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My husband pulled the car over, but not with a photographer's eye in mind. He picked a spot directly behind a large mountain of rocks and dirt that completely blocked the view.
I got out of the car anyway and began to walk back along the roadside, hoping to find a clearing. I saw a gravel road leading away from the main highway and decided to follow it. What I discovered next was something beautifully sad and mysterious.
Follow me as I take you there.
See that rock pile? And those steps? Look closer.
They lead to a well tended memorial of a beautiful 20 year old girl.
Shannon Archer. Born October 24 1985. Died October 5, 2005
There were flowers everywhere. A vase of wilted pink roses hung from the center of the cross. Cans of flowers sat at the bottom. Hyacinths and Tulips were emerging from the warmed spring soil.
I saw Gardening tools and a watering can, a candle and lighter.
Someone had fabricated a table from a piece of granite and welded steel in the shape of the letter "S".
Clearly, this was a place visited frequently by people who cared deeply and still mourn the loss 4 years later.
To my left, I noticed a moss covered trail leading away. I followed it to the top of a bluff.
Resting quietly at the top was an inviting wooden bench and a magnificent view.
I sat down and took in the moment.
The sense of loss was palpable.
My heart weighed heavy as I felt what others before me must have felt as they sat on the same bench.
When I returned home, I googled Shannon Archer to learn the story of her life and death. I couldn't find anything about her.
Her marker lies next to the road between Vancouver and Whistler Mountain. Whistler is the location of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Thousands of tourists will be traveling that road next year.
One thing I know for sure, on this Easter Sunday...
Shannon Archer, whoever she was, will not be forgotten.
April 13th Update:
Thanks to an anonymous reader who left a comment on this post, I now know the cause of Shannon's death. It was a deadly car accident on the turn known as Doodsons Corner. Read the comments below.
Please see the link below if you would like to read more.
http://www.theprovince.com/story_print.html?id=1234500&sponsor=http://www.theprovince.com/story_print.html?id=1234500&sponsor=
I happened upon your website and just read this post. I was touched by your photos and curious, as well, to the cause of this young girls death. I was able to find out that it was a car accident on a deadly curve called Doodson's Corner...near her memorial. Here is the link to the article. http://www.theprovince.com/story_print.html?id=1234500&sponsor=
ReplyDeleteI thought you would like to know.
Thankyou "Anonymous" for finding the answer.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we didn't know this story when we were driving that road.
What a beautiful memorial. I'm glad you shared the pictures. We certainly don't have views like that in Arizona. And I'm curious - was your husband waiting in the car the whole time you were up there?
ReplyDeleteNo, once I realized I was onto something very interesting, I ran back and made him and my kids come with me. At first they dragged themselves out of the car. They get so tired of me always snapping photos and insisting we stop places. But they soon were fascinated too. And today, they really liked learning the completed story.
ReplyDeleteOne night I returned from some remote area, and on my way home something made me to take that little back-road, to go behind that big rock...then, in the dark, I could see the memorial, the flowers, and everything posted above. Because it was dark, I returned on my next trip to Whistler to the same site. It is a sad story, I couldn't hold my tears, it remembered me about my first wife who died because of an idiot doctor, 14years ago.
ReplyDeleteThen , on another off-road trip, on my return from Pemberton, in the dark, on the highway, in the same place I felt that something make me to go there, so I drove to the site to pay respects to the young soul. Someone planted a little tree since my last visit, also the flowers are being taken care of. That site reminds me to slow down while driving, I believe she has the power to let people know that she once lived here in this beautiful country, and I hope that her message will be received by many other passers by.
I really hope that the place won't be transformed in a viewpoint that could lead the rednecks to dump their garbage there.
I hope her young soul rest in peace.
The link that was supossed to direct me to a newspaper article, doesn't go anywhere, I really waht to read the story, I'm not curious to find out how people die, I want to know if she was alone in the car or some idiot full of testosteron was the driver.
The story of Shannon Archer's death is very sad.
ReplyDeletehttp://archive.nsnews.com/issues05/w100905/102205/news/102205nn6.html
hi i was a good friend of shannons... i grew up in pemberton with her and now live in ontario. whenever i am home for christmas i think of her and i found your story. I would love to get some of those lovely pictures you took of her memorial she will always be in our hearts
ReplyDeleteHolly, leave me your email and I will send you some photos.
