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Canada 2024

July - August 2024
A 40-day adventure by Happy Camper inc. Read more
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  • TravelerCanada 2024
    Day 2–4

    Seattle to Vancouver

    July 14 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    And we’re back in Canada! Just over 6 months after finding ourselves here for Christmas, we were back to experience this incredible landscape in Summer. The past 4 months in Oz feel like a blur and it’s nice to have a change from the van life.

    Our flights through the US gave us a day to explore San Fran before catching a late night flight up to Seattle. From here it was a short bus ride up to Vancouver. However, the border crossing into Canada was the big unknown for the trip. Would they let me back into Canada despite my visa issue? The nerves kicked in as the bus pulled off the freeway and into the Border Crossing queue. Long story short, after an hour of questioning and deliberation I was handed my Passport and we were cleared to enter! What a massive relief!!

    We treated ourselves to a nice hotel in central Vancouver with a sauna and enjoyed a quiet evening thankfully to have made it.

    The next day we rented bikes and rode around Stanley Park and the waterfront. With high 30°’s the day was stunning.

    The cheapest option for us to get to Kelowna was to rent a car one way and use it as our accomodation for the next couple days. We picked up an SUV we could fit our sleeping mats in the back of and got on the road East. With sunset being after 9pm we had plenty of time to get out of suburbia and into the farmland up the valley.    Read more

  • TravelerCanada 2024
    Day 4–6

    Harrison Hotsprings and Kelowna

    July 16 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Our night sleep in the back of the car was less than comfortable. By the time we had found a suitable spot to park up and got to bed it was already midnight. Despite the late night we were both awake at 5am with dawn breaking so drove 15 minutes to Cultus Lake to make our morning coffee.

    Once we were back on the highway heading for Kelowna we made a last minute decision to veer off and check out Harrison Hot Springs. The hot springs themselves are nothing to rave about, but the detour turned into a great decision. The town is set on a stunning lake that we had a swim in and then had a nap on the shore in the sun. Now rejuvenated we dropped by a fruit stall for some fresh apricots and cherries and got back on the road to Kelowna.

    I'd heard Kelowna was a beautiful town on a lake and it certainly didn't disappoint. Neither of us had heard of the Okanagan wine region so we were pleasantly surprised to find the valley full of wineries to check out. The lakefront of downtown was also a buzz with people and a waterfront market, even though it was a Tuesday afternoon.

    We had a day and a half to wait till Deano flew in so we found a cheap camp over on the west side of the lake and gave ourselves a relaxed evening and a day to explore the town.    Read more

  • TravelerCanada 2024
    Day 7

    Saddleback Mountain

    July 19 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    After our week journey slowly making our way to the wedding destination, we finally arrived. Being a "camping" wedding over a weekend, Mitch and Kelsey had planned a full itinerary for the weekend. Starting with a hike up to the summit of a nearby mountain on the Friday.

    The past week had been scorching hot with temperatures staying in the mid-high 30's. With the first wildfires of the season just starting we we were fortunate to get clear skies and stunning views up the mountain.

    Despite getting the details wrong about the time and place, we made it in time to meet up with the rest of the hiking group.    Read more

  • TravelerCanada 2024
    1
    Day 11

    Mount Mackenzie, Revelstoke

    July 23 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    After a great weekend of Wedding Festivities (and the mammoth pack down we all got roped into) we were back in Revelstoke. This was the time Mitch had set aside to show us his “backyard”. With the town surrounded by epic mountains, his list of potential hikes and summits was dizzying.

    Today the smoke had cleared a bit so we opted for an easy hike to the top of the Ski Resort, Mount Mackenzie. The easy part of this was the gondola ride most the way up. From here we followed some neat trails up amongst the various ski runs and tree-line. we made it to the sub peak which was the perfect spot to so up the sun, the view and have some lunch. Overall a nice warm up hike considering what we were about to learn about the next couple hikes Mitch had planned…    Read more

  • TravelerCanada 2024
    Day 12

    Mt Cartier, Revelstoke

    July 24 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Ok, this hike was epic! In every sense of the word. To put it into context, everyone who heard we did this was impressed. And that's coming from locals from Revelstoke who hike every spare second they have.

    Thankfully the smoke was still cleared out of the valley so we set off just after sunrise for the gruelling 2000m of elevation from the base to the summit. Of the 15km to the summit, the first 12km was through thick forest along a winding path. Making the elevation even harder was an unbearable amount of mosquitos that swarmed around each of us making any stop to catch our breath very short-lived. Eventually we broke out of the treeline into the alpine and found some relief. From here the view opened up to see how far we'd climbed. However the view below us was overshadowed by the summit that still loomed high above us. With our legs burning and knees aching I was already dreading the return leg.

    We reached the summit well in need of some lunch. The view out over the surrounding mountain range was stunning. We had started the hike with one of Mitches mates who had brought his mountain bike planning on pushing it to the summit to ride the epic downhill trail. Having left him well behind us in the first kms of the trail we were convinced the bike would be too hard to drag the whole way. Yet before we had even finished lunch he emerged to join us on the summit! What an effort!

