Beacon Hill Park & Petting Farm, Victoria, British Columbia – June 2015

The Petting Farm at Beacon Hill Park is a real favourite with kids as the animals seem to really thrive on all the attention. That is, all except the turkey, who hates noise according to the sign hung by his enclosure. He didn’t look particularly happy when a busload of school children came roaring through. The park is full of peacocks and peahens who can all fly and so voluntarily choose to spend most of their time at the petting farm rather than in other parts of the park. I think some of the peacocks think they are human because one set himself up at the entrance of the farm with his fan spread out. He stayed planted there, putting on a show for all the children as they came in. The ladies at the ticket booth said that he did that most mornings at opening time.

The goat pen is where the children get to do all the animal handling. There are dozens of brushes available for brushing a goat. The children brush and pet the goats to their hearts content and the goats never seem to

get tired of it.

Other parts of the park include gardens, playing fields, a playground and a hill over-looking the ocean and the Olympic peninsula in Washington state.

Butchart Gardens, Vancouver Island – June 2015

In 1904, the Butcharts moved to the site where the gardens are located. They started a quarry to mine limestone for their cement business. A couple of years later, Mrs. Butchart started the sunken gardens in the quarry site. Other sections of the gardens were created over the years. In 2004, when Butchart Gardens celebrated its hundred year anniversary it was designated a Canada National Historic Site. Located just a few miles from Victoria on Vancouver Island, Butchart Gardens are on the ‘must see’ list for most visitors to the island. It’s also a nice place for locals to spend a quiet afternoon from time to time as the gardens change with the seasons.

Waterfalls along Highway 99 between Squamish and Pemberton, British Columbia – June 2015

Brandywine Falls is about a fifteen minute drive to the south of Whistler and the viewing platform is only a ten minute walk from the parking lot. A few metres further along is a nice view overlooking Daisy Lake and the Black Tusk.
The turn-off for Alexander Falls is about two kilometres closer to Whistler, but you have to drive about 7 kilometres along Callaghan Road, (This is the road to Whistler Olympic Park), to reach the Falls. The viewing platform here is on the side of the parking lot so you don’t have to walk anywhere.
Nairn Falls is only a couple of kilometres south of Pemberton and the parking lot is right beside the highway. It is a one and a half kilometre walk to the falls, but is an easy level walk along the river.
Each of these falls is unique and impressive to see, yet all are easily accessible. A fourth falls, Shannon Falls, is also located on Highway 99, but is between Squamish and Horseshoe Bay. It’s right beside the highway as well, but I didn’t stop there on this trip.

Bear Watching Tour, Whistler, British Columbia – June 2015

Although I’ve seen numerous black bears in the wild over the years, I’ve never known anything about the bears. When I heard that Whistler’s leading authority on black bears, Michael Allen, was giving tours, it seemed like a wonderful opportunity to join one of these tours and learn more about these bears. Those of us on the tour were not disappointed!
The first bear we saw was a small bear, Ace, a yearling who had just been kicked out on his own by his mother. Michael explained that this was a critical time for survival for this fellow as he would have to be constantly on the look-out for larger male bears, in particular.
The next bear was Ruby, a female who had recently left her cubs and who would now be sought after by the males on the mountain.
Just a few minutes later we saw a bear that was too far away to be identified, but that bear was soon chased off by another bear, a young female. These bears were both in Amy’s territory, who we then saw happily munching away on clover. Michael had brought us here to see Amy and her three cubs, just born this year. Since we didn’t see the cubs, we were told they had to be in a tree close to Amy. We began to examine the nearby trees and sure enough, we soon spotted them at the top of one of the trees. I was surprised at how high the cubs climb. It had never occurred to me that I might have walked under bear cubs countless times, high in the tree tops where one usually expects to find eagles and ravens.
The last bear we viewed was Slumber, the largest male on the mountain and father of many of the bears. He was so intent on eating his dandelions that he allowed us to watch him for a long time at close range. It was explained that, although this was a great opportunity to view this bear, his presence would have scared off many other bears.
I’m very grateful to have had this opportunity to get to know some of the Whistler bears and for the wealth of information I learned about them.

Joffre Lakes, Hiking in British Columbia – June 2015

Joffre Lakes Provincial Park is located thirty kilometres east of Pemberton, British Columbia on the road to Lillooet. After leaving Lillooet Lake at the valley floor, the road climbs very steeply all the way to the park. The park entrance is on the right if traveling from Pemberton.
Once on the trail, it is five kilometres to Upper Joffre Lake while Lower Joffre Lake is only a few steps from the parking lot. The trail skirts Lower Joffre Lake for about five hundred metres then climbs steadily for about three and a half kilometres to Second Lake. From there, it is only another kilometre to Upper Joffre Lake which has a campground on the far side. The well-maintained trail makes for easy walking, but it’s advantageous to have some conditioning as you will be rising in elevation from 3979 feet to 5134 feet. It took us an hour and a half to reach Upper Joffre Lake, traveling at an easy pace with a few short stops along the way.
Besides doing an excellent job of keeping the trail well drained, the people who maintain the trail have been very creative, carving out creatures with their power saws and making benches, seats and little water spouts. The trail is well shaded for most of the climb up yet provides occasional views of Lower Joffre Lake and the surrounding peaks. By the time you reach Second Lake, Slalok Peak and Matier Glacier are right above you. It’s well worth the climb to see these turquoise jewels! This trail is a favourite in the Pemberton area, both for locals and visitors.
You could pay over a thousand dollars a night to stay at a luxury lodge at the foot of a gorgeous mountain peak in a number of places around the globe or you could pay a measly five dollars to pitch your tent at the foot of this peak. The snow is already off the trail and the sun’s shining. What are you waiting for?