The Pacific Northwest

Ever since I started taking pictures more seriously and experimenting with creating short films, I’ve wanted to visit Canada. Specifically British Columbia and Alberta—the true pacific northwest. Last summer me and my brother finally got the opportunity to make it happen. We traveled west to Seattle to begin our journey north into the vast pine forests and endless mountain ranges of Canada’s west coast.

Seattle

I flew into Seattle on Day 1. Met up with my brother and explored the city for a few hours before meeting up with my long time friend I’ve played video games with for years. I had no expectations for Seattle when I arrived. I knew of the famous Space Needle but not much else. One thing I did notice, that I happen to see pretty much everywhere I travel that’s far from Louisville, was the climate. The temperature was so comfortable with a nice cool breeze from the pacific ocean.

We ended up exploring Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, Bubblegum Alley, and some other places before taking off to another part of town to meet my buddy Taylor from the world of video games. Taylor and I have played various games together over the past 15+ years. We met up at a video game arcade before transitioning to a very quaint little brewery. Afterwards, we left Seattle and headed further north to spend the night in a small town right outside the border named Bellingham.

The US / Canadian Border

After breakfast we took off for the border. This was my first experience leaving the country and using my passport. For as small as it may seem to some people, it was kind of a big deal to me. I was really looking forward to the experience. When we approached the checkpoint traffic was backed up for a while. There was this really neat monument that marked the relationship between the two countries. The border official took our passports, asked if we had any weapons, and cleared us to proceed in what amounted to about 30 seconds. It was much quicker than I had anticipated. They didn’t even stamp our passports which was kind of disappointing. This was my first time leaving the country! Where’s my stamp? Even though it was a very quick process, the whole ordeal was interesting to go through for the first time. Right after the check point we saw a sign that said “Welcome to British Columbia” and from that point it was officially on.

Vancouver

I wish I had taken a few pictures of our drive from the border to the city of Vancouver. The roads traveled along the coast—up and down very rocky terrain. So many opportunities for great photos but trying to find that balance between constantly thinking about taking a great photo and just enjoying the experience is always a struggle.

Vancouver is huge. It’s split up between the north and south side. Everywhere we went was packed full of people. We had an Airbnb in the Gastown district in a small 1 bedroom apartment in a very tall condominium. This room was so tiny, it was fully furnished with a washer and dryer but it was very cramped. These rooms were selling for over $600k. I knew Vancouver had a substantial housing crisis but to think, people were willing to pay that much for so little blew my mind. Then again, these people were getting to live in the middle of one of the most exciting cities in North America. I guess that’s the price for admission. In the parking garage I spotted a Lamborghini and an Acura NSX.

We spent two days exploring the city. Checked out the Port of Vancouver, English Bay, Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, Grouse Mountain, and another really great breakfast place called Jam Cafe to name a few. Like Seattle, the temperature was perfect. The costal cities have such a wonderful climate year around. It never gets too cold and the breeze off the ocean keeps the summers cool. As long as it doesn’t rain too much, you really have nothing to complain about.

View more photos

Capilano Suspension Bridge

A suspension bridge was definitely one of the places on my list to check out. You see them all the time on Instagram. I did a little research on a few but in the end decided to go with a popular choice that was close in proximity to our planned route. The place was extremely crowded. To enter the park you cross a very large bridge over a pretty wide divide. This is the main attraction and there’s going to be tons of people on it at once. When you cross over to the other side, the rest of the park is made up of much smaller bridges high up in the tree canopy. It’s neat to see, reminds me of the stages in Donkey Kong Country. But honestly, it’s nothing to write home about for the price. If you’re reading this and you find yourself traveling to British Columbia, I would recommend you look for a different suspension bridge. This one isn’t bad, but I would wager you could find something a little more interesting.

View more photos

Grouse Mountain

After the bridge we headed up to Grouse Mountain. This is a pretty cool spot high up on a mountain top with an amazing view of Vancouver. This is a must see for the view alone. There’s a restaurant, gift shop, zip lines, and chair lifts to even more spectacular vantage points. The bugs though, they were relentless. They would seriously test my patience when I was trying to get some decent shots. So watch out for that if you plan to visit sometime in the warmer months.

Jasper National Park

We spent a couple of days in Vancouver, then crossed British Columbia to reach Jasper National Park in Alberta. Jasper is part of a much larger park area that encompasses Banff National Park. This region of Canada is what you see literally everywhere on Instagram. It is absolutely beautiful. I’ve always wanted to visit British Columbia but this area in Alberta was what the trip was all about. The town of Jasper felt so much like an outpost—some sort of small encampment at the edge of civilization. Even though it’s a popular National Park, I couldn’t help but feel like we were really far North.

We had a neat hotel that was right in town next to a small little cafe to get your morning coffee. It was also close to the Jasper Brewing Company (of course we’d hit up a brewery if there was one). There’s just something really cool about these small remote towns near National Parks.

Jasper is smaller and a lot less crowded than Banff but some of the views here are spectacular, whether you’re driving or hiking—doesn’t matter. Some of the main attractions were the town of Jasper, Maligne Lake, Athabasca Falls, and Sunwapta Falls. The falls are the must see destination here.

