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Whale of a Good Time

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Seal full of salmon My favourite view of Vancouver was without a doubt, from the water. Bright and early, on my last full day before heading home, my friends and I went down for Granville Island to go on a whale watching tour. The guide was amazing! Very personable, and knowledgable. If you are on the west coast and want to go whale watching, I totally recommend this company! On of the whales We headed out at 8:45, on our open boat in search of whales and other wildlife. Our first sighting? A seal, enjoying a salmon breakfast! This was super cool to watch it tear up the salmon to eat!  I knew we would find some seals, but I was not expecting this show! Off we went, continuing our search for whales. We were headed towards some islands, where they felt we had a good chance at spotting whales, and at the very least a lot of cool wildlife, when our boat turned around. We got word of a two orcas being spotted near the harbour, so back we went. What was thought to be two w...
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One of Those "Once in a Lifetime" Things

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Looking out at the top of Whistler Peak "Mother Nature's Stair Master" Alright, so I did the Grouse Grind. For those who don't know, it is a 2.9 kilometre climb up Grouse Mountain, for an elevation gain of 853 metres. It has a total of 2830 "stairs" (and for those wondering the CN Tower is 1776 stairs). Rumor has it the view is worth it, but less so on a smokey day like we had. Now, this was quite the workout, and quite frankly reminded me of how I feel about running. You feel great after, but I personally spend the whole time thinking about how much I hate it. So, I went into "Sunday Stroll" mode, and tried to enjoy it the best I could, letting my friends go ahead of me. Needless to say, this is probably something I will only do once; I didn't enjoy it, but I don't regret doing it either. That being said, if I was ever back that way with someone who really really reeeeeaaaaallly wanted to do it, and didn't want to go it alone, I...
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First Few Days in Burnaby/Vancouver Area

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      Bridge Prep   As soon as the suspension bridge in Whistler went up, I knew  I had  to go. Now, to get ready for this, we hit up a couple of smaller suspension bridges. We went to Lynn Canyon, which has a small bridge, some trails, and a few areas to swim. This would have been great if we were wanting to swim, but we were just killing time until the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park hit its evening hour prices. Don't get me wrong, Lynn Canyon was pretty, it just wasn't what we were looking for at the time. Capilano Suspension Bridge was larger than the one at Lynn Canyon. The park also offered a lot of different activities, including a treetop walk, boardwalks, and a cliff walk. They also had some educational signage, and programs. As cool as it was, I feel I wouldn't need to go again. I got my fix.  Stanley Park Stanley Park is massive, and as we were on foot, we only got to see a fraction of it. The first thing we did was head over t...
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A Night in Wine Country

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So Many Grapes (and Other Fruit Too)  Looking out towards the water at Quails' Gate Despite going to school, and living in the Niagara Region--Ontario's wine country-- I was not ready for what the Okanagan Region had to offer. The endless wineries, vineyards, and orchards throughout this region did not just stay in the rural areas. Instead, there were several which were in, or right beside residential neighbourhoods! Now, after a long drive, we decided that the first thing we wanted to do was visit one (or two) of these wineries. We headed over to Mission Hills to check it out. This Winery was very modern and elegant. We decided not to do our tasting here after exploring for a bit, and headed over to Quails' Gate. Quails' Gate was more rustic, but more up our alley. After exploring a bit, we headed inside for a tasting. I tried two whites, a rose, a red, and my first icewine. All were delicious!  Down Under Little Joey Believe it or...
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Banff

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Lakes of the Bluest Blue Peyto Lake How could we say we went to Banff National Park without seeing the stunning blue lakes? Needless to say, we made stops at Peyto Lake, Morraine Lake, and Lake Louise. All stunning, and all slightly different. They are the perfect spot to capture a "greenscreen-esque" photo, where the background looks perfectly fake. If you go early you will beat some if the crowd. But with a little patience, and a keen eye, you will be able to find a perfect spot for a photo. Whether it is a break in the crowd, or finding a spot a little further away. At Lake Louise, we hiked up the Agnes Lake trail, to Agnes Lake and the Tea House. This was a very pretty, but fairly tough hike, but there's a few spots where you can see Lake Louise from above, and a waterfall at the top! You also have the chance to grab tea or a small bite at the tea house if you want. It was too busy for me to wait in line, but they had several options for tea! Lake Louise...
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Jasper

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Mystic Mountains  Near the Miette Hot Springs After picking a friend up from the airport in Edmonton, we headed to Jasper National Park. This first day was smokey, and the second was rainy/foggy, making it hard to see more than an outline. For instance, we stopped by Athabasca Falls on the second night, but did not see that the was a mountain in view behind the falls, but after stopping again on the way out the next morning, we had full mountain view! It was incredible, I'm sure we missed a lot of the beauty, but we had fun all the same. The first night we relaxed at the hot springs, as we had an early start planned. This was perfect after a long day of driving. The next morning, we went down to do a short hike around Maligne Canyon. This was pretty cool to see. We decided mimosa's were in order, so after walking the town, we hit up a place for brunch on the rooftop patio. Of course, they were calling for rain, so we went to see if we could set our tent up ea...
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Beautiful Bertha

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Up, Up, Up I finally got my first taste of the mountains! My cousin took me to Waterton Lakes National Park on our full day together. This was my cousins first time hiking in Waterton since the Kenow wildfires that spread through the park last summer. She took me on one of her favourite hikes up to Bertha Lake. This switchback trail took us up, past Bertha falls, to see Bertha Lake, which rests in between Bertha Peak, Mount Richards, and Mount Alderson. Although the  journey up was tough, the views were worth it! This has been one of the most rewarding hikes so far. It has great views of the lakes down below, as you ascend up. You also have a chance to see Bertha Falls before you get to the tougher switchbacks. Last year's fire left us without a lot of shade for much of the trail. This being said, it was a warm one. The air was also smokey from the wildfires happening in BC, I could only imagine what the view would have been like without the smoke! Of course, the way down was ...
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