Eric and I toured the west of Canada in august/september of 2001. We spent about two weeks camping and hiking in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks of Banff, Jasper, Yoho, and Kootenay. We did not visit Mount Revelstoke & Glacier.
Apart from the Rockies, we also spent time on Vancouver Island, and in Calgary, Vancouver, and the Kootenays and Okanagan regions.
Vancouver Island
Pacific Rim rain forest
Whale watching
Sea lion
Black bear cub!
Victoria
Map
We spent only two days in Pacific Rim Nat'l Park, on Vancouver Island, but that was enough to get a good feel for the place. First on our agenda was a whale watching trip! We made a trip out to Flores Island, with a Zodiac boat. It was organized by Jamie's, out of Tofino. The weather was beautiful, the guide knew what he was talking about, and we saw at least 4 or 5 whales! Well, "seeing" a whale is more like seeing a small jet of condensed air a couple of times, and then seeing a bit of the whale's back and its tail as it dives for the bottom. But we certainly found the trip worth it! The photograph above shows the tail of a diving whale.
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The photograph below shows a whale exhaling through the blow hole in its back. The "smoke" is condensing moisture.
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The weather was calm and the ocean was very smooth when we went, but the Zodiac ride was quite bouncy. This was a lot of fun for us, but I can imagine that this may be a problem when there are more waves, particularly for those who have back problems.
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On our trip out onto the Pacific, we also met a couple of what seem to be the most self-absorbed of all marine creatures: sea lions basking in the sun! Look at him pointing his nose at the sky!
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Although the Rockies were swarming with bear warnings, it was on Vancouver Island that we finally got to see a bear! It was a young black bear; although he looked friendly enough, we were afraid that mother might be in the bushes beyond, so we did not approach him.
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Large parts of the Pacific Rim National Park are covered in rainforest. I always thought that rainforests occur in tropical regions only, but they also occur in temperate regions with plenty of rain. The west coast of Vancouver Island doesn't get too cold, and gets plenty of rain from the ocean, and has a large rainforest. The photograph below shows how resources are recycled in a natural forest. The old tree fell over and died, perhaps in a storm, and the younger tree, which isn't so small itself, grows on the decaying tree trunk.
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We spent a day and a half in Victoria. The city has a beautiful centre, especially around the Inner Harbor. I loved the cheery look created by lots of flowers everywhere. The picture below shows the Inner Harbor, and the Parliament Buildings in the background.
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The highlight of Victoria, in my opinion, was the Royal British Columbia Museum. It had lots of excellent exhibits, very impressive. Most of the stuff that I remember was about the natural environment and local heritage in this region. If you go to Victoria and are just a little bit interested, it's a must. They even have a life-size mammoth!
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We had only four days for Vancouver Island, and I think that was too short. The photo below shows the sunset over Nanaimo.
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