    From here it was the downhill slog. Retracing our steps into the forest the mosquitos became our unwelcome distraction from our legs screaming for a break from the constant impacting descent. Finally we emerged to the carpark having covered 32kms in 11 hours.    Read more

  • TravelerCanada 2024
    Day 13

    Halcyon and Halfway Hotsprings

    July 25 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Finally ready for a break from hiking, we planned a rest day with Mitch's family. About 1.5 hours down the Columbia River from Revelstoke are a couple of hot springs. We started at the more commercial Halcyon Hotsprings which had a resort spa attached. Perfect for the family, we arrived with Mitch's niece and nephew immediately turning the serene mood into that of a water park.

    After reaching an acceptable level of disruption to the rest of the occupants, we headed off towards our next stop. Halfway Hot Springs are set in the natural environment and have a series of hot water pools formed out of rocks along a crystal clear cold water stream. Perfect recovery for our legs after the past few days.    Read more

  • TravelerCanada 2024
    Day 15–16

    Kelowna and Vernon

    July 27 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    For the last days of Mitch's family's visit we travelled back to Kelowna. We spent the afternoon checking out some wineries and cideries before chilling out for the night.

    After saying our goodbyes the next morning, Deano, Jessie, Rundall and I left to meet up with some of the other "Revy" crew. A float down a river had been organised for Alexes birthday near the town of Vernon.

    We bought some cheap floaties and met up at the launch point. From here we boarded our craft of choice and set off on the drift downstream.

    Like complete losers we had planned another extreme summit hike for the next day with Mitch. After the float we joined the rest of the party crew back to their rented treehouse for dinner before heading back to Revy to prep for the next morning.

    The Treehouse was awesome! A 4 story behemoth of a construction, it came with its own suspension bridge and a suspended trampoline net above the trees. Eventually we dragged ourselves away from the party to drive the 1.5 hours back to Revy. Just in time to catch 4 hours sleep before the biggest summit mission so far!    Read more

  • TravelerCanada 2024
    Day 16

    Mount Begbie, Revelstoke

    July 28 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    This is the crowning jewel of summits in Revelstoke. Not only the highest peak but also the most impressive of all the mountains surrounding the town. A postcard backdrop with its distinct 3 peaks encasing a glacier that sits at the base of the summits.

    Mitch had warned us that the ascent through the trees from the base was as arduous as Mount Cartier. However, adding to the complexity of this summit was the need to traverse the glacier to a ledge that required scaling around with little more than a foothold above a 10-metre drop-off.

    The hike through the trees to the alpine zone (the treeline) was a slog! Steeper than Mount Cartier, it was straight up for 3 hours. Once we emerged from the forest we caught the first close-up views of how insane this mountain was.

    We rock-hopped our way to the base of the glacier and took a break to set up our ice crampons and harnesses. The glacier traverse was actually the easiest part of all. Probably only taking 30 mins we made it to the rock ledge and started the most technical section. We established a rope system to allow us to belay each other as we each navigated the rock ledge. Once through that, it was back to rock scrambling for another hour to the summit.

    After plenty of false summits, we finally emerged to the summit for an incredible view over the mountains and back to the town.

    From here, you guessed it, it was all downhill from here. Now on a mission to make it down before dark we didn't stop for more than to top up water and grab a quick sip.

    Another 2000m of ascent and 11 hours later we were back to the car. What a blast! Hopefully tomorrow we finally get a chill day!    Read more

  • TravelerCanada 2024
    1
    Day 19

    Hermit Trail, Glacier National Park

    July 31 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Just for something different, we went for a drive today. And then hiked another trail 😂
    Being the last day Deano is in Revy we drove the 45 minutes up to Glacier National Park. Our legs were pretty done after the past couple mega hikes so Mitch had promised us an "easier" one for today. What we came to realise fairly quickly is that Mitches definition of easy is related to the total time, definitely not the length or elevation profile.

    Not much point complaining though, once we popped out of the tree line and into the alpine the views across the majestic mountains and glaciers made it all worth it.

    We made it to the campground that was settled into an alpine meadow. From there we scaled up another rocky ridge line and came across a Marmot hanging out in the rocks. Surprisingly it didn't seem too shy and posed for a few pics before heading off down the mountain.    Read more

  • TravelerCanada 2024
    Day 21–23

    Kaslo Jazz and Blues Festival

    August 2 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Well this is a much-needed change from the endless hikes we'd done in the past couple weeks. With Deano gone we were keen to grab Mitch's yellow camper van and head off on our own road trip through the Rockies. First stop Kaslo!

    Gilles and Alex had invited us to join a small crew that had tickets to the weekend Jazz fest that was on. Having not realised that Kaslo was 3.5 hours the opposite direction to where I had expected, I bought tickets to the Friday night. Our original plan was to grab the van and head to Jasper but it had been hit by a severe wildfire and been evacuated and was closed off for all residence and tourists. So the opposite direction wasn't that much of an issue any more.

    After the chaos of the past fortnight, between the wedding, the family gatherings and the hikes, the Jazz fest turned out to be everything we needed. Set in a small bay of the lake, the festival was walking distance into the cool arty village of Kaslo and had an awesome chill vibe going on. We arrived to Gillies and Alexs plot to park the van in its spot for the weekend and spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with the crew between the festival and floating around in the lake behind the stage. A well welcome break for the legs and the soul!    Read more

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