Below is a list of just some of the best trails and mountains to play on around Nanaimo.

Hiking Trails around Nanaimo

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  Extension Ridge from Extension Road, Nanaimo [Trip Report]
  The Great Trail (Trans Canada Trail) sections on Vancouver Island offer so much variety. I’m always keen on new trails… Read More »Extension Ridge from Extension Road, Nanaimo [Trip Report]
• 
  Nanaimo Lakes Road to Whisky Lake
  Being part of hiking groups online is a mixed blessing. On the one hand there’s a constant supply of assistance,… Read More »Nanaimo Lakes Road to Whisky Lake
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  Trans Canada Trail: Haslam Creek to Christie Falls
  I had one section left to complete the Spruston Road to Christie Falls portion of the Trans Canada Trail near… Read More »Trans Canada Trail: Haslam Creek to Christie Falls
• 
  White Pine Trail
  I recently hiked the White Pine Trail near Nanaimo. It’s part of the Trans Canada Trail near Nanaimo. Years ago,… Read More »White Pine Trail
• 
  Hiking Mount Gemini
  In July I had the chance to get up the modest peak of Gemini Mountain at 1516m. I’ve seen it… Read More »Hiking Mount Gemini
• 
  Hiking Mount Benson
  Mount Benson is an icon of Nanaimo. Everywhere you go in town, you can see it’s rolling green ridges.The small… Read More »Hiking Mount Benson
• 
  Hike in Nanaimo: Haslam Creek Trail
  I love going for hikes. I love just wandering around in the bush aimlessly taking in the sights, smells, and… Read More »Hike in Nanaimo: Haslam Creek Trail
• 
  Summiting Mount De Cosmos
  Ahh, the elusive Mount De Cosmos.A couple weeks ago fellow adventurer Ryan and I headed out to the Nanaimo Lakes… Read More »Summiting Mount De Cosmos
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  Hike in Nanaimo: Ammonite Falls from Doumont Road
  Ammonite falls is a beautiful decent-sized waterfall right very close to the heart of Nanaimo. This route from Doumont is… Read More »Hike in Nanaimo: Ammonite Falls from Doumont Road
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  Hike in Nanaimo: Ammonite Falls from Jameson Road
  Ammonite Falls is a hidden gem tucked away in Nanaimo. It is so easy to find yet so many people… Read More »Hike in Nanaimo: Ammonite Falls from Jameson Road
• 
  Finally Summit Green Mountain
  After almost 2 years trying to get to the top of Green Mountain near Nanaimo, I’ve done it. I’ve spent… Read More »Finally Summit Green Mountain
• 
  Bonnell Creek Falls in Nanoose
  My girlfriend and I wanted to go for an adventure of the hiking type on Valentine’s Day. More specifically, we… Read More »Bonnell Creek Falls in Nanoose

The post Hiking near Nanaimo first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Check the Island Avalanche Bulletin

No matter where you are heading in the fall, winter and spring, if there is snow, there could be avalanche risk.

Always check the Island Avalanche bulletin to see what the risk and weather are.

Take an Avalanche Course

Island Alpine Guides offer excellent avalanche courses and refreshers. I recommend you always have a recent course if you are travelling in snowy terrain. It will drastically reduce the risk of an accident if you know and use the skills from these avalanche courses.

Be safe out there!

The post Avalanches on Vancouver Island first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Travel just a little further south and you’ll bump into Nanaimo River. A fantastic way to beat the summer heat, it first runs through the 4 Nanaimo Lakes; First, Second, Third and Fourth. The large undeveloped area around the lakes offer a refreshing view into the scenery the island has to offer, even it has been partially logged.

There’s so much you can do around Nanaimo Lakes. You could spend weeks exploring. There are 4 campsites on First lake, fishing on First, Second and Fourth, beautiful spots to swim on the river and epic views to hike on the surrounding hills.

Camping near Nanaimo Lakes

First Lake is home to 4 different campsites. Mosaic Campsites has the official information for the sites in the area and how to book ahead of time. The Nanaimo Lakes campsites are in the Central Island section.

Deadwood Campground is near the gate to the area at the east end of first lake. Riverside and Windy Point are located at the west end of the lake where the river flows in from Second Lake. Old Mill campground is further along the road on the south side of the lake.

All 4 campgrounds are open April 1 to October 11th. Recently it’s been $29-$33 per night to stay in the area. This can change without warning so check the online booking site.

