“There’s no shortage of challenges and real mountain topography here,” Jan Neuspiel says of Vancouver Island’s mountains. “Island mountains have a unique beauty that is all their own.”

Photo by Boomer Jerritt

As the storms roll through day after day, the portents are all in place for another wild winter on Vancouver Island. The snow is piling up in the mountains and more snowfall records are likely to be set as La Nina returns again this year. For Cumberland based Island Alpine Guides (IAG) that means they are likely to be busier than ever.

IAG offers extensive courses and guided trips to make exploring the Island “Alps” enjoyable and safe. Year round they offer an array of climbing and hiking packages. In winter, they specialize in avalanche training and back country touring.

Jan Neuspiel, IAG’s managing director, has 25 years guiding experience. Born and raised in Ottawa, the genial 50-year-old says that skiing was a family affair—“almost a religion.” He left Ottawa “very soon after first year university to become a ski bum, which I’m proud to say, I’m still doing today on some level.”

Neuspiel’s first stop was to explore the Rockies, where he soon became involved in back country skiing and mountain climbing. His introduction to guiding was in the river rafting business. “I discovered that I really loved that way of life, that job—the whole business of taking people into beautiful wild places and sharing that with them and looking after them,” Neuspiel says. “All of that stuff really appealed to me so then it morphed pretty quickly into guiding climbing and ultimately skiing as well.”

After stopping long enough to get a diploma in outdoor recreation from North Vancouver’s Capilano College, Neuspiel headed to the Himalayas in north western India on a skiing expedition, which would be the start of 25 years of Himalayan adventures. “That trip kind of fell apart but it got me over there and then I made my way across to Nepal and that is where I got my first job,” Neuspiel says.

“A couple of years later, I made my way back to northern India with my skis and finally realized the dream of skiing in the Himalayas there. I did some of my skiing there with a friend I had made in Nepal, an Australian, who was starting to toy with the idea of starting a helicopter skiing operation in that part of the Himalayas. Long story short, a few years later I did end up hooking up with him and working at that operation. And, before I knew it, I was running the operation and had been there for 11 years!”

Neuspiel laughs, noting how lucky he has been throughout his work life. But hard work no doubt enters into the mix as well. Himachal Helicopter Skiing is based in Manali, India, a city of 30,000 people located at 6,398 feet. “We grew it from a business that, when I joined, ran about three weeks of heli-skiing, to a business that owned three helicopters and was operating 12 weeks a winter, 250 clients in a winter. So yeah, we grew it into quite a business.”

While in Nepal Neuspiel met and married his wife Amanda, originally from England. Amanda works as a medical herbalist and thus when they decided to leave Nepal their destination had to be temperate for her work and mountainous for his. “The main contenders that fit that description are New Zealand and the west coast of BC,” Neuspiel says. “Neither of us is from New Zealand so we thought we’d consider the West Coast. We came to visit a friend in the Comox Valley and liked it. At first we really dropped our bags here but over time we settled in.”

Neuspiel continued to spend about four months out of the year in India, while gradually building his knowledge of Vancouver Island’s mountains and back country. When they adopted their son Vijay five years ago it was time to think about making a more permanent home here. That was when Neuspiel and another Cumberland resident, Cliff Umpleby, started Island Alpine Guides.

In his web blog Neuspiel sums up how IAG is doing: “Here we are entering our fifth year thinking, ‘The timing was about right.’ We’ve grown considerably every year since we started and are looking strong into the future as Vancouver Island’s premiere mountain school and guide service. Looking into the future we certainly intend to keep meeting the needs of our fellow islanders right here in the island Alps.”

IAG’s most popular winter course is the Avalanche Skills Training One (AST 1), followed closely by the Intro to Winter Travel. The AST 1 is offered at both Mount Washington and Mt. Cain. IAG is licensed by the Canadian Avalanche Centre to provide the two-day courses composed of about six hours of classroom and 12 hours of field instruction. In the classroom, participants learn about avalanche terrain, mountain snowpack, the nature and formation of avalanches, assessing avalanche danger, avalanche transceivers, safety measures and self rescue. In the field students learn terrain recognition, route finding, safe travel, stability evaluation, hazard recognition and small party self rescue. IAG also offers a four day long Avalanche Skills Training 2 course.

For the two day long Intro to Winter Travel the staff guide participants through gear selection and preparation while they manage the logistics of transportation, tenting and cooking. Neuspiel describes a typical outing from the arrival at the departure spot: “We would do final checks through gear, pack up our packs, and have a briefing before we head off up the mountain. We would ski our way to a location where we intend to camp for the night. In the process there is a lot of learning that goes on. Our instructors realize that the best way to teach a lot of outdoor pursuits is through using teachable moments to allow people to learn the stuff they’ve come there to learn.

“We get to a spot, set up a camp, and if the timing is right, probably go out for a little cruise around. If it is a trip where people are on skis, go for some ski runs; if it is a snowshoe trip, go for a wander around on snowshoes. If a person is on a split board, we’re going snowboarding, whatever it is. Camping out in the winter is full of lessons of its own and so we would help people through all of that and teach them how to be comfortable and enjoy sleeping out in the snow. The second day would involve doing a whole bunch more ski runs or whatever and ultimately heading out to finish the trip.”

Not sure if back country touring is for you? “Back country skiing is really suitable for anyone who skis and who is interested in being outdoors, particularly in the wilderness,” says Neuspiel. “It is particularly well suited to those who like powder snow. In terms of criteria the person needs to be a strong intermediate level skier and reasonably fit. Other than desire and a sense of adventure, that is about it.”

