Showcase your province's varied landscapes

[Klazu]

Back in February me and my wife took a week off to head over to the Canadian Rockies and the Kootenays for six fabulous days in the slopes.

It was a great winter in British Columbia, but our trip began in a pouring rain brought to us by a mid-winter Pineapple Express. In the town of Hope the snow banks were high, yet it was pouring.



Previous night all mountain highways out of Lower Mainland had been closed, but Coquihalla Highway had been opened shortly before our arrival. Little did we know that choosing to cross it would result in thousands of people being stuck in their cars for the night...





Despite hundreds of other people in the same situation, it is still a lonely feeling to be stuck on a mountain highway in a snow blizzard with dying daylight.



Fortunately we got past the problem spot and driving conditions east of Coast Mountains were not too bad the next day. These are from Trans-Canada Highway enroute to Revelstoke.







This place always looks so interesting. I wonder how popular holiday destination it is, so far from everything?



Arriving in Revelstoke the weather had improved. Revelstoke had a fresh dump of snow from the previous night, which made for a great day in the slopes.











I really liked Revelstoke and we will surely return there again for more skiing! Our next stop was Golden, where we would spend two days exploring the these steep mountains.









Up on the summit is Eagle's Eye, which claims to be the highest restaurant in Canada at 2,450 meters (8,033 feet) above sea level.





On a nice day the views are absolutely incredible and what a day we had!













To go to the very summit, take the chair lift up to Stairway to Heaven and you are... in heaven.





These vistas were the first leg of our long trip and more photos from the Kootenays region soon in part 2.

[MolsonExport]

Gorgeous photographs. I really need to move back to BC.

[240glt]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Gorgeous photographs. I really need to move back to BC.

X 2

Soon

[sdimedru]

Nice ones from @coffee_baileys .... Edmonton is looking green!

[LeftCoaster]

Thanks Klazu, beautiful photos.

I went to Kicking Horse for the first time in my life this year and it was spectacular. The lifts leave a LOT to be desired but the terrain is fantastic.

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

I went to Kicking Horse for the first time in my life this year and it was spectacular. The lifts leave a LOT to be desired but the terrain is fantastic.

Yeah, it is pretty incredible that a resort that size only has 5 lifts and one basically just takes the gondola every time. It's still fast and takes you up quickly.

I just hope they would open up the other bowls a bit more for non off-piste skiers, too.

[SignalHillHiker]

Gorgeous as always Klazu.

[Klazu]

From Golden our great ski trip continued south towards Cranbrook and the Kootenays. It's a good 250-kilometer drive between the two, offering some splendid views of Pursell Mountains and the Rockies along the way.





Big horn crossing.



Just open road.





Cranbrook had just got dumped by almost a meter of snow, which was very evident in downtown. Too bad we didn't have much time to explore the small city buried in snow.



Our accommodation in the area was the very nice St. Eugene which is an old 20th century First Nations schoolhouse turned a golf and casino resort. The historic main building has been restored fantastically and acts as a fine hotel.











I can tell you that there was nothing better than relaxing in the outdoor pool after a long day of skiing.



Just like the exterior, also the historic interior was very well preserved, honoring the old style in all places.







Our first night there happened to be on Valentine's Day which naturally called for a nice steak dinner. The smokehouse at St. Eugene was fantastic.











Next day was a cloudy and we decided to head to Fernie for our fourth ski day. Fernie was nice, but thanks to the passing Pineapple Express, the weather was wet and windy with many icy runs, which deterred some of our excitement. With more fresh snow our experience might have been very different, as the runs seemed fun.









Last two days were spent in Kimberly which is a smaller family-friendly resort. On our first day the weather was appalling with heavy rain (and snow at the top), but the second day was much, much better.







What a fantastic last day!





Finally it was time to head back home. It is 840 kilometers from Cranbrook to Vancouver and we split the drive in two, spending a night in Osoyoos. Along the way driving conditions varied from one extreme to the other, but we didn't have any problems getting back home. Our 2500-kilometer road trip had come to an end.















All in all we had a great trip with lots of sunshine and four very different ski resorts. We liked them all for different reasons and the main reason for choosing these particular resorts was the RCR Card they share, which offers very inexpensive multi-day skiing. I highly recommend getting it if in the area.

While winter feels far away, the next is never too far and we are already making plans for it. More on that later on.

[MolsonExport]

wonderful photos, Klazu

[TownGuy]

Nothing too spectacular here but went for a little hike in a nearby forest.









