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
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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
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Last weekend while I was still in Nanaimo I decided to make a short trip out to Little Qualicum Falls. It turns out all that rain we had been having had really raised the water level of the river and made some of the falls much larger than I have seen them before.
Hoping to get out to shoot some new stuff this weekend, hoping for some good weather!
Tags: Little Qualicum Falls, Little Qualicum River, river, water falls
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After spending a cold night in Banff I got up, cleared the snow from my tent and then made my way to Johnston Canyon. Johnston Canyon was one of the neatest places I visited, a fair amount of the trail was a catwalk that was suspended over the side of the canyon that made its way to 2 waterfalls.
The lower falls was interesting because you could go through a natural tunnel that allowed you to get a very nice view of the falls.
The upper falls was taller but you did not have nearly a good of view as you did with the lower falls.
After Johnston Canyon I made my way back to Banff for lunch and then I went to check out the “cave and basin” a national historic site that is the birth place of National parks in Canada. These natural hot springs are what first attracted people to Banff, although you can no longer go in these hot springs there are other hot springs you can go visit if you want to.
The Cave
The Basin
On the way back to camp for the night I spotted some white tail deer.
Tomorrow it is time to start heading home which will take me through my 5th national park on this trip and some of the worst weather yet!
Tags: banff national park, cave and basin, Johnston Canyon, national historic site, river, water falls
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I woke up to a brisk day but not nearly as cold as the previous night. Before heading down to Banff I made a trip to Maligne Canyon which is a little ways outside of Jasper.
After this it was time to make the long drive down to Banff, on the way the weather started to turn for the worse…
One of the things about the roads through the Rockies especially the Ice fields Highway is that even along the sides of the roads there are some breathtaking views and scenes. Here is an example of just one of the waterfalls along the highway.
Not to long after stopping here I saw my first real wildlife, bighorn sheep.
Tomorrow time to explore some of Banff!
Tags: banff national park, bighorn sheep, canadian rockies, jasper national park, Maligne Canyon, river, water falls
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