The Lighthouse Loop Trail – Vancouver Island

When ‘Oyster’ Jim Martin moved to Vancouver Island in the 1980’s he fell in love with the rugged landscape and rocky headlands of the west coast that he saw from his fishing boat each day and had a dream to create a trail along the coastline that could be accessed and enjoyed by all. Forty years later that vision has grown into the Wild Pacific Trail and today I’m walking the Lighthouse Loop section, which happens to be the first section that was completed back in 1999.

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A walk around Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park

The alarm goes at 6am and by ten past we are on the road, half awake and unwashed with the bed still warm in the back of the van. All is quiet as we drive out of Lake Louise Campground through the sleepy town and out onto the Trans Canada One heading west. The sun is breaking through but clouds still cover the higher peaks and mist floats over the Bow river as we head up Kicking Horse Pass and back into British Columbia and Yoho National Park. The only other vehicles on the road are gigantic trucks, engines labouring up the incline.

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Canada Walks and Trails

My walks in Canada including the rain forests of Vancouver Island and the Canadian Rockies. Click on the walk to read the post or use the interactive map to see the route.

The Lighthouse Loop Trail - Vancouver Island

The Lighthouse Loop Trail – Vancouver Island

When ‘Oyster’ Jim Martin moved to Vancouver Island in the 1980’s he fell in love with the rugged landscape and ...
A walk around Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park

A walk around Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park

The alarm goes at 6am and by ten past we are on the road, half awake and unwashed with the ...
Walking the Tonquin Trail on Vancouver Island

Walking the Tonquin Trail on Vancouver Island

It’s a six hour drive from Victoria, the capital of British Columbia on Vancouver Island to our campsite in Tofino ...

 

 

Walking the Tonquin Trail on Vancouver Island

It’s a six hour drive from Victoria, the capital of British Columbia on Vancouver Island to our campsite in Tofino and my nerves are tested on the narrow bendy bit of the Pacific Rim Highway beyond Port Alberni. I am after all, driving on the wrong side of the road and sitting on the wrong side of the vehicle. The journey passes without incident though and as we park up at Tsawaak RV campground a gossamer thin sea mist is drifting in from the ocean obscuring sight and muffling sound. The cold dampness on our skin is refreshing though after the heat of Vancouver and Victoria where temperatures were in the mid 30’c.

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European Walks and Trails

Walks throughout Europe that can be completed in a day. Click on the walk to read the post or use the interactive map to locate the route. 

A walk along the Grand Balcon Sud, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

A walk along the Grand Balcon Sud, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

My first visit to Chamonix was in 1993 when I walked there from the shores of Lake Geneva doing a ...
A walk along the Bisse du Torrent Neuf, Switzerland

A walk along the Bisse du Torrent Neuf, Switzerland

The ‘Bisses’ of the Valais region of Switzerland are long irrigation channels, many of them hundreds of years old, built ...
A walk up Carrauntoohil, Ireland's Highest Mountain

A walk up Carrauntoohil, Ireland’s Highest Mountain

MacGillycuddy's Reeks may sound like a character out of a Roald Dahl book but is in fact an extensive mountain ...
A walk up Puig del Vilar, Mallorca

A walk up Puig del Vilar, Mallorca

I am back for a second attempt at walking up Puig del Vilar. My first, halfhearted and unprepared effort was ...
Port de Pollença to Cala Sant Vicenç via Coll de Siller

Port de Pollença to Cala Sant Vicenç via Coll de Siller

The walk over the Coll de Síller begins in the attractive tourist resort of Port de Pollença with its bars, ...
A walk up Na Blanca

A walk up Na Blanca

The Formentor peninsula is the rocky, volcanic spit of land that sticks out into the blue Mediterranean on the north ...
A Walk up Puig de Santuiri

A Walk up Puig de Santuiri

Of all the walks around Pollenca, the walk up Puig de Santuiri is perhaps not the most exciting one to ...
A walk up La Mola, Mallorca

A walk up La Mola, Mallorca

La Mola looks down onto the pretty seaside town of Cala sant Vicenc in the far north east of the ...
A walk along the Vall de Boquer

A walk along the Vall de Boquer

If you are a walker staying in the Pollenca area of Mallorca, the pretty walk along the valley de Boquer ...
A walk up Puig de Maria

A walk up Puig de Maria

We’ve been visiting Mallorca for decades. In the early days it was Santa Ponca in the South West but over ...

 

 

USA Walks and Trails

My walks in the United States including Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. Click on the walk to read the post or use the interactive map to see the route.

A walk to Upper Yosemite Falls

A walk to Upper Yosemite Falls

“But no temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite. Every rock in its wall seems to glow with life.” ...
A walk to Grand View Point Overlook, Canyonlands National Park

A walk to Grand View Point Overlook, Canyonlands National Park

Our campsite, just outside Moab, Utah is in the middle of the Colorado Plateau. The plateau varies between three to ...
Walking in The Arches National Park, Utah

Walking in The Arches National Park, Utah

The Arches National Park is like no place I have ever walked in before. Set high on the desert plateau ...
A walk along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon

A walk along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon

‘Don’t worry Mom, I know all about cannibalism, I saw it on TV’. Like Danny in The Shining, it’s all ...
Walking with giants, the coastal redwoods of northern California

Walking with giants, the coastal redwoods of northern California

Reading the news recently that there are now more redwoods in the U.K. than in California (read here) reminded me ...

 

Tour du Mont Blanc Day Twelve – Refuge la Flégère to Chamonix

The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!
Robert Burns

The best laid scheme of today was to finish our Tour du Mont Blanc on top of Le Brévent and then get the cable car down into Chamonix to celebrate. It started to go awry with the weather forecast of last night and was confirmed in the early hours when the storm rolled in, wind whistling through the gaps in the old wooden frames and rain sweeping across the panes.

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Tour du Mont Blanc Day Ten – Trient to Tre Le Champ

Today we have the third and final border crossing of our Tour du Mont Blanc when we say goodbye to the forests of Switzerland and cross back into France at Col de Balme. It’s a Grand Old Duke of York walking day, a long steep walk up followed by a long steep walk down. Hill walking pared down to its simplest form, you’re going up or you’re going down, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and don’t forget to breathe. The reward for all this effort is we’ll get our first sight of Mont Blanc from the French side and we’ll also see the Chamonix valley, the end of our journey for the first time.

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Tour du Mont Blanc Day Nine – Champex to Trient

When we step outside to boot up for day nine of our Tour du Mont Blanc there are ominous dark clouds drifting through the valley. A blanket of grey covers the mountain tops and mist hangs ethereally around the pines surrounding Auberge Gîte Bon Abri. Just as we are about to start walking the heavens open and a torrential downpour sends us for cover under the giant gazebo in the grounds of the Auberge. It’s going to be one of those days.

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Tour du Mont Blanc Day Eight – La Fouly to Champex

For the last week we’ve been in the heart of the mountains. Walking along narrow rugged trails surrounded by snow topped pinnacled peaks with precipitous drops. We’ve gazed in awe at long serrated ridges with sprawling ice blue glaciers creeping down from the heights. It’s been a full on, exciting and immersive mountain experience. The contrast with today’s walk from La Fouly to Champex is stark, the mountains are replaced by meadows and the sound of cow bells replaces the roaring rivers. We will be walking next to the mountains, with glimpses of them but we will not be walking in them.

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