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Camping at Smelt Bay Provincial Park on Cortez Island
The Cortez Island – Smelt Bay leg of our 3-stop tour of Central Vancouver Island had a rocky start. Literally, we were rocked back and forth on the ferry, and it was doing enormous splashes like we haven’t seen before. Cars on the front of the line were getting washed with sea water. We soldiered…
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Camping at Elk Falls Provincial Park
Elk Falls Provincial Park is located minutes away from Campbell River. We stayed for 2 nights here during our 3-stop tour of Central Vancouver Island, after camping for a week at the Living Forest Campground in Nanaimo. This park offers 122 vehicle-accessible campsites. Approximately 25 of these sites border the Quinsam River and the rest…
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Nanaimo River Estuary Paddle
Nanaimo River Estuary is the largest estuary on Vancouver Island, and it’s important both culturally, economically, and ecologically. Views of the estuary provide a beautiful backdrop for the Living Forest campground. Campsites with a view of the estuary are in high demand and command a higher fee. On the last afternoon of our week-long camping…
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BC Family French Camp – Nanaimo
This summer we did something a little different, a little outside our comfort zone. No, it’s not just camping for 2 weeks straight, although that is a new record for us. It’s doing the first half of the trip with an organized group, with itinerary, schedules, and even meetings — en français! That’s right! Tina…
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Big Bro’s First Paddle Camping Trip at Widgeon Creek
Preamble When I first introduced the idea of paddle camping to my kids 3 years ago, Big Bro was instantly fascinated and wanted to join me right away. I set out 3 prerequisites before he can join me: After his breakthrough with paddling on his own paddleboard, he successfully passed all three requirements. An impromptu…
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New Paddling Achievement at Buntzen Lake
The Preparation I had enthusiastically bought a kids’ paddleboard 2 years ago (Thurso Surf Prodigy Junior, 7 feet 6), thinking it would be awesome to paddle with the boys. But after a few attempts, Big Bro just couldn’t get the hang of it yet. The board was unceremoniously tucked away in storage most of the…
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Paddle Camping at Glacier Bay on Stave Lake
Returning to Stave Lake Since visiting Stave Lake in 2020 with a SUP group, I haven’t been back. The experience was rather underwhelming: a bumpy, dusty gravel forest service road, loud motor boats and party music, and the dirt bike and ATV crowds at the lower Stave Lake weren’t very conducive for the type of…
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Ruckle Provincial Park Group Camping: Oceanfront Fun for Large Groups
Sharing our love for the outdoors has been a passion of our family for a while. We have introduced camping to many of our friends, but we’ve always booked individual campsites for the group. It’s somewhat stressful because it relies on successfully booking multiple campsites near each other if it’s more than 2 families, otherwise…
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Biking Whistler Valley Trail
The Valley Trail in Whistler is a beautiful 46km network of multi-use trails that connect the major neighborhoods, parks, and lakes of the resort municipality. It’s mostly paved, car free, and all the intersections with roads are controlled by traffic light. It has gentle rolling sections, which is just the right amount of challenging to…
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Sumas River Paddle (and an attempt at the Floating Forest)
The fabled ‘Floating Forest’ has been mentioned numerous times in local paddling communities, but it’s never clear to me exactly where it is or how to get there. So when Howard called for a Sumas River Floating Forest paddle, I jumped on the chance. I had a great time paddling with Howard on Harrison River,…