Once you’ve taken the courses, Island Alpine Guides has a multitude of tours to satisfy all tastes and abilities. There are Mount Washington and Mt. Cain back country tours, weekend ski tours to Mount Myra, Mount Adrian, or Mount Tom Taylor, heli-accessed touring at Alexandra Peak, Mount Adrian, or Mount Matchlee, as well as a seven-day Mount Washington to Comox Glacier traverse to name just a few of the winter options.

Neuspiel laughs when asked about the snow and the quality of local skiing. “Everyone asks that. Surely it is all Island cement, right? The best skiing is anywhere on the right day. It’s all about being in the right place at the right time. I’ve skied snow as good as anywhere on Vancouver Island. I’ve skied cold smoke powder, over the shoulders, on the back of Mount Washington. It is a matter of being in the right place at the right time and that is a big part of what we do as guides. We make sure we get people to the right spot at the right time to get the best snow they possibly can.”

Island Alpine Guides staff is almost all based in the Comox Valley and are members of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. “They are an interesting group of people who share my passion for the mountains and for being in the mountains with people,” Neuspiel says. “They come with a variety of different experiences—from a mountain guide from France that has joined us here in the last couple of years and brings his own French flavor to things, which is fantastic, to a woman who has a really strong background with Outward Bound as an instructor and so comes with a really strong set of teaching skills, to a hiking guide who has been with us for a little while now who has just got keen with a capital K written all over him with everything that he does.”

Neuspiel also focuses his energy beyond the clients of IAG to assist all back country enthusiasts through two reporting services: the Vancouver Island Mountain Conditions Report and the Vancouver Island Avalanche Bulletin. The Mountain Conditions Report was initiated by IAG as a way to share information among people travelling in the backcountry.

He describes what information is provided: “What’s the access like on these logging roads now, what condition is that trail in, are the crevasses on that glacier opened up more, did you see avalanche activity, was there a big rock slide somewhere? Whatever it is that helps people planning their trip.” A new blog has been developed for this report to combat previous problems with spam. Information should be sent to info@islandalpineguides.com.

The non-profit Vancouver Island Avalanche Centre Society publishes an avalanche bulletin three times a week throughout the winter. The current bulletin advises that the many storms to pass over Vancouver Island in the last week of November have created high snow packs with a lot of instability. Jan is the lead forecaster for the Centre and he wants to encourage everyone to send him any information they have about snow conditions on the Island. Email him at forecaster@islandavalanchecentre.com. The information will make the Bulletin better and the interaction with the forecasters will also provide people with an opportunity to hone their skills in assessing snow pack.

Vancouver Island may not be the first place that comes to your mind when you think of mountain adventures but Neuspiel is working on changing that. The motto for Island Alpine Guides is “think globally, adventure locally.”

“There’s no shortage of challenges and real mountain topography here,” Neuspiel says. “The other point is the Island mountains have a unique beauty that is all their own. I have to say that over the years it has really grown on me to the point where, in my aged state, if I just wander around in these mountains for the rest of my career I’ll be more than happy.”

Avalanche Safety Tips

Carry avalanche rescue gear—probe, beacon/transceiver, shovel, etc.—at all times when travelling in the winter backcountry.

Avalanches can be associated with sunshine and daily warming. Consider travelling early while everything is frozen, or at night. The Canadian Avalanche Centre website (www.avalanche.ca) lists conditions that may lead to avalanches.

Watch for cracks across the snow surface and listen for the tell-tale “whump” noise associated with a slope collapse.

In avalanche country, always travel in a group and ensure everyone stays within sight of one another. If caught in an avalanche, use a swimming motion to try and stay at the surface. If possible, move to the side of the avalanche. If you’re not at the surface when the slide stops, quickly punch the snow to create an air pocket with one arm and push your other arm toward the surface to help rescuers locate you.

www.islandalpineguides.com
www.islandavalanchebulletin.com

Comox Valley photographer takes her work—and her subjects!—to new depths...

Photo by Boomer Jerritt

The Graham’s were up before dawn and, instead of bathrobes, they wear dry suits.  With a forecast for calm seas they eagerly anticipate spending a few hours scuba diving near Norris Rock, Hornby Island.  It won’t matter to them if it starts to rain—they will already be wet!  Winter, Lisa Graham explains, is the best time to scuba dive in and around Vancouver Island because the waters are clear and the undersea world is alive with activity.

Graham smiles with the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning as she imagines what she may encounter beneath the waters of the Georgia Strait this crisp January morning.  If she is lucky, she will get a chance to shoot some Steller sea lions—with her Nikon D-200 camera in an Ikelite underwater housing.  She can’t imagine a more perfect way to spend time with her husband of 27 years and trusted diving partner, Brad.

“Brad and I married right after high school, had two children, moved from our hometown of Port Coquitlam and eventually settled in Armstrong, BC,” she says.  “We became responsible adults almost before we ourselves had grown up. Brad started working in the automotive industry and I was a stay-at-home mom for a few years.  When the kids started school full-time I took a job as a bookkeeper.”

In Armstrong, the Grahams discovered a mutual love of scuba diving. “That’s the advantages of having children when you are so young.  Here we were, both around age 40, and already empty nesters looking at each other asking: ‘What do we do now?’”

