UKC

Hi,

I’m planning a summer road trip from Calgary to Vancouver, over 2-3 weeks, hoping to do a mix of mountain biking, hiking, and maybe 1 or 2 climbing venues (partner not really a climber.)

Any suggestions for not-to-be-missed locations? We’re planning on a few of the bike parks, but any longer cross country trails and hikes would be good too. 

Would Squamish be the best single crag to include? I’m aware July is high season and popular places like Banff NP need booked before, but can we leave flexibility for camp sites and accommodation cross state or is it best to pre-book everything?

I’m happy to hear stories and suggestions of peoples trips and itineraries.

Many thanks

If your on Facebook check out Stevens Peak-bagging Journey , its excellent.

Skaha would be good with a non climbing partner.

We have just spent some time on the Juan de Fuca coastal trail on Vancouver island.  Very nice, if more ambitious look into The West Coast Trail, also on Vancouver Island.

If you are planning on going to BC in summer, it's probably worthwhile checking out the BC Wildfires Service map. https://governmentofbc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=ef6f...  Apart from the pretty colours, the map does not make good viewing.  July through September are peak wildfire months.  Squamish shoud be relatively unaffected - however even there and the Vancouver area have all been affected by smoke.

2017 and 2018 are the two worst years on record for wildfires - and the situation doesnt look like improving with a combination of relatively little winter snowfall and dry cool springs turning in to hot dry summers with frequent lightning strikes.

Large swathes of the province are currently on fire, and almost everywhere is affected by smoke.  My daughter lives near Williams Lake in central BC and it officially has the worst air quality in the world at the moment.  5 of the top 10 are also in western Canada - with the rest being well known industrial blackspots in China! So far this year there have been no major fires within about 50km of her home, but last year there was a big one that got to about 5km away - and all the main evacuation routes were cut off by fires.  Her last resort plan was for her and her partner plus the 2 dogs to paddle their canoe out in to the middle of the nearest  lake and sit things out!

I’d endorse that, I’m in BC just now and the smoke is all pervasive, visibility mostly 1 - 2 kilometres at best and it’s a disincentive to actually doing anything in the outdoors. It was especially bad between Prince George & Prince Rupert, at one point the light was more red and darker than a total eclipse of the sun. We were on the train so we trundled out from under that in half an hour, but if you were in the one place, no fun at all.

Without the wildfires, Northern BC would be amazing for what the OP has in mind!