Exploring BC’s Wells Gray Park – Pt. I
Every year our extended family gathers for a week in the woods — camping, fishing, hiking, storytelling, swimming, making fires…all that good stuff. It’s the highlight of the summer. We’ve been exploring BC’s amazing Wells Gray Provincial Park for the last few outings, making a base camp at Mahood Lake and following footpaths to waterfalls and swimming holes in that immediate area. The lake is warm, the Rainbow Trout bite (and taste great on the fire!), the Barred Owls hoot and holler all night and the forest is perfect for exploration. Last year, we welcomed my folks with their new Westie and decided to see more of this grand park over the course of a week in August.
This time, we met at Clearwater Lake, our caravans coming in from Vancouver, Calgary and Canmore. With a couple sites setup for fireside chats, a hammock-village quickly established among the trees and we found the fish bite here very quickly, too! It was hot as usual, and while the water of Clearwater Lake is glacier-fed, it was easy to wade in and splash around – the kids chucking rocks while the adults got some casts in. Waterfalls right in the campground were a treat, but didn’t prepare us for the true highlights — Spahats Falls, Bailey’s Chute, Dawson Falls, the Mushbowl and the big one, Helmcken Falls. At 141 metres, this is Canada’s fourth highest waterfall. It didn’t disappoint, plunging into a huge bowl-shaped canyon far below.
This first batch of images features Clearwater Lake, followed by some images from the above-mentioned falls as we made our way back down from the Lake to the town of Clearwater along Wells Gray Road. The park was established in 1939 and covers more than 540,000 hectares. There is a LOT more to this park, including some supreme backcountry routes and even more waterfalls. In the next post, we’ll travel the forestry roads to Mahood Lake, Canim Falls and more.
Wells Gray Park, British Columbia, 2015.
<click the first image to view larger – recommended!>
A Sunday in the Woods: Alice Lake Provincial Park, BC
An early start on a Sunday morning when the sun is up, the air is still cool and the trails are empty will always pay a reward. In this case, the quiet of the wood. We drove up the Sea to Sky to Alice Lake Provincial Park near Squamish and enjoyed a relaxing stroll through the wilderness. The Canada geese are back from migration and I was able to capture a pair taking off from the misty lake amidst a flurry of sound and spray. In the gallery, you’ll see a tight crop of that shot. I worked with my Fuji X-E1 camera for this batch, and I was really impressed how much detail there was in the crop. After all, I shot this from across the lake with a 35mm f1.4 lens, not a tele! Another reason this camera is always by my side. Welcome to spring!
Sea to Sky, Four Lakes Trail, BC, 2016.
<click the first image to view larger — recommended!>
Biking Beneath the Cherry Blossoms in Vancouver
There is an obsession in Vancouver when it comes to Cherry Blossoms. Beginning in March, sometimes even February, the flowering cherry trees stir and come back to life with vibrant displays of pink, fuscia and white flowers, blocking out the sky with impossible colours and contrast after a grey winter. Blooming signals the start of longer days, summer vibes and, as in Japan and increasingly culturally embedded locally, a day spent viewing the blossoms, picnicing beneath a tree in bloom or cycling under a pink canopy, is a modern Spring Rite.
The Velopalooza-sponsored Bike the Blossoms event brought out about 500 people – families with bakfiets, unicyclists as tall as the blooms, groups of friends young and old – for a leisurely, slow ride along the most spectacular blossom-loving streets in East Van. There are more than 30,000 ornamental cherry trees in Vancouver’s ‘street tree urban forest’ plus thousands more magnolia, plum and crab apple throughout the city. At this time of year, you can’t miss ’em! Visit the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival website for more info on viewing locations, events and the history of our flowering trees. Below are a few quick snaps from the saddle during the Bike the Blossoms ride.
A Gathering Storm on a Perfect Beach
The tropical breeze languishes across the calm Caribbean sea while a storm gathers strength beyond the reef. A perfect week of holidaying in the sun with my family in late March on Grace Bay Beach in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, 2016.
Late Autumn on the Island
Wow, it has been some time since I posted on this blog. Summer happened, great times were had, then it was autumn and work resumed in earnest, trips were taken and assignments wrapped. In the New Year I’ll be able to sort the backlog and get back to regular posts. Til then, and because the seasons change tomorrow, here are some autumnal scenes from around Nanoose Bay, across the Salish Sea from here.
Vancouver Island, BC, 2015.