Among other things, the Bucket List they created together included world travel, scuba diving, and motorcycle riding.  Graham quickly mastered the art of motorcycle riding and soon after, they both signed up for scuba diving lessons.  By 2001, both were certified PADI divers.  They loved the sport so much they went on to become Master Scuba Diver Trainers.  In 2004, they were also certified with the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD).  This certification enables them to dive into very deep waters with twin tanks and two regulators.  Aside from enjoying the sport, developing a dependency on each other to ensure underwater safety has had the positive side-effect of strengthening their relationship, too.

“In this sport you have to have full trust in your partner,” says Graham.  “I very often get so involved in shooting my photographs that I rely on Brad to keep me safe.  I simply can’t imagine diving with anyone else.”

Considering that their lessons and certification process involved diving in indoor pools and lakes in the interior of BC, the Grahams were eager to explore a real ocean to practice their new skills.  They took their first trip to Cozumel, Mexico, in 2001 and were ecstatic to be able to explore the undersea world.

On their second trip to Cozumel in 2002, Lisa took a disposable underwater camera designed to be used in up to 15-feet of water.  She dove down 60-feet, shot the entire roll of film and was thrilled when the camera didn’t implode underwater.  Only one photograph turned out but it was enough to captivate her.

“I was hooked on underwater photography from that moment forward,” she says.  “I saved money to invest in a really good underwater camera and have taken a camera with me on every dive ever since. However, when you are mostly diving in lakes in the interior of BC you find yourself with lots of pictures of mud and not much else!  We decided it was time to move.”

Graham says that she has always felt drawn to water and, since making the Comox Valley home in 2006, she feels blessed to be able to regularly dive, photograph and explore the coast and underwater habitat of beautiful British Columbia.

Inspired by the images created by world-renowned British photographer, Zena Holloway, Graham had spent several years following Holloway’s unique underwater fashion photography.  Her first chance to switch from shooting aquatic life to people came about when she enrolled in the photography program at North Island College (NIC), where InFocus Magazine photographer Boomer Jerritt was one of her instructors. The portfolio she developed for the program featured extraordinary underwater portraits shot at the Comox Valley Aquatic Centre.

With the NIC photography course completed, a few dozen great local dives to their credit and hundreds of pictures snapped in local waters, the fun-loving and ever-adventurous Grahams decided it was time to stroke another item off their Bucket List.  In the fall of 2007, they quit their jobs, put their most precious belongings in storage, arranged foster care for their then 15-year-old Macaw, and announced to their family that they were embarking on a trip around the world.  It would be ‘hard core travel’, living out of backpacks, often staying at hostels and, of course, taking photographs.

Were the children shocked when their motorcycle-riding, deep sea diving, photography-obsessed mother announced that she and their dad were heading out on a 16-month backpacking adventure?

“Goodness, no!” Graham says with a laugh.  “They have always known to expect the unexpected from us!”

The Grahams flew from Vancouver to Singapore.  After taking a few days to recover from jet lag, they ventured to India, where they experienced an immediate and profound culture shock relating to cleanliness—or lack thereof!  Although they had lugged their scuba gear along, there would be no diving here, considering that the water is dirty and there are no fish to be seen. (Overfishing with nets has decimated aquatic life there.)  From there, the couple traveled throughout Southeast Asia, enjoying some spectacular diving in Thailand and Bali.

After about 11 months on the road they took a quick two-week foray back to Canada to attend to personal business, then headed to South America for another six months to explore Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.  Thanks to the portability and wonders of digital photography, Graham’s portfolio is now also bursting with extraordinary photos of many exotic locales.

“It was a bit of an adjustment when we came back to Canada in the dead of winter 2009,” recalls Graham.  “First of all, we went from +40˚C in South America to -40˚C in Armstrong, BC, where my parents live.  Temperature differences aside, it was the culture, not the weather that was the biggest shock. After travelling extensively in under-developed countries you realize that people in North America are obsessed with material things.  Until you are away from our culture for a considerable length of time, you don’t realize how bombarded we are with commercials and advertising.  Not that they don’t have advertising in other countries but, because we often didn’t speak the language, we were able to completely filter out the noise of commercialism and just enjoy the simple things in life.”

Lisa Graham at the pool.

Photo by Boomer Jerritt

The Grahams are now back enjoying the Comox Valley full-time, and Graham has started a job that has allowed her to stroke another item off her Bucket List. She has combined her two passions—diving and photography—and created a unique home-based business called Seadance Photography.

“I came up with the name Seadance because I wanted a name that was associated with water,” explains Graham. “I decided on combining sea with dance because I felt it reflected the fun-loving and artistic connection I have with the water.”

While Graham is earning a reputation for producing artistic family portraits, wedding albums and commercial photography on dry land, she is also making a splash with her underwater work.  In addition to fashion photography, Graham specializes in underwater wedding portraits and, last summer, started offering underwater family photo shoots.  “Kids are so great to work with underwater,” Graham says.  “They have no inhibitions or expectations.  They just get in the pool, have fun and enjoy being the centre of attention.”

Graham recently partnered with specialty make-up artist, Ria Ambrose, who owns Colour FX in the Comox Valley.  Ambrose did the make-up and modeled for some underwater shots. The first thing the two learned is that just because a make-up manufacturer lists a product as waterproof or water resistant doesn’t mean it is!   Even nail polish, they discovered, often quickly wore off.

“We played around with different product lines before we found ones that didn’t run underwater,” Ambrose says.   “I also had to be concerned about product safety, since I couldn’t have make-up seeping into my eyes. On the bright side, now when I am doing make-up for a wedding and the bride asks me if her make-up will run if she cries, I can honestly tell her that it is really waterproof!”

