Nitobe Memorial Gardens at UBC, Vancouver - August 25

Simon & I visited the Nitobe Memorial Gardens at the University of British Columbia. It's a small & peaceful Japanese garden.

View of garden & pond

Lantern & pond

View from small island

Bell & standing stones

Camping trip - Penticton & the Kettle Valley Trail, BC August 23 - 24

We spent our final part of our camping adventure in the BC interior at Penticton. We rode the Kettle Valley Trail from Chute Lake into Penticton - a 42 km ride. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way including two tunnels & lots of vineyards!

An old station along the Kettle Valley Trail

Caroline & Simon on trail

Caroline outside the Little Tunnel

KVR bridge in the Naramata winery region

Camping trip - Fernie, BC August 20 - 22

We decided to reward ourselves by putting away the tents for a few days & treating ourselves to an apartment. Fernie is a beautiful Kootenay mountain town. We're relaxing, sleeping in & of course mountain biking!

A fitting name for a scary mtn bike trail

Beautiful Fernie mountain scenery

More beautiful Fernie mountain scenery

Camping trip - Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump, Alberta August 20

First Nations people used this site for thousands of years as a place to capture bison. They herded the bison over the cliff & then used every piece of the animals for food, weapons, clothing & shelter. It was a fascinating place to visit.

The buffalo jump

Buffalo exhibit

A tipi

Camping trip - Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta August 17 - 20

Waterton Lakes is the smallest of the Rocky National Parks & blissfully quiet. We camped here for 3 days & we did the 16km Crypt Lake walk - Canada's number 1 hike. It involves gaining 700 metres elevation, stacks of switchbacks, climbing a ladder, crawling through a tunnel, walking around a narrow cliff-face & finally arriving at the beautiful lake. The other side of Crypt lake is in Montana! We also visited the Bison (Buffalo) viewing paddock & climbed the Bear Hump which has a wonderful view of Upper Waterton Lake.

Caroline & Simon on the Bear Hump

Up the ladder we go!

Crypt Lake

Valley near Crypt Lake

It's Sir Bison to you

Camping trip - Banff National Park, Alberta August 14 - 16

We stayed at Lake Louise for two nights. We completed the Plain of Six Glaciers walk, rewarded ourselves with tea & scones at the teahouse & then walked back to Lake Louise via Mirror Lake. We also visited the magnificent Moraine Lake - it's an amazing colour & very peaceful compared to busy Lake Louise. Simon & I spotted a black bear & cub crossing the highway on our way to Banff - it was so exciting!

Simon at Plain of Six Glaciers

Lake Louise & Plain of Six Glaciers

Ride those ponies!

Moraine Lake

Peyto Lake

Camping trip - Jasper National Park, Alberta August 12 - 14

We rode the Valley of Five Lakes trail in Jasper - a challenging but rewarding ride. The lakes were an incredible shade of blue. We also visited the Miette Hot Springs, soaked in the warm waters & then walked to the hot spring source.

View of the 5th lake

Caroline & Pip at 5th lake

Simon & Sam relaxing after a long ride

Sunset over Mt. Edith Cavell

Camping trip - Mt. Robson, BC August 11

Mount Robson is also known as the "Monarch of the Rockies" - it's the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies at almost 4000m tall. We rode the trail to Kinney Lake. Kinney Lake is beautiful & it reflects the mountain scenery like a mirror.

Mt. Robson

Kinney Lake

On trail at Kinney Lake

Kinney Lake reflections

Camping trip - Kamloops, BC August 8 - 10

Kamloops is a boiling hot place in summer but it is also the home of year-round accessible mountain biking (which is why we're here!). We rode some trails at Kenna Cartwright Park. It was hard work but very rewarding.

Caroline on trail

At the top of Kenna Cartwright Park

Camping trip - Crankworkx, Whistler, BC August 3 - 5

We caught the annual Crankworx Mountain Bike competition at Whistler, BC. In summer, Whistler becomes a crazy downhill mountain bike park. We watched the Biker Cross & the Wheelchair biker cross - with competitors whizzing right over heads during the jumps. We also rode some cross-country trails & swam in the warm waters of Whistler Lake.

You wanna try it?

Some big air!

Watch those turns!

Don't try this at home!

Camping trip - Mt. Rainier National Park - Washington State, USA July 31 - August 2

We spent 3 days at Mt. Rainier National Park. It's a huge volcanic mountain behind Seattle & we were fortunate enough to see it in full sunshine. The wildflowers & scenery were incredible. We walked from a place called Paradise to Panorama Point where we could see Mt Hood, Mt Adams & Mt. St. Helens. If you're ever in Seattle, head straight to Mt. Rainier - it's magnificent.

Park entrance

Mt Rainier

Glorious wildflowers

Mt Rainier & waterfall

Emily's birthday, BC - Pitt Meadows July 30

We celebrated Emily's birthday by going canoeing at Pitt Meadows & walking to a nearby waterfall.

Caroline, Emily, Sam, Pip & Simon

Emily & Sam in a waterhole

Paddle that canoe Sam!

Celebration of Light, BC - Vancouver July 30

We were in Vancouver for the fantastic fireworks competition the "Celebration of Light". Three countries compete against each other; this year's contestants were: China, Sweden & Canada. We caught the action of Canada & Sweden.

Sweden's fireworks