Keep in mind that the campsites and hiking tails are on private land owned by Mosaic. They control this land and can close it at any time if they run into problems. In the past the entire area was closed after some equipment was damaged or fire risk is high.

There is one gate before First Lake that controls access to the campsite and another at Second Lake. The second gate at Second Lake is often open only for logging.

Treat the area with respect and it will be open more often.

Hiking near Nanaimo Lakes

A lot of the Nanaimo Lakes area has been logged. This has it’s pros and cons. The active roads give good access to the remote areas around the Nanaimo Lakes. The very reason the roads are there though, is to give the loggers a way in to remove trees from the hills.

Clearcuts aren’t the prettiest thing to look at. Areas that have had a chance to grow back but still have logging roads for access can make for good places to hike.

As soon as you enter the Nanaimo Lakes area you’ll be surrounded by medium-sized mountains. Second Lake is straddled by Mount DeCosmos at 1531 meters to the north and Mount Hooker at 1263 meters to the south. As you get past Second lake you’ll start to see Mount Moriarty to the north. Drive a little further and turn south you’ll end up with Green Mountain, Gemini Mountain and Butler Peak to your left.

Fishing on the Nanaimo Lakes

If you have your own boat, you can do some fishing in one of the Nanaimo Lakes. Each of the lakes has a boat launch for anyone to use. First and Fourth Lake are stocked with Rainbow and Cutthroat trout each year. A few other species have been found in the lakes as well.

All the lakes are limited to 10 HP engines.

Be sure to check the local regulations for fishing the river as it’s different than the lakes.

Swimming in the Nanaimo Lakes

The Nanaimo Lakes are perfect for swimming in during the warmer months of the year. There are many different places to access them but most are through the campsites. Some of the lakes have smaller access points as well that make for great places to cool down during the summer.

Skiing near Nanaimo Lakes

If you’ve got ski touring gear or snowshoes, you can make use of the hills around the Nanaimo Lakes area. For years, Green Mountain was a community run ski hill. They ended up shutting down in 1984 but the old ski runs remain and are still a great place to get some turns in. You just have to get yourself to the top!

Getting to Nanaimo Lakes

Nanaimo Lakes can be reached by travelling south from Nanaimo and taking a right onto Nanaimo River Road.

You can also reach them by travelling south on Nanaimo Lakes Road off of Wakesiah Ave in downtown Nanaimo. Check out a Google map out of how to get to Nanaimo Lakes from Nanaimo.

Get Outside!

I highly recommend checking out the Nanaimo Lakes area. It’s a beautiful area so close to Nanaimo and is rarely busy like the pretty spots close to town. This post is only a taste of the places you can go and things you can do out there. I’ll be updating this post when I find new and exciting information so check back often!

As always if you’ve got any questions or comments, message me through the contact form, email me, or leave a comment below.

The post Nanaimo Lakes first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Free Tickets!

We have two 4-packs of tickets to give away. All you need to do is comment on this blog post or our social media channels with what you’d like to see at the show most. Who are you going to talk to? What booths do you have to see? You can comment on our Facebook post and Instagram post as well for extra entries. On Facebook and Instagram tag friends for 1 bonus entry. The contest will run until Wednesday February 27, at 5pm. We will draw the names then and contact the winners.

Discount Coupons

The post Free Tickets to the Outdoor Adventure Show 2019 first appeared on Pack & Trail.

It is extra weight, yes. But weight that is very worth it. Here’s why.

The wet coast, I mean the west coast, of Vancouver Island can be a very wet place. There’s a reason why it’s called a rainforest. There’s plenty of rain to keep the ‘rain’ in rainforest.

When you’re hiking through those conditions, it’s nice to have a dry place to do things. Yes, you can set up a tent and get inside and then try to do everything from that small space. But have you tried to set up a tent in the rain, keeping it dry then getting inside to get dry clothes on and keep everything else dry?

It’s nearly impossible.If you actually do manage to set up the tent and keep it somewhat dry inside, you have to get in there in your wet gear do tent yoga to change. And keep everything dry. Right.

Or… you can put up a tarp.

These aren’t your standard Canadian Tire special tarps that weight 10 pounds on their own. The tarps I’m talking about are the extra thin, extra light siltarps for backpacking. They don’t weigh much.