Together, the two created a series of costumes with fabrics and props that promised to billow and float artistically underwater. The result was a stunning array of images that capture the undulating, free-flowing nature of water, creating whimsical and seductive pictures of beauty and serenity.

“We took some portraits with just pretty make-up and others with more dramatic, theatrical-style themes,” adds Ambrose. “Most of the more crazy ideas were mine.”

Ambrose says that being an underwater model was a truly unique experience, adding that Lisa was great to work with.  “At first it was hard to learn to keep my eyes open but she was patient and helped me to relax.  Thankfully, the Aquatic Centre doesn’t have much chlorine in the water, but you still have to work relatively quickly or your eyes will go red.”

Apparently, a unique thing about being an underwater model is that, although he or she may be positioned only a metre or two away from you, the photographer becomes just a blur in the water.  As a result, it is fairly easy to relax and, quite literally, let the water move you.  Graham wears a wet suit and a mask—not full scuba gear—when she works in a pool and simply holds her breath while she shoots the photos.  She spends considerable time working with people before they venture into the pool, instructing them on how to loosen up and when to breathe.  And, if they just can’t manage to open their eyes underwater, a pair of swim goggles adds an element of fun to the picture.

Last spring, Graham was commissioned by the Comox Valley Record to contribute to the newspaper’s annual photo-story section: A Day in the Life of the Comox Valley.  Her underwater perspective of the community included a dog paddling in the water at Goose Spit and a synchronized swim team practicing at the Aquatic Centre.  Always up for a challenge, she was also recently commissioned to produce a series of photographs for a book—The Complete Guide to Feng Shui Crystals. The photos were so well received that they have also been made into a series of art cards and a poster.

So, what’s next for this free-spirited Comox Valley photographer?  “I look forward to riding my motorcycle around Vancouver Island again this spring and summer, and I will, of course, continue to dive and take pictures as often as I can,” says Graham with a sparkle in her eyes. “In the distant future, we would like to travel to Iceland and Finland—I understand that the diving is awesome there.  In the immediate future, I am booking photo shoots in local pools, as well as Nanaimo and Vancouver. And, of course, I am booking spring and summer weddings… on dry land, not underwater.  I would absolutely love to be hired to shoot a wedding in a tropical place, like Hawaii!  Oh, and what about creating a wedding story that starts in a church and ends in the ocean?  Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

That does sound interesting. Perhaps Graham can add that to her Bucket List.  And, if past performance holds any promise for the future, there is a good chance she will make it happen.

Check out Lisa Graham’s photography at www.seadance.ca or call 250.941.7774 for more info.

The Strathcona Wilderness Centre is near the trailhead to Paradise Meadows, offering easy access to explore the wonders of this historic park.

Photo by Boomer Jerritt

One of the grandest and most valued elders of our community is about to celebrate a very significant birthday. Strathcona Provincial Park, right next to the Comox Valley, begins commemorating its 100th year this summer.

Strathcona Park has a special significance as BC’s first Provincial Park, and the largest on Vancouver Island. Celebrations for BC Parks’ 100th anniversary in 2011 began this past July, with a Centennial Expedition retracing the footsteps of the original Discovery Expedition through the mountains that became Strathcona Park.

Much of the wilderness of the park is most easily reached from the communities of Campbell River and Gold River, but the Forbidden Plateau and Paradise Meadows areas are in our own backyard.

Just in time for the centennial, the Strathcona Wilderness Centre up at Paradise Meadows has finally been completed, and is staffed on summer weekends until mid-September. The Centre, adjacent to Mount Washington Alpine Resort’s Raven Lodge, is operated by the Strathcona Wilderness Institute, and is the starting point for nature and art walks with guest experts, and guided hikes for all levels.

The Strathcona Wilderness Institute (SWI) was founded in the mid-1990s to promote sensitive and enjoyable use of Strathcona Provincial Park.  The Wilderness Centre building, as a focal point for SWI’s programs at Paradise Meadows, was several years in the making. “When Mount Washington’s Raven Lodge was built, the resort and BC Parks had talks and decided to move the Paradise Meadows trailhead closer to the Lodge,” recalls SWI founding member Steve Smith.

Then in 2007 the Resort gave .06 hectares of land for the new park entrance and trailhead into the Meadows.  SWI set out to fund-raise for an information centre, and when Mount Washington offered a 16’x20’ building that was built for the ski area by the students of Highland School, the structure was incorporated into a building designed by Rob Wood. “This was the catalyst that really began to make things happen,” says Smith.

Throughout the coming year, BC will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of its world-renowned parks system. The ascent of Crown Mountain near Campbell River on July 29, 1910, by the Strathcona Discovery Expedition led by Price Ellison, BC Minister of Land, is considered to be the starting point that inspired the creation of BC’s Provincial Parks system.  To celebrate the anniversary, a re-enactment of the original 1910 expedition began July 22, 2010 from Campbell River and is planned to arrive in Port Alberni on August 7.

“Ellison, his 20-year-old daughter Myra and an assortment of timber cruisers, naturalists, packers and canoe men from the Cowichan First Nation were dispatched by the Premier Sir Richard McBride to explore the Strathcona Reserve and assess its suitability for a park.  Over five weeks they paddled and poled tons of supplies up the turbulent Campbell River, assailed the steep forested slopes and craggy summit of Crown Mountain and arrived triumphant in Port Alberni on August 11, 1910,” notes Philip Stone, expedition organizer and local mountaineer.

“When Ellison made his report to cabinet the result was the Strathcona Act of 1911 bringing into legislation the province’s first Provincial Park on March 1.”

