we had a 2 seater but this time we had the kids in tow due to an unfortunate babysitter cancellation so we opted for the 4 seater. Aside from the calls of “I’m hungry!” and “I have to pee!” throughout the trip, both kiddos loved it as much as we did. It’s an amazing experience for people of all ages and I would 100% recommend this as a family experience if you’re in Whistler.
The drive starts off mellow up the forest service road, which is a good thing as it allows you time to get used to the RZR. Then you start getting in to some more bumpy terrain & inclines and this is where the fun really starts. Bouncing around, flooring the gas pedal, wondering if you’re going to launch off a big rock…. it definitely gets your adrenaline pumping.
Taren took us to a couple amazing view points where he stopped us all to get out, walk around and soak it all in. It was a perfect day to take in the backcountry views.
After some more incline, a couple view point stops and chatting with Taren about moving from the Maritimes out to Whistler to do what he loves, we started to head back to base camp. At this point, although I was having a ton of fun, I was a little disappointed that we hadn’t gone through any giant mud puddles. There had been a bunch of small ones that splashed a few drips of dirty water on us but I really wanted to get drenched. I wanted to soak my wife and kids and drink a bunch of brown puddle water while laughing the entire time.
I got my wish!
On the way down we hit two massive puddles that splashed up and over the entire Polaris RZR. It was epic and although I already knew this from the last time I did the RZR Tour, I definitely did not remember to keep my mouth closed. I ate mud and it was delicious, especially compared to the croissant from earlier. Sometimes it’s more about the experience of the dish than the flavor.
(Click HERE and turn the volume up to hear how much I enjoyed it).
Mini Mugs & Giant Jenga
We got back to the hotel from TAG’s base camp and I brushed the dirt off my teeth in preparation for day 1 of the Whistler Village Beer Fest. Gotta have a nice smile for all the wonderful breweries pouring delicious beer for us festival goers.
I picked up my mini mug, tokens and gift bag, including beef jerky (mmm mmmmm) and then had to make my hardest decision of the day…. which beer to drink first. With 60 breweries, cideries and seltzer(ies?) all pouring multiple drinks, it was a tough decision to make so, I made it easy for myself. Who was closest to the entrance? That honor went to Slackwater Brewing and their “What The Fog!?” NE IPA, a delicious beer I’ve had before in their Penticton tasting room.
Next up was, well, it’s hard to recall through the haze of multiple mini pours but there were some standouts that I slightly remember; Locality’s dark lager, Backcountry’s tropical sour, Coast Mountain’s beer cocktail, Moody Ales’ smoothie sour, Strathcona’s Love Buzz and, to be honest, I didn’t have a bad beer the whole day. Partly due to the great breweries showcased and partly due to the amazing atmosphere at the festival. Live music, corn hole, giant Jenga, more corn hole, giant beer pong, more corn hole, giant connect four…… Are you seeing a theme here? Beer and corn hole go together like an outdoor beer fest and oversized drinking games. (Does that make any sense?!?).
A strenuous day of hard work guzzling ale at a beer fest always calls for some relaxation of your drinking muscles and that’s exactly what we did to finish off the day. An Apres Lager in the Aava Hotel hot tub. Well, and then some Old Spaghetti Factory afterwards (gotta make the kids happy too). Spumoni FTW!
How’d That Get There?
The next morning we opted out of stale croissants and went with a breakfast bagel and some coffee from Moguls, a Whistler staple since 1992. Then we laced up our hiking shoes and jumped in the car to drive to our next adventure.
The Whistler Train Wreck is a short 2.5km hike on the outskirts of Function Junction, a 10 minute drive from Whistler Village. It features a suspension bridge, waterfall, beautiful forestry and….. a bunch of wrecked train cars that somehow crashed in to the forest, far from the tracks, and didn’t disturb any trees?!? Sounds like a M. Night Shyamalan plot.
After I was done climbing on train cars and scaring Mrs. Explorer by getting too close to the edges, we headed back to Whistler Village for Day 2 of the beer fest.
I had a couple beer tokens left from the day before but definitely needed to grab a few more so I tracked down one of the beer token ferries. They waved their magic beer wand and some tokens wondrously appeared in my pocket. After giving them money, of course. Even fairy magic comes at a price.
Day 2 was another beautiful day with the sun shining and corn hole bags flying through the sky. I grabbed some beer samples that I missed out on the day before and listened to the live tunes jamming on the stage. I sculled back the beer, did a little dance and then hopped in the car (passenger seat) for the drive home.
Yet another amazing weekend in Whistler! How can you not have a great time in one of the most beautiful places in the world, surrounded by hikes, outdoor experiences, and, on this particular weekend, one of my favorite beer fests?
I can’t wait to come back this winter and do some laps on my snowboard.
See you soon Whistler (and the Western Hoary Marmot).