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI was driving along the Sea to Sky highway...the sun had just peeked out after days of heavy rain. I noticed a pretty shot and stopped beside a big rock and noticed a road leading behind it. I snapped my shots and explored a bit coming to Shannons memorial. Sad in the Sun. It will be pretty in the spring when the flowers come up.
I live in Vancouver and googled to find out more about Shannon and come to this site. Funny how we become connected in this life. I enjoyed your site. Love and Live.
M
I had the same great expierence at the site. Shannon must have been truely loved.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with Shan... Every time I drive that stretch of highway I slow down. I hope Ppl. Don't just appreciate the memorial and truly know that speed is what took her away from us way too soon... Pemby kids for life! SLOW DOWN!!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteWhen I came across the memorial on Easter Sunday, I too found it quite sad and mysterious. I am a geocacher and there is a cache nearby that was hidden August 29, 2009. The cache is located halfway between the memorial and the highway. When signing the log book in the cache the bench overlooking Howe Sound caught my eye. After putting the cache container back I started walking to the bench, that is when I came upon the memorial. Being hidden from the highway by the rock wall makes it seem like it is a different world. What made it even more spooky was there was candels lit at the memorial. The state of the candles and given how much melted wax I would guess who ever lit them (probably the person or persons maintaining the memorial) could not have left more than an hour ago. It was an intriguing mystery. I wondered who Shannon Archer was and how she died. Searching the internet I could not find much except for your posting. This is why I like geocaching as you never know what you will discover. Seeing the work put into this memorial makes me sad for Shannon passing even though I never knew her. It is quite haunting. On the geocaching website there is now 76 logged visits and 12 specificly mention the memorial. It is nice to know that geocachers will pay their respects to Shannon in times to come. Thank you for your post.
It is so amazing that every one seems to have such experienced here as it has been the same for me. I stopped here on a whim and while enjoying the site and the view a woman that could only have been Shannon's mother arrived. She was very sad and brought flowers and planted them. She was very kind and I told her that it had just stopped raining a moment before she came. She said it had never rained while she was there.
ReplyDeleteyour links are not working anymore ... so, what really happened to Shannon?
ReplyDeleteThe thing with rain is really interesting,
ReplyDeleteWe stopped by today, in searching for some access to the water for some scuba diving exploration. It was raining all the way since we left Britannia Beach and I just realized that that it stopped for the time we were there and begun shortly before we sat in to our cars.
I came home, tried to find something about this girl and found this great page... unbelievable
R.I.P. Shannon
In 2008 I was in a very bad car accident 10 minutes north of where Shannon lost her life. The emergency crew and everyone that saw my car was sure that I did not survive but I did with not even a scratch. That night I dreamt of the accident and everything happened the same way: I was speeding to get to school and I took the corner too fast crossed oncoming traffic and smashed into the rock face wall, I tumbled in the ditch until my car finally flipped and came to a rest on the roof in the middle of the highway.The interesting thing about my dream is that I could see a group of loved ones that had passed helping hoist my vehicle out of the ditch so that I didn't fall into the river 10 feet below. Leading the pack was a beautiful blond girl that I didn't recognize. The week after my accident I took flowers to every cross on the highway because I knew that I was so lucky to not have been one of them; When I got to Shannon's I realized that she had been the girl from my dream. I honestly don't know what it means but I find it very interesting that I too was 19 when I had the accident and it is crazy that I survived. Whatever it means Shannon has inadvertently become a very important person in my life, I'm sad that I didn't know her but I am so thankful that she helped me that day.
DeleteIn 2008 I was in a very bad car accident 10 minutes north of where Shannon lost her life. The emergency crew and everyone that saw my car was sure that I did not survive but I did with not even a scratch. That night I dreamt of the accident and everything happened the same way: I was speeding to get to school and I took the corner too fast crossed oncoming traffic and smashed into the rock face wall, I tumbled in the ditch until my car finally flipped and came to a rest on the roof in the middle of the highway.The interesting thing about my dream is that I could see a group of loved ones that had passed helping hoist my vehicle out of the ditch so that I didn't fall into the river 10 feet below. Leading the pack was a beautiful blond girl that I didn't recognize. The week after my accident I took flowers to every cross on the highway because I knew that I was so lucky to not have been one of them; When I got to Shannon's I realized that she had been the girl from my dream. I honestly don't know what it means but I find it very interesting that I too was 19 when I had the accident and it is crazy that I survived. Whatever it means Shannon has inadvertently become a very important person in my life, I'm sad that I didn't know her but I am so thankful that she helped me that day.
Delete