Short Trips
SOOKE, B.C. Fall is definitely in the air on the southwest shore of Vancouver Island.
As the early evening sun angled sharply through the towering trees near the entrance to the Country Cupboard Cafe just west of Sooke, owner Jennie Vivian stopped our conversation about her cute chaletlike building and gestured toward the window behind me. The sunlight, she said, looked different somehow. To her the change in the light was the first sign of fall, regardless if the calendar indicated it was only late August.
By Jeff Larsen | September 11, 2003
Hike of the Week
For many years the Mason Lake Trail lived up to its reputation of being mean and dirty. In addition to being badly eroded and steep, hikers had to negotiate a large boulder field before getting to the lake.
By Karen Sykes | September 11, 2003
Gearing Up
Belly up to the campfire and listen to some comments and questions from your fellow readers:
I am one of those who suffer from blisters every time I put on my boots to hike. I really think I've tried everything -- proper break-in, different sock combinations, different boot brands and styles, all to no avail. Are there really people out there who have to tape up their heels every time they go hiking? What's the best way to do it without ripping out my heels every time?
-- Leigh F., Fall City
By Kristin Hostetter | September 11, 2003
British Columbia boasts golf courses throughout the province, and each season more golfers are discovering those in the Kootenay Rockies region.
By Hal Quinn | September 11, 2003
SQUAMISH, B.C. — It's good to appreciate just what wrought the stone you are ascending.
Much to the delight of climbers, 93 million years ago wanderlusting oceanic plates rammed into North America, conceiving a colossal mass of molten magma 18 miles below the surface.
By Annabel Cassam | September 11, 2003
TOFINO, B.C. Sure, there are five-star resorts on the hauntingly beautiful west coast of Vancouver Island. But you don't have to blow a bundle to enjoy the same beachfront location near renowned Long Beach and picturesque Tofino.
At the Pacific Sands Beach Resort, owned and operated by the Pettinger family for 30 years, you get delightful accommodations at a price that's easy on the wallet, too.
By Janice Mucalov | September 11, 2003
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK I've driven to Hurricane Ridge before, but never like this, never with traveling companions of this caliber: an anthropologist, a naturalist and poet, a couple of park rangers and two Native American storytellers.
By Connie McDougall | September 11, 2003
