May 03, 2009 | Tips from Us >
Penticton, Wineries & Vineyards
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I absolutely LOVE wine touring in the Okanagan Valley. So far I've probably been to over 25 wineries in the region and if you enjoy wine paired with stunning scenery, the experience is not to be missed!
Some of my favorites include Grey Monk, Mission Hill, Quail's Gate, Elephant Island, Red Rooster, Laughing Stock... down to Burrowing Owl and finally Nk'Mip in Osoyoos. And I could go on...
It was really interesting to see how the landscape and geography changes as you wind through the valley from rolling hills to a desert-like climate. Each area just as beautiful as the next.
I've gone back several times over the past couple years and I plan to make it a long standing tradition with my friends.
May 03, 2009 | Tips from Us >
Port Alberni, Hiking
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To get to the trail head for this hike you need to prearrange a boat shuttle across
Great Central Lake. We took the boat from the Ark Resort which is about 17kms from
Port Alberni on
Vancouver Island. After crossing the picturesque lake we coated ourselves in bug repellent before setting out on our 16km hike to the base of the Della Falls where we would camp. It was pretty flat to begin with and then gradually got steeper. It did seem to take a long time, probably 6-7 hours. We camped overnight at a nice campsite on the creek. You will want to camp close to the base of the falls because the next day is a long one!
The next morning we took in the scenery looking up at Della Falls, Canada’s tallest waterfall 440m high! It was breathtaking standing in front of these cascading falls - we took lots of pictures!
Next was our 2-3 hour hike up to get a view of the falls ending at Love Lake before the 1.5-2 hours to get back down to our site.
We were the first group to head up the trail for the season in early June and there was still a lot of snow at the top of the trail. We couldn’t really find the path after a certain point but we knew what general direction we were going in to get to Love Lake based on our map. My friends with ice axes and proper hiking boots lead the way by kick-stepping a make-shift path in the snow which really helped.
May 03, 2009 | Tips from Us >
Squamish, Snowshoeing
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Our 2 day (22km) snowshoe trek to Elfin Lakes was my first trip in the Diamond Head area of Garibaldi Park.
It was definitely more challenging than I had expected, friends who had done the trip in the summer described a hike that was relatively flat. In the winter you take a different route which was practically uphill all the way to the lodge. This made day 1 quite a challenge! That being said, the views were well worth it!!
We stayed overnight at the cabin at Elfin Lakes and enjoyed playing cards and cooking up a hearty dinner with the other travellers from BC and Washington State. The second day was mostly downhill making it a lot less strenuous so we had a chance to really enjoy the stunning scenery of the area and take some amazing photos on the way down.
This trek left our group with a feeling of accomplishment, especially the first time snowshoers!, so we finished the trip with some much deserved burgers at the Shady Tree in Squamish.