The past 100 years of Strathcona Park history have been well chronicled in Beyond Nootka, written by current SWI director Lindsay Elms.  Born in Australia, Elms acquired mountaineering skills in New Zealand and then all around the world.  He worked as a Mountaineering Instructor for the Canadian Outdoor Leadership Training (COLT) program at Strathcona Park Lodge, adjacent to Strathcona Park on Buttle Lake, while continuing climbing.  Elms has climbed more than 200 of Vancouver Island’s peaks, and maintains his fitness through running, completing numerous marathons and endurance races.

Beyond Nootka, available at the Wilderness Centre, tells the tales of many of the people involved with Strathcona Park as well as the stories behind the names of many of the features.  The Park itself was named in 1911 for Donald Alexander Smith, First Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal.  Smith was a Scottish-born Canadian fur trader, financier, railroad baron and politician whose 75-year tenure with the Hudson’s Bay Company included governing for 20-plus years until his death in 1914.  Smith is also known as the man who drove ‘the last spike’ into the CPR railway connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Gwyn Sproule points out a dogwood flower to a group at the Strathcona Wilderness Centre, which offers guided hikes of the park.

Photo by Boomer Jerritt

Mount Albert Edward, prominently visible from the Wilderness Centre up at Paradise Meadows, was named for Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII.  Other features visible from the Wilderness Centre were named for more local notables—Mount Elma was named for the wife of Theed Pearse, mayor of Courtenay from 1928-29.  Pearse was an avid naturalist, and in 1968 at the age of 96, self-published Birds of the Early Explorers in the Northern Pacific.  Another well-known naturalist’s name was given to an adjacent peak—Mount Allan Brooks.  First named in 1939 for Major Allan Cyril Brooks, renowned ornithologist and artist who spent part of every year at his home in Comox, this dedication was extended in 2004 to include his son, Allan Cecil Brooks, biologist, teacher, and naturalist, who moved to the Comox area in the early 1980s.

The Strathcona Park connections don’t stop there—Betty Brooks, daughter-in-law of Major Brooks, is an expert naturalist in her own right and was the first female interpreter for BC Parks.

Continuing to be active with Strathcona Park as a director with the Strathcona Wilderness Institute, Brooks is also caretaker of the Strathcona Park Important Bird Area, designated a Nationally Significant IBA.  The park is home to the core of the Vancouver Island White-tailed Ptarmigan population, a subspecies occurring only in the central montane portions of Vancouver Island.

Many directors of the Strathcona Wilderness Institute have their own personal connections to the park.  Long-time director Gerry Roberts has operated the Information Hut at Buttle Lake for more than 10 years on behalf of SWI.  Over the years he has seen visitors “from as far away as the Canary Islands, Korea, Israel, Kuwait and Nepal.

“The Buttle Hut is more than just an information centre,” says Roberts, who has been asked to provide automotive fluids, band-aids and pain relievers to hikers and park visitors.   Evan Loveless, who is also involved with the Wilderness Tourism Association as executive director, hikes frequently in the park with his family.

John Waters has climbed many peaks in the Park and is active in rock-climbing—along with his twin brother, he recorded all the climbs at Comox Lake in a recently published guide book available at the Wilderness Centre.  SWI founding member Steve Smith was originally active with the Friends of Strathcona Park, formed in the mid-1980s.

“The park has had a checkered history,” Smith notes.  “It’s like a flagship—whatever happens in Strathcona Park, then happens in other parks.  There’s been logging, mining, blockades—development is everywhere around the park.  Everybody wants a piece.  Local people have stood up for the park; we have an obligation to look after it.”

The essential role of the Institute, Smith adds, in partnership with BC Parks and the Friends of Strathcona Park, “is to serve as an interface between the Strathcona wilderness and the general public.  As a registered non-profit society, the Institute intends to facilitate a co-operative effort to assure support for continuing education and park stewardship.”

Like many elders, the Park is an excellent teacher.  The setting is a magnificent classroom, whether for natural history subjects such as flowers, birds, insects, trees, and geology, or human endeavors such as art, photography, hiking and mountaineering.

Local naturalists including Betty Brooks and Gwyn Sproule recently guided nature walks on Spring Flora & Fauna and Ethnobotany in the meadows, attended by Valley residents and visitors from as far as Switzerland.  Botanist Fred Constabel will guide an outing looking for mid-summer flowers on Sunday, August 8.   Forester Harold Macy will explore the working of an individual tree and the collective energy of the forest on Sunday, August 22.

Members of the Comox Valley Naturalists Society and the Comox District Mountaineering Club have volunteered to guide a number of day hikes into the meadows and Plateau area.  SWI has also partnered with Island Alpine Guides to offer multi-day expeditions for those who want to upgrade their mountaineering skills with an expert guide.

On the ‘Castlecrag Circuit’ from September 4-6, participants can take in three summits on a spectacular circumnavigation.  “From a base camp at Circlet Lake we do a day long circle walk carrying only light day packs,” says Jan Neuspiel, guide with Island Alpine and lead forecaster for the Vancouver Island Avalanche Centre.  “We reach the summits of Mount Albert Edward, Mount Frink and Castle Crag, then return to base camp and walk out on our third day.  Participants need only to be reasonably fit to carry an overnight pack to and from the base camp, with the peak day being done with a light day pack.”  There is a fee for this excursion—interested participants are asked to register directly with Island Alpine Guides by August 14.

