This weekend while I was in Nanaimo I also made a day trip up to Port Alberni. I am always trying to find new places to go and often find it difficult to find good resources to find new locations, which is one of the reason I started www.WildBC.ca. The night before I left I did a quick search and found a semi dated site that did seem to have a pretty good catalog of hikes around Port Alberni. I set off without setting my hopes to high because I knew the area I had chosen to hike had been logged at some point and the guide I did have was from 2005. The directions did not really stand up but I ran into some locals who where able to point me in the right direction. I was quite amazed to find the “hole in the wall” and not only that but a patch of decent sized trees was left around it.
This locations was unlike anything I have seen before let a lone something so close to home and the walk in was very pleasant. I would highly recommend checking it out if you are passing though or making a trip out to Port Alberni and have an hour or so to spare.
Tags: hiking, hole in the wall, Port Alberni, stokes creek, Stokes Falls, vancouver island, water falls
Posted in Flickr, hiking, landscape, nature, photo | 2 Comments »
Victoria British Columbia is a wonderful place for photographers to get a sampling of the amazing natural beauty that Vancouver Island and BC has to offer. This list is in no way complete and is just a fraction of sights that Vancouver Island, BC and even Victoria has to offer.
Cattle Point
Cattle Point is a small park that has a panoramic view of the Olympic mountains across from Victoria. This park is popular due to its easy access and easy walking trails. Although this is a pretty tame park there is no shortage of good photo opportunities here. This is a great location to catch a sunrise from or if you are more interested in wildlife you can often spot river otters feeding in the evenings and of course you can often spot shore birds darting around the rocks.
More info
Swan Lake
The Swan Lake Christmas Hill nature sanctuary is a great place to take in some local wildlife while not having to leave the city. The lake and surrounding native plants make for an oasis that birds and subsequently other wildlife flocks too. Even if you are not into bird watching you can still enjoy the beautiful trails that circle this urban oasis.
More Info
Clover Point
Clover Point is a popular location with tourists visiting the city of Victoria. This park offers a waterfront path near downtown that follows along the ocean front looking down onto a pebbled beach with the Olympic Mountains rising above the ocean in the distance. Along with being a great location to take in the sunset it is also another hot spot for shore birds and if you pay close attention often a seal or two.
More info
Esquimalt Lagoon
Esquimalt Lagoon is a great location for birds specially during migrations as many birds use this area as stop over before continuing on there journey. Although this location is most attractive to birders it also offers some decent spots for sunsets and other landscape shots.
Goldstream Provincial Park
Goldstream Provincial Park is not quite in Victoria but it is very close and has some of the best opportunities for photography in the area. During the late fall and early winter you can witness the salmon swimming up the river to spawn and with that the flocks of gulls and eagles. At any time of the year there are plenty of hiking trails ranging from easy to advanced which all offer glimpses into the Pacific North-West’s amazing ecosystem ranging from temperate coastal rainforest to rocky outcroppings and mountains.
More info
Conclusion
So are you saying these are the only good places to take photos in Victoria? Absolutely not, there are many more places and I am sure I will get around to writing about them but I wanted to keep this article somewhat short. Be sure to keep a look out for future articles exploring Victoria and beyond. If you do have your own personal favourites feel free to let me know, you can leave a comment or send me an email.
Tags: bc, birding, british columbia, cattle point, clover point, esquimalt lagoon, goldstream provincal park, photography, swan lake, vancouver island, victoria
Posted in Flickr, landscape, nature, park, photo, wildlife | No Comments »
I first went to Sandcut Beach last year around the same time of year and have been wanting to go back ever since. This is an very beautiful location that does not get much traffic which makes it perfect to relax or in my case get some nice photos without any distractions.
I arrived to the beach shortly after sunrise and was welcomed by a tantalizing golden light that only lasted a few minutes.
After taking in the lovely sunrise I continued down to the twin falls that empty onto the beach from Sandcut Creek. When I was last here there was a pretty substantial channel through the sand and gravel that lead to the ocean but this has since disappeared. The falls now just dissipate into the porous gravel beach.
Tags: jordan river, ocean, sandcut beach, sandcut creek, sunrise, vancouver island, water falls
Posted in Flickr, hiking, landscape, photo | 1 Comment »
The Vancouver Island marmot is a critically endangered species of marmot that is only found in alpine meadows on Vancouver island. The latest population count was around 300 marmots with only about 30 of them living in the wild. The rest of population is found in zoos and other facilities trying to boost their numbers. Many of these programs are in place to release them back into the wild with the idea of boosting the population. On the weekend I made the trip up to Mount Washington to see if I could find some of these extremely rare animals. Finding these little guys was not an easy task, I spent 10 hours hiking 10KM and climbed about 2000M. After spending 9 hours looking and considering myself defeated I was on my way back to the car when I spotted my first one.
After leaving this guy and continuing back to the car I noticed a little ball of fur out the corner of my eye. To my surprise I had found a little pup hiding in a pile of loose rocks. This guy was untagged unlike the other older one I had found earlier.
Overall it was a very long day but in the end was very rewarding to get some photos of one of the most endangered animals in the world. I am really hoping to get some more photos this year before they start their yearly hibernation.
Tags: mt washington, vancouver island, vancouver island marmot
Posted in Flickr, nature, photo | No Comments »
The usually clear water was churned into a muddy froth.
During a short lull in the winds a number of people did come down to the beach to check things out.