When I hiked the West Coast Trail, we’d roll into camp, select our spot and set up the tarp as soon as we could. It was my first multi-day hike with the 10’x12′ MEC Silicone tarp and I just thought it would be a good idea to bring. It weighs 792 grams.

After the tarp was set up, we could relax in a dry, protected area of the elements. Each of the tents then can be set up under the tarp out of the rain and then moved to its final spot.If you have a big enough tarp, you can cover parts of the tents for a bit of extra rain protection. If not then it will be out in the rain but by that time, the fly will keep it nice and dry. We never pitched the tents far from the the tarp.

The tarp provides a dry community area to get out of the rain but not be stuck in your tent. The 2 person backpacking tents are getting roomier every year but they’re still not a huge amount of space when you have to change and cook and hang out for extended periods of time. Mountaineers weathering a storm might be fine being stuck in a tiny tent for multiple days but I’d prefer to have as much room as possible. The tarp gives a dry, spacious place to relax.

The tarp does weigh something and take up some space. If you are shaving ounces and just don’t have the space, it’s not absolutely necessary but if you’re looking for some level of comfort and want to get out of the rain on the “Wet Coast Trail” then you just might want to pack a tarp.

The post Why Bring a Tarp on the West Coast Trail? first appeared on Pack & Trail.

I threw in an entry because I can’t resist the chance to win some new merino wool base layers. And it just looked so cool. I ate something lucky that day because I received one of the shirts in the mail a few weeks later. Stoked!

Two questions you probably have right now; Who’s Simon Beck and what’s merino wool? Valid questions.

Merino wool is a soft, fine wool from the merino sheep. Icebreaker and other outdoor clothing manufacturers have exploded onto the scene in the last few years with comfy, warm-when-wet base layer and insulation pieces that don’t smell. Unlike polypropylene or other synthetics, the wool naturally resists the bacteria that leads to the smell. No bacteria. No smell.

Now on to Simon Beck.

After mucking about with some designs in the snow after ski touring and orienteering, Simon started sharing his designs online. It took a while to take off but no he’s travelling the world stomping out beautiful, massive snow designs in the mountains.

He recently teamed up with Icebreaker to make designs for a line of shirts with them. The shirts are Icebreaker quality with Simon’s cool designs on them.

Icebreaker is donating $20,000 from the sale of the Simon Beck line to Protect Our Winters, a world-wide non-profit dedicated to keeping our winters around for the next generations.

Here’s Simon doing his thing.

You can find more about Simon and his artwork on Simon’s Facebook page

The post Icebreaker teams up with Simon Beck for new base layer designs first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Quests are not only the stuff of epic stories but the material for a deeply satisfying life. Some people have made it their lives to teach others about the outdoors or conquer the highest mountains of the world. But they don’t have to be huge, they can also be right in your back yard. Training for 10k runs or half marathons or finding powder to ski 100 days of the year are perfectly good quests as well. What they all have in common is a big goal and a long road of training and preparation ahead of them.

I’ve just finished reading The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau. I usually post these kind of personal development books on my other site, techtrails.ca, I felt this one was well suited to all kinds of adventures, especially physical ones like we do outside.

The Happiness of Pursuit is all about quests. The kind that are long and arduous and require a lot of preparation. Climbing a set of 14,000 foot mountains or running every trail in your city or kayaking to every island in a province are all different kinds of quests. Some are small and some are large.

For those who have never read Chris Guillebeau on his website The Art of Non-conformity, he’s spent the last 10 years visiting every single country in the world, all 193 of them. I’d say that’s a pretty big quest. He visited about 10 countries a year and spent considerable time and money doing it. He runs his business online from his laptop so he’s free to pick up and travel whenever he needs to. He also learned an incredible amount about “travel hacking”, a new discipline of getting as many Frequent Flyer Miles as possible through often crazy methods and using those to fly around the world. He would never have been able to afford all that travel otherwise.

The main premise of the book is that everyone can dream up a quest and start it. Lots of people have before. Some of them fail. Many of them are accomplished. It is hard but it’s also incredibly rewarding to set huge goals and complete them.

The goals can be anything. Some stories from the book were walking across the US or cooking a meal from every country in the world. Our human powered adventure offers an infinite number of different goals to be done. The big classics are climbing the 7 summits around the world or swimming the 7 seas but what you do for your quest can be anything you want. You can hike all the mountains in your state or all the trails in your city. Or you run every race in your region or run to every park in your city. The list is endless.