By September, the autumn colors in the meadows inspire photographers and artists of all kinds.  Cumberland watercolor artist Clive Powsey will lead a three-hour excursion into the meadows on Sunday September 5:  Image Hunting with Pencils and Brushes.  “Bring the media of your choice,” advises Powsey.  “We will spend time looking for exciting subject matter to paint or draw; how to compose an image of interest; how to measure proportions and angles; how to design with light and shade.”

As a landscape painter, Powsey is greatly inspired by Strathcona Park.  “I recognize all the content of beautiful and terrifying nineteenth century landscape paintings in the park’s geography,” he says.  “Plunging chasms, falls, glaciers with crevasses and icefalls, landslides and  avalanches, thick vapors and precipitation, rock faced valleys and rugged peaks—there is enough topography in the park to spend a full and rewarding lifetime of exploration, hiking and climbing, or painting.

“It’s amazing how the Park has survived, despite damage, for a hundred years,” Powsey adds.  “I hope the next 100 years will see it become more, not less pristine, with areas of damage and road intrusion eliminated and naturalized.  As well, I think it would be valuable to expand the park and its alpine and high elevation forests up and down the central core of the Island to preserve other watersheds and create wildlife corridors.  Keeping and expanding the central alpine core of Vancouver Island within the park in a pristine state will be of great value to future Island residents for recreation, as a natural wildlife reservoir and also for water quality and conservation.

“Any time you find yourself on a park peak with a view, no matter how modest, and find yourself looking into or out of the interior of Vancouver Island—that moment is the most memorable moment spent in Strathcona,” Powsey says.  “I like living in Cumberland on the edge of the park.  I can, and often do, walk right into it—it is nice to think that I could exit the house, don a pack and walk for days and days on ridges criss-crossing central Vancouver Island.”

Looking for interesting photographic subjects and compositions, nature photographer Chris Carter will be guiding Great Photo-Ops in Paradise Meadows’ on Sunday September 12.  Participants do not need a camera—Carter will hand out mat-board framing guides for participants to use, to identify possible shots.

He recalls how the park contributed inspiration to his photography. “In the late 1970s I had lived in the Comox Valley for several years, but had been so busy starting a new business that I was unaware of the extent or magnitude of Strathcona Park,” he says.  “As my business grew, I made a sales trip to Alaska and flew from Seattle to Anchorage.  I obtained a window seat and was enjoying the view approaching Vancouver Island.  Looking down I could pick out Nanaimo and the East coast. Then to my surprise, mountains, ice fields and glaciers appeared beneath us.  What was this?  This was a view I had never seen before and the extent of Strathcona Park and terrain excited and interested me.”

Carter decided to find out more and joined the Comox District Mountaineering Club (CDMC).  “My youngest son was still at home and became a willing hiking companion on many Club hikes as I experienced more of the park,” he says.  “The next milestone on my Strathcona experience was the government’s attempts to convert swaths of the park into recreational areas—a thinly veiled description of opening the park to miners and logging.

“At the time I was still a British citizen but became so incensed over the issue that I took out Canadian citizenship so I could vote in BC.  I remember the period of great activity when the Friends of Strathcona was formed and went on to vigorously defend park status.”

Carter also contributed hands-on work, participating in the CDMC volunteer construction project of the Lake Helen Mackenzie campsite.  “Presently I am saddened at the slow progress being made to up-grade and restore some of the popular trails beyond the Paradise Meadows area,” he says.  “I am perplexed and deeply disappointed that Parks seem unable to work with volunteers to get some of this work done. This example of the bureaucratic ‘Death of Common Sense’ saddens me.”

Examples of Carter’s work adorn the walls of the Wilderness Centre.  “In more recent years my interest in photography increased and I have spent many happy hours exploring and photographing in all seasons,” he says.  “In the last three years I have completed a portfolio of winter scenes in black and white, taken while snowshoeing. Part of this was published by LensWork Magazine in their digital supplement.”

He will show prints of what he has done in the area prior to his photography walk on September 12.  The lower floor of the Wilderness Centre building is ideal for such presentations, as well as workshops or talks for community organizations and school groups, containing a screen for presentations and seating for 30 people.  The lower floor is also available for day rentals during the summer season.

“We are now proud to say the building—both floors—is now fully completed and ready for use this year, just one year before Strathcona Park’s 100th birthday!” says Steve Smith.  “A perfect gift for BC’s first provincial park.”

Smith sees the next years as an important period for the park. “What is going to happen in the next 100 years? It’s an interesting time. The building was a struggle—but it’s all still a struggle. The pressures are on, but this park is a treasure.”

For the full schedule of SWI summer programs at the Strathcona Park Wilderness Centre at Paradise Meadows, visit: www.strathconapark.org

In 2003, although I didn’t know it at the time, I got my first look at what I would later learn was called the Great Bear Rainforest on BC’s northwest coast.  As a tourist visiting from England, I was traveling aboard a cruise ship bound for Alaska.  I was amazed at the region I was traveling through and returned to the UK determined to learn more.  Three years later my wife and I immigrated to Canada and set up home in the beautiful Comox Valley, hoping I could use it as a springboard to learn all about the BC coast.

Since then, I have spent a great deal of time working with conservation charities up and down the coast.  In the Fall of 2009, I had been doing some field work for the organization Pacific Wild, working with the Gitga’at community in Hartley Bay to establish live video from the bush back to a classroom in the village school.  Using a wireless radio link connected to a computer in the classroom, pupils could then actually see and track bears and other wildlife along a river without disturbing them.

