August, 2018
North Arm Farm
Another spectacular Araxi longtable dinner. Amazing food, wine, cocktails (ooh that Sheringham Seaside Gin) and the most wonderful dinner companions! And the smoky skies added a special touch to the vibe. Can’t wait till next year.
The food was amazing but this year there was way too much. Some diners were spooked by the smoky skies and sadly cancelled in the last few hours before the event. Needless to say, the food had already been purchased and prepped. I can only hope that it found it's way to very lucky recipients at the local food bank.
The rest of us who came had an amazing time!
Beautiful live music cutting through the haze.
Dessert is being plated!
The flowers tone perfectly with the sky.
I don't know if I laugh as much with anyone else!
Perfect!
Nairn Falls Provincial Park
July, 2016
Nairn Falls on Canada Day. Beautiful!
It's not called Green River for nothing. This river is fed by Green Lake in Whistler, which is in turn fed by Fitzsimmons Creek that starts way up in the Overlord Glacier and Russet Lake. As the glacier's ice moves, it grinds rock into a fine powder that Fitzsimmons Creek carries downstream with the glacial meltwater. This dumps into Green Lake which then drains into Green River. That silt, graciously dropped in by the glacier's movement, makes the water look green.
This 25km long river grows in volume as it picks up water from various tributaries along the way and its green colour can shift depending on the season and storm activity. It's a stronger green in the summer when the glaciers are melting the most but after heavy storms, it can turn a murky grey-brown from the storm-eroded sediment.
Long ago, this place was a spiritual site for the Lil'wat Nation and part of the trail we followed was the tradition route the Lil'wat used to get to the falls and Mount Currie.
Unlike some other waterfalls in the area, this one doesn't have a big, single drop. It falls in two main tiers of about 18m each. This is the lower section which is much easier to see than the upper which sits deep in the canyon.
That relatively small drop packs a lot of power! This day's flow was actually the peak for July at 327 cubic metres per second. Rushing through a narrow chute like this would be the equivalent of about 60km/hr.
The force coming down makes the pools look like frothy, boiling pots of water.
A little rainbow softness amidst the power of the water.
Jaw-dropping Joffre Lakes
July, 2016
A spectacular 10km hike at Joffre Lakes, a chain of three lakes graciously fed by the Matier Glacier.
A peekaboo view of Lower Joffre Lake, at 1,240m.
Middle Lake, halfway up the trail, sits at 1,535m and with this lighting, the silty colour from the glacial melt really shows through.
The turquoise water of Middle Lake almost looks tropical...don't be fooled!
Robyn is the bravest of the bunch. The water temperature here at Middle Lake was 4°C! Hardly tropical!
The Upper Lake sits up against the Matier Glacier at 1600m, which is the primary source of water and silt for the three lakes, flowing from the top all the way to the lowest lake.
The Matier Glacier is receding and I suppose if you were here a few decades ago, you would be shocked at the state of it...
And that winds up our Canada Day long weekend in a most spectacular Canadian landscape!