Chris lists easy steps in the book to get started on a quest. There’s not many and it’s pretty straightforward. You might be choosing a very large goal for your quest but the steps to plan it are step by step and not difficult.

What is your goal?

The first step might be the hardest. If you don’t know what you want then you might have trouble figuring something out but there is an easy solution: Think about it more.

Every day think about what you want. Do you want to run or ride or hike or climb? What do you want to do? Where would you like to go? Would you like to do something close to home or something that requires a lot of travel? You will probably want to start with a quest that’s small to see what it’s like. Do you like the format of checking off all those goals or do you like something more freeform?

Remember that you can do anything you want and you can probably do something bigger than you think.

Tally It Up

This part is probably the most important advice in the entire book:

“If I broke down the overwhelming project of visiting 193 countries before the age of thirty-five into a long series of small tasks, most of the problems I had to solve because much more manageable. It all started when I first tallied the estimated cost of scaling up from 50 countries to 100 countries. I guessed that it would cost somewhere in the neighbourhood of $30,000, and that it would take approximately five to seven years to complete. My first thought upon doing the math was: ‘Wow, that’s all?’ “

The whole point of that section was not to impress you with all that money he was spending on travel. In fact he had to live very frugally and travel hack as much as he could to make it work. The point is that he had an exact number to work with. He wasn’t just working with some vague large number and didn’t know any more that. Now he knew exactly how much it was going to cost to do get to every country in the world. Fill in the details. Work out the numbers. Take those little steps.

A quest can be huge to think about at the beginning but when you start breaking things down it because a lot more manageable. Once you know the details you can start to make them happen.

The post Finding Happiness in the Pursuit of Big Goals first appeared on Pack & Trail.

**

So you know you want to take up a new sport and you know that you want it to be outdoors. So far, so good. But what if, when you come to research it, you find yourself overwhelmed by choice? It might seem obvious, but when you start to consider what the ideal outdoor sport for you might be – it’s important to remember to begin at the beginning!

Land or sea?

Apart from the obvious differences between these two, there are things you may not have considered. Yes, you’ll probably get wet in the water-based activity (think canoeing, kayaking, sailing, windsurfing) but you will also be far more confined by seasons (no-one likes to canoe on a frozen river) and more at the mercy of the elements (sailing without wind is no fun). Things like running, cycling, hiking and climbing can take place in almost all weathers so they may be a better bet for guaranteed fitness.

Equipment

Some outdoor activities require significant expenditure on equipment so consider carefully before you make your mind up. Take diving for instance; as well as a sturdy wetsuit and dive mask, you will also need a broad range of accessories from a regulator to fins to a drysuit if you really get into it. Whereas with running, it’s wise to invest in a decent pair of trainers, your nearest sports shop should be able to advise you based on your needs, but that’s about all you’ll need. Grab any old t-shirt and shorts from the drawers and you’re ready to go.

The best laid plans…..

How organised are you? Are you prepared to spend hours poring over the finer details of your activity? For example, if you were planning your first ski trip then you would have destination, accommodation, equipment, clothes, travel, footwear and much more to consider before you even got to the sport itself. Those among you who are more immediate may prefer not to get caught up in such detail and just head out hiking in the nearest countryside when the fancy takes you.

To team or not to team?

Are you a social butterfly or a quiet wallflower? It’s wise to consider this before you make your mind up as some outdoor sports are necessarily more sociable than others. In sailing it’s not uncommon to spend a number of days cooped up in a cabin with the same five faces. Can you take this? Or do you prefer to exercise alone?Whatever you choose, it’s certainly better than nothing at all. Your physical health is of paramount importance – and looking after it now will set you in good stead for the future. 

The post Choosing the right outdoor sport for you first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Backcountry touring, whether on a splitboard or skis, is like you’re in another world entirely. Yes, it’s an incredible amount of work to reach the top of a snow-covered mountain using your muscles alone but when you touch that summit, when you realize there’s no one else around, you feel the satisfaction of pushing your body and there’s nothing else like it. It’s worth every moment.