View photos from Sunwapta Falls
View photos from Maligne Lake

The Icefields Parkway

After you leave Japer you’ll travel through the Icefields Parkway, a long scenic road that parallels the Continental Divide, traversing the rugged landscape of the Canadian Rockies that connects Jasper and Banff National Parks. The stretch of road is dotted with more than 100 ancient glaciers, cascading waterfalls, dramatic rock spires, and emerald lakes set in sweeping valleys of thick pine forests.

Before we departed Jasper, my brother Chris proposed a surprise that would cost us some time and money but would be worth the investment if we were willing to agree. Of course we were all down for this, how could he steer us wrong? Well to our surprise he took us to the Columbia Icefield, where we actually got a chance to walk out on a glacier. It was so cold and the wind was brutal. But actually standing on a glacier was an unforgettable experience.

After walking on a glacier, we checked out the Columbia Icefield Skywalk. This is a cliff-edge walkway where giant glaciers perch above you and the Sunwapta Valley spreads out below. Oh and did I mention the Skywalk has a glass floor? The view from here is breathtaking.

View more photos

Banff National Park

So this is the crown jewel of the Canadian National Parks. The town of Banff is a rather large tourist stop. Booming with people, shops, restaurants, breweries/bars, about everything you’d imagine. We actually went out late one night and checked out this hidden little brewery. It was absolutely packed with people drinking steins. If you don’t know what a stein is, it’s basically the next step up from a standard which is what they call a pint. I was kind of shocked at how many people were ordering them. They literally treat a stein like we do pints, it’s crazy. This sort of brewery/bar experience in a different country, late at night, in a popping tourist location is a thing I look forward to. There’s this strange feeling of being in a completely different location around different people that is so comforting and joyful. As much as I wanted to stay out late and really have a great time meeting the locals, I didn’t want to jeopardize my ability to wake up the next morning and hit the road. One of my worst experiences was letting lose at The Grand Canyon lodge and paying dearly the next morning for it. Not only did I miss the breakfast we were looking forward to, I was immobilized for hours the next day trying to nurse the hangover.

Anyway, Banff is home to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. The two lakes reflect a distinctive shade of azure blue. The unique color is due to the refraction of light off the rock flour deposited in the lakes on a continual basis by surrounding glaciers. It is an unbelievable sight to behold. Make sure you plan your trip out in advance because the two lakes are extremely crowded pretty much all day long. It’s funny because when you see Instagram posts of these places you’re not thinking about such things. But these parks are packed with people doing the same thing—taking photos for social media. Really makes you wonder what these parks might’ve been like decades ago before social media became a thing. You’ll most likely have to take a bus to get to Moraine Lake because the parking lot will be full. We tried doing both in the same day and didn’t manage to see Moraine until later in the evening. So just be conscience of this and plan accordingly. Both of these lakes are jaw-dropping just for the views alone. If you get the chance you should rent a canoe, it’s probably the best way to experience it all.

View photos from Lake Louise
View photos from Moraine Lake

Conclusion

Canada is beautiful. Especially British Columbia and Alberta. If you love hiking, mountains, pine forests, lakes, and everything about the outdoors, this should be at the top of your list of places to visit. There’s just so many astonishing things to see and do. It would be a fulfilling place to live if you could find work and afford the cost of living. Being able to experience these sights on a regular basis would be glorious. Could you imagine how great life would be if all you did was travel and spend time at these lovely places? Those that are lucky enough to do it full time on Instagram have no idea how good they actually have it. Don’t skip on the chance to see such a marvelous landscape in the great pacific northwest. You won’t regret it.

– dm

Unique Aspects of Canada

Over the duration of my visit, I kept track of things I noticed that were different from the way we do things in the U.S. They include the following:

• Blacked out cigarettes. All cigarettes behind the counter are hidden by a black drape/curtain that’s pulled down over the shelves. I’m assuming this is to discourage kids from purchasing them based off the aesthetics alone.
• Well-done only ground beef. This of course is to eliminate the possibility that someone could get sick off beef that isn’t cooked all the way.
• No one-dollar bills. They have $1 and $2 coins but the lowest bill is $5. This seems like a really good idea that we should adopt.
• Washroom vs bathroom. This was an interesting topic of discussion among us. We call them bathrooms and sometimes restrooms but when you think about it, who is taking a bath or resting in such a place? Washroom seems to be the most appropriate name.
• Green traffic lights flash. I’m not sure what the benefit is here, do people pay more attention when the light flashes? If so, why would it flash on green instead of red?
• Metric vs imperial. This one is obvious. When are we going to finally move to metric like the rest of the world?
• Railroad crossing signs are a white ‘X’ with red outline. Nothing major, just another observation.
• Different exit sign (icon vs word). You’ll see this same sign on certain airlines in the U.S. This is a better idea for countries where several different languages are common.
• Better roads. Not sure if this is common in all of Canada, but for British Columbia and Alberta, the roads were really nice. I couldn’t help but think about our crumbling infrastructure back home.