A wild place where Mother Nature creates boundaries – not man. A place where thousand year old trees grow in between an unreal green rainforest. A place where glacier-fed streams pour through steep valleys to join swollen rivers. This place is called British Columbia.
Bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east, this place offers everything from hiking in the Alpine next to glaciers and mountain lakes to surfing the Pacific wells. In October I had the chance to visit BC for an autumn tour.
Starting in Vancouver my plan was to make it along the Sunshine Coast to Vancouver Island. From there my way lead me back to Vancouver and eventually taking me to the mountains in Whistler.
Heading North from Vancouver brings you into dense rainforest that seems as unreal as it could be. Almost no light comes through the treetops while every noise is sucked in by the leafs, leaving only a gently noise of the wind blowing through.
The only way to gather an overview over this landscape is to climb a mountain, up there the whole scenery reveals its true beauty!
Whereas when you go deeper and deeper inside, trying to follow a river you will most likely come across deep gorges and valleys with dramatic waterfalls.
As a contrast Vancouver Island turned out – although it’s mostly covered by rainforest it has beautiful beaches on its shoreline – and the Pacific makes it a perfect surfing hotspot in whole Canada.
Making the way back on the mainland will bring you directly into an alpine landscape with mountains and valleys all over. Highways wind their way through this raw, untouched landscape while every few 100km you will go through a small village.
Sometimes the highway are going through the landscape like a snake – try to go to an higher elevation lookout point to see how the landscape gets one with the highway.
For those who are into climbing, the mountains offer a lot! Get on a hike and make it across the tree line and you will find yourself in a glacier and mountain lake scenery where deep until summer everything is covered with snow.
Daniel Ernst
Daniel is a 26 year old self taught freelance photographer from Frankfurt, Germany. His work as a photo-creator and story-teller takes him to many remote places around the world, always reflecting his passions. Inspired by nature, his work mainly focuses on the outdoors, adventure and lifestyle. To offer a documentation of his travels on a daily basis, he started using the social media platform Instagram a year ago.
‘With my photography and stories I want to inspire people, causing a desire, a motivation to leave the rush behind, escape routine, go outdoors, explore and experience nature. We are fortunate to be presented with many opportunities in this world, it’s just about making them into reality.’