Heading into the backcountry isn’t all rainbows and unicorns though, and with such a reward comes an associated risk. With all of the snow that falls each year, comes the risk of that snow moving, of conditions being just right that your weight on that snow will cause it to slide. Better known as an avalanche. Some days its a small risk. Some days it could send you to the hospital, or worse.Snow science isn’t something easy that you can learn in one day. A huge number of variables come together in an almost unimaginable number of ways to create avalanches that can a metre or take out entire forests or towns. It isn’t magic though, and there are signs you can look for in the snow to forecast what might happen.

Since World War II researchers around the world have been pushing hard into snow science and investigating every possible idea related to avalanches and snow safety. This post is a review of The Avalanche Handbook, an avalanche manual that brings together the best in more than 50 years of avalanche research. The Avalanche Handbook doesn’t contain every single idea from all research but it covers the most fundamental of those ideas, what the authors thought most important.

To give you a quick idea of what The Avalanche Handbook covers, here is the Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 – Character and Effects of Avalanches

Chapter 2 – Elements of Mountain Snow Climates and Weather

Chapter 3 – Snow Formation and Growth in the Atmosphere and Snowpack

Chapter 4 – Avalanche Formation

Chapter 5 – Avalanche Terrain, Motion, and Effects

Chapter 6 – The Elements of Applied Avalanche Forecasting

Chapter 7 – Classes of Factors Involved with Evaluation of Instability and Forecasting

Chapter 8 – The ABCs for Backcountry Avalanche Forecasting and Decisions

Chapter 9 – Safety Measures and Rescue

Chapter 10 – Avalanche Protection

It’s not a light, fluffy pamphlet on avalanches, it goes in deep. The book starts with quotes from popular publications from around the world.

From Off Piste, “Perhaps the definitive book on snow science and avalanche mechanics…The author’s credentials are impeccable.”

From the Pittsburgh Tribune, “The revised third edition of The Avalanche Handbook…could well save your life.”

From Backcountry Magazine, “This book has been the bible for avalanche workers since the first edition came out in 1953…If you ever start to feel cocky about your avalanche forecasting skills, sit down with this gem and I will guarantee you will learn something new.”

From Outside Bozeman, “The Avalanche Handbook is the uber text in the field of avalanche science.”

Textbook and Handbook

To be honest, there are parts of the book that read like a textbook, dense and slow. But other parts are as easy to grasp as, well, picture books. There’s the whole range. That’s why the quote above from Backcountry Magazine is so spot on. You can be at any level of your avalanche training and you could learn something new.

For the beginners, there are the important basics that get you started covering the fundamentals. For the advanced forecasters you can dig deep into the snow science details and all the research behind the techniques and ideas they recommend. And then everything in between. As you get more familiar with what they are talking about, you will advance and take in more information. I’ve only taken basic avalanche training and am in the process of learning more which means there is much in the book that I can’t even grasp yet. There is still lots I do understand and can take out to the backcountry with me.

Learning the ABCs

The ABCs for Backcountry Avalanche Forecasting and Decisions might be the best part of the book. The whole chapter covers simple, straightforward information with the goal of teaching you to make the right decisions in the backcountry in avalanche terrain. If you never get into avalanche terrain, then you can’t get caught in an avalanche. The chapter right after about safety measures and rescue is important reading as well. Rescue is simply a required skill and training that everyone going into avalanche terrain should have. Sadly some don’t.

If you backcountry ski or snowboard at any time, I hope you can take a look at The Avalanche Handbook. With all the science, you may not be able to grasp every single detail right now, but that just means you’ll be able to learn more for years to come.Get details and download a free chapter from The Avalanche Handbook at the Mountaineers Books.

If you are looking for more avalanche information see the Canadian Avalanche Association  or the Island Avalanche Bulletin for Vancouver Island.

Warning: This or any other book is not a substitute for hands-on training with a qualified professional when it comes to avalanches. Get yourself into a course before going into any avalanche terrain. Reading books after you have some official training is a great idea though. The more you know the better. Ski safe,- Ross

The post Book Review: The Avalanche Handbook first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Scouts Canada, the leading youth organization in Canada, is searching for the right people to fill the roles of Venturer Advisor with a local Scout group.  If you have experience with multi-day hiking trips, canoeing on flat and white water, cycling, or climbing, and are willing to share your skills and talents, call today. The time commitment is an average of 1.5 hours per week plus a weekend adventure roughly every 6 weeks.For more information on this rewarding volunteer opportunity, contact: Melissa Bond at mbond@scouts.ca or (250) 668-0983

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