Highlight was probably spotting Ontario's official flower the Trillium

[Nicko999]

Some awesome shots from the international transmission during Qualifying session. Seen by millions of people around the world.

[Dwils01]

Some pictures of coastal BC from the ferry between Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay.














Pictures by me.

[Klazu]

It has been years since we have last been camping, so it was very exciting to head up to Birkenhead Lake some 60 kilometers north of Pemberton.

Our camping place was exactly as shown in the website photos. Nice, private and green.





Fortunately modern tents are easy to put up.





Such a joy to be sleeping outside.





Time for a camp site dinner.







Unfortunately Saturday was a cloudy day, but we still headed out cycling along the lakeshore trail.









Our night was rather cold, but luckily Sunday turned out to be a nice and warm day. After waking up we hiked the short Goat Trail to a lookout of the lake below.









Birkenhead Lake itself looked so much more inviting in the warm sunshine.







Drive back to Pemberton had some beautiful summer vistas. It's incredible how more rugged the mountains get north of Pemberton.









It was a short ad-hoc trip, but we really liked our experience and are already planning on going camping soon again. Too bad everything nearby has been reserved for the whole summer, so we need to try getting a FCFS space. Hopefully it will work out!

[LeftCoaster]

New X1 I see. I like the new colour a lot more!

Great pics.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Thanks Klazu, beautiful photos.

I went to Kicking Horse for the first time in my life this year and it was spectacular. The lifts leave a LOT to be desired but the terrain is fantastic.

Great terrain but it gets tracked out really quick.

[MonctonRad]

Here is some content from "MustDoCanada", a compilation of things to do in Canada for the 150th anniversary.



Cape Enrage is located on Barn Marsh Island, a long ridge paralleling the Fundy coast between the Hopewell Rocks and Fundy National Park. I find the topography around Barn Marsh Island fascinating. Although an "island", it is actually connected to the mainland by a salt marsh extending virtually the entire length of the island. The lighthouse at Cape Enrage is one of the oldest lighthouses in the province (nearing 200 years old) and was saved from an ignominious future by a high school teacher from Riverview (a Moncton suburb) who bought it, renovated it as a tourist attraction and a summer employment opportunity for his high school students. He has since sold the property, but it lives on as a popular tourism spot offering fantastic viewpoints, a restaurant, rappelling, zip lining and shoreline hikes. It's easy to find fossils along the beach as rocks fall from the crumbling cliffs. I found a few interesting fossils myself on my last visit the other year. Condo Nast Traveller has proclaimed that Cape Enrage has one of the most spectacular views in Canada.

• Video Link

The Hopewell Rocks, Cape Enrage and Fundy National Park are all within a one hour drive south of Moncton on Route 114, itself a scenic drive down the Petitcodiac River valley.

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster
Thanks Klazu, beautiful photos

I went to Kicking Horse for the first time in my life this year and it was spectacular. The lifts leave a LOT to be desired but the terrain is fantastic.

I love Kicking Horse for its bowls and ridges to ski over, view from top lodge is amazing..

This week i'm having trouble looking at the BC pics in this thread just because of knowing that there are a lot of forest fires in BC & people losing homes
With the temps reaching +39°C in both BC and Saskatchewan this week i'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop and seeing Northern Saskatchewan, & especially Cypress Hills fire risk to rise exponentially too

[someone123]

A drone shot of the St. Croix river in Nova Scotia, one of several small rivers that empty into the Minas Basin. This place is in the Windsor area, about 50 km northwest of Halifax.


Source

[Klazu]

Photos from our second trip to Tofino few years ago. In first photo the tiny Vancouver Skyline from ferry to Nanaimo.



Sunshine Coast mountain range.



We arrived in Ucluelet just before the the sunset.



Black Rock Oceanfront Resort is a very nice and fairly new place to stay in.





View from the room in the morning.







Since we had visitors with us, we visited Meares Island again to see the amazing old-growth on the island.





Words don't describe these ancient giants. Maybe not even photos.





Of course we also did the Rainforest Trail near Ucluelet.





Wild Pacific Trail is also a must-do everytime we are in the area.









Visit to Long Beach was the highlight of our trip thanks to the amazing July weather we were lucky to have!



















Time to head back home. Few stops on the way back to Nanaimo.





The old-growth forest of Cathedral Grove nearby Port Alberni is a stop everyone makes.







On the way back the freeway was closed for few hours due to an accident. Fortunately we had time to make it to our ferry back.





Departure from Nanaimo.



The weather really made our second trip special and Tofino area is absolutely amazing in summer!

[Metro-One]

Awesome pics! You have to love the Island.