With spring nearly here I was very surprised when I woke up lake last week to discovered it had snowed and was still snowing. For the most part this winter had been another mild one which was not predicted, I guess we are just getting a late winter.

Looking out over Victoria from the top of Mt. Tolmie

Storm clouds gather over a snowy scene at UVic

A Rufous-sided towhee at Swan Lake

While it was nice to see a bit of snow I think I am ready for some nice sunny spring weather.  Can’t wait for this snow to melt and move on to some nice spring activities.

A few weeks ago I was looking for some new locations that I could visit while stuck inside due to poor weather. One of the places I found was Pazant Falls on the Juan de Fuca trail near Port Renfrew. After putting it off for a number of weeks due to more poor weather I finally made the trip out to the falls with fellow photographer Daniel Byrne. The first challenge was actually finding the trail head which was not signed well at all (which seems typical for parks here). After finally finding the correct trail we set off in a light drizzle which slowly progressed into rain. The hike out was really nice once you accepted that you would be slogging through large puddles and deep mud. Once getting to the falls all of the difficulties finding the trail and then hiking it seemed more than worth while as we where greeted by a extremely tranquil location that is going on the short list for place I will make a return visit too.

A new new month (and year) so here is a new wallpaper from a sunny day in January. I didn’t have time to make a January wallpaper until the month was nearly over, hopefully it will be the only one I miss.

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Ammonite falls is one of those place that you can go to and each time you revisit it you are reminded how beautiful the area is. While in Nanaimo for the weekend I made another trip out to the falls and there was a lot of water coming over the falls do the the amount of rain and snow we have had in the past few weeks.

Although the falls are the main attraction the whole area is a fantastic place, when it gets a bit warmer I want to explore above and below the falls a bit more.

Over the holidays while visiting family up in the Nanaimo area I made a trip out to Englishman River Falls Provincial Park which is know for its spectacular upper falls. I have not been to this park in sometime and was a nice change of scenery. Due to snowfall and heavy rain the river was pretty high, but not as high as I was expecting.

Looking both up and down the falls, you can see the footbridge on the right that you cross.

Looking up the upper falls.

Although the lower falls are not as spectacular as the upper falls they are still something you don’t want to miss.