I have spent a combined three months house sitting in Tasmania over the last few years. I thought the highlight of my visit was going to be hiking or food (and both of those were AH-mazing). But the true highlight for me ended up being the wildlife in Tasmania. Tasmania has relatively few people and …
Wildlife
A few years ago, I spent a few days escaping winter by heading to the desert of Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. The sun was bright, the desert was warm(ish) during the day and the scenery was spectacular. I spent three nights camping, hiking and exploring with friends, but I wish I had …
Maria Island, Tasmania was one of my favourite places I visited in Australia. This little island on the East Coast of Tasmania is kind of like a mini version of the state, without the people. It has everything you want to see in Tasmania all in one place: convict heritage sites, amazing wildlife, and great …
Vancouver Island in British Columbia is a special place. But most visitors tend to stick to the well-known spots on the southern end. Which is really too bad because there are so many great things to do on northern Vancouver Island. It’s actually my favourite part! Northern Vancouver Island is off the beaten path so …
I’ve spent a lot of time on British Columbia’s coast… but not a lot of time actually on the water. You could say I’m more of a terrestrial mammal. But a few summers ago I wanted to see what I had been missing so I went on a kayaking trip in the Johnstone Strait and …
If you head into the wilderness I’m sure you know to that if you pack it in, you should pack it out. But what else do you need to know to protect nature (and avoid being an a-hole)? Learn how to Leave No Trace when hiking and camping to keep the wilderness wild. What is …
As is tradition around this corner of the internet, here are my favourite memories of 2016. (How many years do you have to do something to make it a tradition? I did this in 2014 and 2015, so I think it’s fair to call it a tradition now.) This year when I sat down to …
Recently I wrote a post called “You Killed A Bear” that ended up getting way more online attention than I had anticipated. My message in that post was that less experienced hikers should read up about bear safety before they head out for a hike or go backcountry camping. Lots of people asked questions about …
A Quick Note: This article was originally published in August 2016. The aim of this post was to shock people in order to raise awareness. I know it’s an uncomfortable post to read and that many hikers and campers might feel a bit confronted since they don’t engage in the kind of behaviour discussed here. …
One of the highlights of spending time outdoors is spotting wild animals. I’ve seen black bears, whales, mountain goats, lots of birds, deer, moose, elk, marmots and once even a wolverine. However, seeing wildlife while hiking is a game of chance that you often don’t win. But what if I told you the easiest way …