On my day off, I got to accompany one of the top bear viewing guides in BC and Hartley Bay resident Marven Robinson, on a trip across to an island in Douglas Channel in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest.

I felt fortunate and privileged to be able to spend some time in the bush with Marven and to hopefully be able to see some spirit bears in the flesh, not just through the lens of the video cameras I had set up.  As it would turn out, the experience is one that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

I followed along on the trail and the word started to come back to remain very quiet—a bear had been seen already ahead, but we had to get around to a safe viewing area.

As I made my way close to the edge of the fast flowing river I spotted a white fury leg in between some boulders and a fallen log.  I made my way to our viewing area and there it was, feeding on pink salmon down in the river—my first adult spirit bear, seemingly unfazed by or unaware of our presence.

Someone guided my eye across the river and there feeding in complete harmony with the white bear were two black bears, equally fixed on the salmon.  The sight was mesmerizing and humbling and I could feel a lump in my throat.  The scene was inspirational and I was pleased the work I had been doing was helping to spread the word about the vulnerability of BC’s wildlife.

So as not to spook the bears, equipment had to be set up very quietly and our tightly packed group held our collective breath as a rapture of clicking cameras fired away, in the hope that the bears would not be disturbed by the new sound in their rainforest home.

It is estimated that there are less than 400 of these white bears—which, genetically at least, are actually a black bear—in existence.  They are born white due to a genetic anomaly, which must be present in both parents.  In this part of the world, when you see a male or female black bear, it is impossible to tell from sight alone if it is carrying the gene that will produce a white cub.  You may also see a black bear with white cubs or a white bear with black cubs.

Spirit bears are only protected in a very small area of BC where no hunting of bears— black or white—is allowed.  A collective of groups, including Pacific Wild, are working to improve this and it is hoped that before long these areas can be extended, as a hunter cannot tell if a black bear in his sights carries the Kermode gene or not.

Recent studies have also shown that it is possible a spirit bear may have better luck feeding in a river than its black relatives.  However, it is also thought that being white makes these bears at a higher risk to predation and maybe as a consequence, they are wary about showing themselves in the open.  On the BC coast, as fall arrives in the Great Bear Rainforest, the salmon start to return to their native rivers and creeks to spawn and this is the best time to see spirit bears as they come out of the forest to feed on the salmon.

As individual bears came and went during our visit, we were blessed with at least one bear—black or white—in view throughout most of the day.  Twice a spirit bear passed within five metres in front of us as he travelled along the river in search of his next salmon.  On one occasion, I counted six bears in view at the same time—four black and two white.  We could not believe our luck; Marven could not believe our luck.  On some occasions his guests only get to see a very short glimpse of a spirit bear, often through the bush.  On a few rare occasions his guests haven’t seen anything.

That is a fact of watching and photographing nature in the wild—nothing is guaranteed.  But for me, even a day without seeing any wildlife in the Great Bear Rainforest is a good day.  To see this area is a treat in itself; to see some of the many wonderful and rare creatures that inhabit it, and be able to capture them on film so to speak, is an added bonus.  The region is truly a majestic, lush temperate rainforest.  Besides its wildlife and birds, it is full of creeks, rivers and waterfalls with spectacular coastal shoreline and waterways.  It is certainly a nature photographer’s dream location.

To see and photograph these bears is a unique experience as there are so few of them.  The use of a local guide or tour operator such a Marven is vital both for you the viewer, the wildlife and the environment you are in.  Protection of the local habitat and wildlife is key and your guide or tour operator will ask you to work with them in ensuring this protection continues.  They will not do anything to place you in any danger, while at the same time they will not allow you to carry out any practice that may endanger the wildlife or the surrounding habitat.

Bookings for trips from Hartley Bay can be made with Marven Robinson (marvinrobinson@hotmail.com) and accommodation reserved in the village through Gitga’at tourism.  This may need to be done well in advance—the season is not very long and vacancies are often at a premium.  For a way to see more of the surrounding coastal rainforest, book with one of the many tour operators that frequent the area by boat, such as Ocean Adventures.

Always plan for the weather—this area is not affectionately known as the Great Bear Rainforest for nothing.  You will see rain at some stage and while this is not the most ideal conditions for photography, the rain is vital for the region and for encouraging the salmon back up river.

On our journey back to the village, one of my companions said that at one stage by mid-afternoon, we had been so blessed with the attendance of the bears, that as he looked around, for a brief period, no one was photographing anymore.  We were all just stood watching, enjoying the spectacle of the bears in their natural environment and enjoying their presence.

This nice observation reminded me that it is always great to get some wonderful photographs, but you never know if or when the opportunity will arise again, so it is always worth taking a little time to enjoy and marvel at the splendours of nature, outside of the lens too.

For more of Steve’s photos visit www.stevewphotography.ca.

You can view a display of his spirit bear photos at the Comox Rec Centre from July 21-October 27.   He is also part of the Pearl Ellis Gallery Members Show (People’s Choice) on display June 23 – July 12.  For more about Pacific Wild go to: www.pacificwild.org.

InFocus Magazine

Last summer, one of our regular feature writers, Terri Perrin, was asked to write about Helena Hartwood, Hartwood Garden Designs. (InFocus, Backyard Bounty, August/September 2009.)  In learning about the work that Hartwood does with what she calls “edible landscaping”, Perrin also was told of and wrote about a local non-profit group called LUSH Valley Food Action Society.  LUSH—an acronym for Let Us Share the Harvest—works with Island property owners to plant and harvest vegetables and fruit crops, then share the bounty with local food banks.

