I spent seven years writing about hiking equipment for one of Canada’s largest outdoor retailers, so I’m pretty picky when it comes to my gear. I also spend a ton of time in the backcountry researching my hiking guidebooks and trail guides, so good gear is important. Each year I make a list of the …
Taryn Eyton
The Harrison area is one of my favourite weekend getaways from Vancouver. It’s an easy drive to a cute village on the lake with great views of the mountains. After my most recent visit, I can also confirm that visiting Harrison Hot Springs in winter is a great idea. I spent a fun winter weekend …
I’m not a huge water person, but I LOVE hot springs. After a day of hiking or hours in the car on a road trip, being able to sit in some warm water, outdoors, surrounded by nature… bliss. Thankfully, Western Canada has some great hot springs. In fact, all of the hot springs in Canada …
Known as Načiks in Nuu-chah-nulth, Tofino is one of the most beautiful spots on Vancouver Island: lush rainforests, sandy beaches, and a quaint coastal town. It’s certainly not a mainstream opinion, but I prefer visiting Tofino in winter. As a little kid, I spent a few summers in Tofino with my extended family, building sand …
Have you seen some of these hiking stocking stuffers guides? They’re full of $300 gadgets or things that are clearly too large to physically fit in a stocking. I’m seen them too. And they’re ridiculous. A stocking should be full of small, fun, inexpensive stuff. And chocolate. Some of my family is pretty outdoorsy (no …
Getting outfitted for hiking and backpacking can seem overwhelming. When I was first starting out, I felt like there was so much gear on the market and that it was SOOO expensive. Plus I felt like the list of gear you need to buy for hiking and backpacking was never ending. That was two decades …
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I love Tasmania’s wilderness. I spent 6 days exploring it on the Overland Track on my first visit, so when I returned to Tasmania the next year, I pretty much went right from the airport directly to Walls of Jerusalem National Park to go backpacking. Unlike the …
Banff National Park’s Egypt Lake area is gorgeous: a scattering of blue glacial lakes below rugged peaks. In between, you’ll find patches of meadows, majestic alpine larch trees, and well-maintained trails. It’s a moderate hike to the Egypt Lake campground, which makes a great base camp for exploring. It’s a tough backcountry camp to reserve, …
You’ve probably seen those news stories: “Search and Rescue finds Unprepared Hikers Lost/Injured in the Woods”. But that’s never going to be you right? Yup, we all think it won’t happen to us. But it definitely could. No one expects to get lost, get stuck hiking in the dark or hurt themselves, but they do. …
If you think of fall hiking, you are probably picturing strolling through a beautiful maple forest with red and gold leaves everywhere. That kind of scene is quintessentially autumn, but it’s kind of an East Coast cliche. We don’t have much of that near Vancouver. What we do have, however, is a pretty unique fall …