<click the image to view large – recommended!>
Vancouver Folk Music Festival 2015 – pt. II
Here we go with part two of my photo series from the 38th annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival. I hope you enjoyed part one! Today’s selections (pared down from a few hundred final images) features a range of artists from Mali’s Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba (first photographed at the 2010 festival, and now above), Venezuela’s La Gallera Social Club, North America’s Rising Appalachia, Strumbellas, Parsonsfield, Russell Green & Lurrie Bell, and The Sadies. As always, the pics are off to the Festival team to prepare for next year, something I’m already looking forward to. If you have a chance to see any of the musicians pictured, my stamp of approval is all over these artists, so seek them out and enjoy!
Jericho Beach, Vancouver, 2015.
Click the first image below to view large – recommended!
Vancouver Folk Music Festival 2015 – pt. I
Last weekend, on the hot, dusty shores of Jericho Beach, the 38th annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival went off with the sound of strings, reeds, brass and voice. Not a spot of rain, just great vibes all weekend long as Vancouver welcomed the likes of Frazey Ford (above), Pokey LaFarge, Richard Thompson and the Melbourne Ska Orchestra, all captured in this first batch of images. This was my 12th time shooting the festival, starting in 2003 with a half dozen rolls of slide film to capture Ani Difranco, Billy Bragg, Utah Phillips and many others. Oh the memories, and at least one artist each year that opened my ears to a whole new way of sound! Check past blog posts for more from recent years, with a small archive right here on flickr, too. Part two, coming up soon!
Jericho Beach, Vancouver, 2015.
Click the first image below to view large – recommended!
Walkin’ the Heirloom Line
Walkin’ the heirloom tomato line with Sandra at Parsons Farm Market in the Similkameen Valley, Keremeos, BC, 2015.
Hiking the Helm Creek Trail in Garibaldi Park
The view from the Helm Creek Trail, approaching the Black Tusk (far right) and the Cinder Cone (far left). Water is scarce in these parts, the sunshine is unforgiving and the cinder flats spread out in all directions. The hike is about 20km return, with a lot of vertical ascent to get you up onto these volcanic cinder flats when approaching from Cheakamus Lake (trail report). The scenery is absolutely amazing up here and this is one of the few hikes where I’ve spotted a wolf in the wild, too.
This image is available as a print, so please get in touch if you are interested. I have a canvas edition in my hallway, serving as daily inspiration to get out into that wilderness as much as I can.
Helm Creek / Cinder Flats, Garibaldi Provincial Park, BC.
Riding Bikes: The Rivendell Cheviot
Keeping up with my ongoing assignment/job perk of test riding and reviewing city bikes for Momentum Mag, I’ve tried lots of different bikes varying in style, quality and design. Late last August an incredibly enticing box arrived for us in Vancouver. Inside was an orange bike. Happens to be my favourite colour for a bike, I noted. But this was not just any orange bike, it was a Rivendell and their brand new ‘mixte’ model, at that. We brought it over to our friends at The Standard, and shortly thereafter the shiny new Cheviot was ready to ride.
Rivendell is a company I have long admired. I reviewed founder Grant Petersen’s book ‘Just Ride’ for Momentum a few years back and since we profiled him on our cover and learned about S24O and his philosophy some years before that, I have been following their work. Trouble was, I hadn’t been able to actually ride a Rivendell! There just aren’t too many here in Vancouver, at least from the ‘can I borrow’ perspective and stock was rare. I knew this was my chance, and I managed to get in on the first test rides. Soon after the bike was taking me to work and back, then out on the trails, then, well, pretty much everywhere. After three months (now going on 10), I had enough for my review and I was falling into bike love.
My first time on the Cheviot immediately felt different. In a really good way. Further riding affirmed my suspicions: the bike seemed to have everything in its place… The Cheviot’s purpose appears to be one of enhancement, comfort, and usefulness for your cycling life. It is evident that every part of this bike has been carefully chosen and expertly specified and that the entire bicycle has been lovingly built. If there is a legendary Rivendell fit, I understand the appeal now and completely get the reverence for their products. I highly recommend giving the Cheviot – and Rivendell – a spin if you have the chance.
In print, the review accompanied this feature on Rivendell, and I would also recommend a read through their Blug blog for more info. Lots of interesting stuff in there. Enjoy the pics below, and if you see me out on the bike paths around town give a ring and a wave! I’d even stop for a test ride of your own.
Vancouver, 2015.
Click the first image below to view large — recommended!
Meeting Fires Creative 