We made our way down Highway 1 from Kamloops to the mountain city of Revelstoke. Revelstoke has 6,719 residents officially (according to the Canadian census) but like all of these mountain towns the numbers are far greater during the summer and winter seasons.

It’s a beautiful drive with great music we are really getting into classic country…Tammy Wynette, John Denver and Johnny Cash or when we lose the signal Classic Rock (it’s odd because I keep waiting for Cold Chisel or Hunters). And of course the beauty of having our own car which Steve is driving like a local is that when we see a sign that peaks our interest we stop. Our first today is at Shuswag Lake. This lake is the source for the South Thompson River and has a surprising 1,000 kilometres of shoreline.

It is really beautiful and we take some time to watch people walking their dogs and getting their boats ready to go out on such a lovely day.

Our next stop is the Tsutswecw Provincial Park previously known as the Roderick Haig-Brown Trail Park. As well as being quite stunning it plays a really important role in early October (so we were here just a couple of weeks early) during the run of the Adams River sockeye salmon – this is the place that some of the salmon spawn.

It’s a lovely spot with a nice walk through to the river and it was great for me to learn a little bit more about Roderick Haig-Brown a revered Canadian writer, conservationist and fly-fisherman. He wrote 25 books with his first being Silver – The life of an Atlantic Salmon. The stuff you find out along the way absolutely fascinating. He also wrote a number of children’s books including the award winning The Whale People a fictional book about a young Nootka Indian boy who learns and masters the art of whale hunting.

“I have been, all of my life, what is known as a conservationist. It seems clear beyond possibility of argument that any given generation of men can have only a lease, not ownership, of the earth; and one essential term of the lease is that the earth can be handed on to the next generation with unimpaired potentialities. This is the conservationist’s concern.”

Roderick Haig-Brown, 1950

A quick trip from there to Revelstoke and the great Lodge we are staying at with a pink bath – this takes me straight back to my nanas house 😀.

After further admiring the bath (well it was really just me that was enamoured) we hit the Revelstoke Tourist Information Centre where we hear a familiar accent behind the counter and speak with a girl from Melbourne who has been here for 18 months and is of course loving it. She gave us some great tips on what to do and where to go. So we ventured into (for the first time) the Mount Revelstoke National Park. This place is all about hiking, climbing, biking, rock climbing, fishing and rafting, but also thankfully walking….I have my boots and I plan to use them.

As we were walking towards this waterfall at Blanket Creek (noting that when we got in the car it was drizzling that has quickly turned to rain but all is okay as this time I am wearing a waterproof jacket) we hear a group obviously having a fantastic time …when we arrived we discovered that they had just kayaked down this waterfall with go pros tightly fastened to their helmets and one guy videoing from the shore. They were super excited that we had seen this but unfortunately we had to admit that we had in fact missed it so we all enjoyed the video it was terrifying from a sensible mums perspective but so very cool.

Our first stop the next day is at the Giant Cedars Boardwalk in the Mount Revelstoke National Park. This is according to the signs the worlds only natural inland rainforest. Some of the trees here were seedlings in the late 1400’s yep they are pretty old.

From here we travel to Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk. This lovely walk is just over a kilometre and it leads you to I guess a swamp. I must say I was slightly disappointed as I really thought I was in a Disney movie up until I saw this…

A lily pad without a serenading frog….and while we are at it where are the birds tweeting their sweet sweet songs…. gee wiz!

It was actually a real treat and a nice walk and a completely different ecosystem from others we have come across in this trip so far.

From here we headed up the mountain …. oh my goodness.

At the summit they have the “First Footsteps” where you can follow the footsteps of the First Nations People who have lived in and around Mount Revelstoke National Park for centuries.

My photos don’t do the mountain justice it is truly beautiful and there are so many trails you can take. We really only had time to get to the summit which was extraordinary. We also loved Revelstoke the people were lovely, we had a couple of great meals one in the local pub and another at a pizza place, the accomodation was great and the town is pretty as you will see from some of the photos I took around town.

Next stop Lake Louise …