Perrin was so inspired by LUSH Valley’s role in our community that she spent much of the past winter thinking about how she could do something special for this organization.  In addition to being a freelance writer, Perrin is a certified Feng Shui Practitioner.  As she began thinking about planning a Feng Shui gardening workshop, LUSH Valley came to mind.

“I booked Ocean Resort for May 15 for a day-long Zen in Your Garden workshop,” explains Perrin.  “I planned to address Feng Shui for the garden but, since I have only been living on Vancouver Island for about a year, needed an expert to talk about plants.  I asked Helena Hartwood to give a lecture on edible landscaping. After all, if your garden is going to look and feel good, it may as well taste good, too!”

Perrin, whose company is called Fine Art of Intention, decided she needed another speaker to talk about ponds and water features but she was going to have to do some research to find someone.  Talk about the power of intention!  Within an hour, InFocus sent her an email and asked her to write about David Bossom of Island Waterscape & Design.  He was thrilled to be featured in this issue of InFocus and to be asked to speak at this event.

“My next call was to LUSH Valley,” adds Perrin.  “I told them that I would like their blessing in running the Zen in Your Garden workshop as a fundraiser.  No strings attached!  Just let me organize and run the event and I will donate back as much as possible to LUSH.  Needless to say, they were thrilled with the prospect!”

With two other speakers donating their time, Perrin called Ocean Resort to ask if they would donate the meeting space. (They did.)  She asked their chef, Carol Kopp, if she would be willing to prepare a lunch for a crowd of 70 and do a 30-minute talk of the benefits of raw food.  (She will.)

Now, she’s asking you to support LUSH Valley by purchasing a ticket to the Zen in Your Garden workshop.  Tickets are $74.99 each (GST included).  This includes the full workshop, a delicious lunch and an optional labyrinth and/or ocean walk at the end of the day.  Pre-registration is required and seating is limited to 70 people.

If you operate a business and would like to be an event sponsor, your support is also welcome. You could, for example, help with the cost of the lunch or printed materials. Or you can donate $50 to LUSH and supply product samples or advertising flyers to be put in the participants’ “loot bags”. (Tax receipts will be issued.)

“The motto of Fine Art of Intention Feng Shui is: ‘If you do not open your hands and heart to help yourself… you cannot give, nor can you receive’,” says Perrin.  “Organizing this event for LUSH is my way of giving back.”

For more information or to register call 250.218.4952 or visit:

fengshuikits.ca

For information about the Lush Valley Food Action Society, go to:

lushvalley.org

Dedicated to creating a park out of the No. 1 Japanese Townsite: Dwayne Rourke, Ray Iwaasa, May Gee, Florence Bell, Carol Snaden, Imogene Lim, Lillian Tosoff, Grace Doherty, Meaghan Cursons, Susan Grandfield at the No. 1 Townsite. This group and others helped plant 31 cherry trees in memory of the families who lived at the site in 1942.

Photo by Boomer Jerritt

Calling like the blossoms on the cherry tree are the leaves of the pages of the history of the Comox Valley.  It is a history most profoundly connected with the multi-cultural heritage of the original community of any substance: Cumberland.

And it is apt that it is in Cumberland where members of the community are diligently working to restore historic ties with cultures seemingly forgotten, with perhaps the most poignant tale concerning the members of an ethnic group that was literally driven away in the name of a misbegotten patriotic fervor combined with the bigotry of the day. That day came in the months following the attack by Imperial Japan on Pearl Harbour on December 7th, 1941. Among the victims of an unrepentant bias on the part of both the Canadian and provincial governments were the Japanese of Cumberland.

“When the people were finally obliged to leave they were driven to the wharf in Royston and loaded on a freighter destined for Vancouver,” says Ray Iwaasa (sic), whose uncle owned the Iwaasa Store in No. 1 Town in Cumberland.  “Nobody came out to wave goodbye.”

Fortunately, however, there are those living in Cumberland and elsewhere that are not about to let this bit of cultural legacy die out completely. They are the members of the Coal Creek History Park Advisory Committee and they, along with assistance from the Village council and the Cumberland Museum, are continuing with their plans to complete a heritage park that includes the old Japanese No. 1 Townsite.

Ray Iwaasa never actually lived in Cumberland in the years before World War Two—he came later, he says as a “curiosity seeker.”  Although by the time of his birth his father had moved on to Alberta, he does have a connectedness with No. 1 Townsite, and the legwork he has done has proved invaluable, says Coal Creek Committee chair, Grace Doherty.

His connectedness lies in the fact that Cumberland was his father’s first Canadian home. His uncle was the first in the family to arrive, and his father followed the uncle in 1898.

When Iwaasa arrived in Cumberland in March 2004 he was asked by Mayor Fred Bates and the Village administrator if he would be interested in getting involved with the study commissioned by the Village to establish a plan to develop the Perseverance (Coal) Creek Historic Park site.  He notes that he was the only visible Asian to be so involved. The irony of that being that the parksite would encompass the area that once contained both the Chinese and Japanese communities of Cumberland, equally vibrant in their day.

Specifically, they wanted him to develop a vision for the No. 1 Japanese Townsite. Iwaasa agreed, but with obvious reservations arising from the fact, as stated, he’d not been born there, nor had he ever lived there.

In those early days Iwaasa was put in contact with George Penfold who was in the process of completing his report: Cumberland Chinatown Japanese Settlement Historic Park Plan (released in August 2004).  In that report Penfold expressed disappointment at the paucity of input from the former Asian communities. Needless to say he was delighted to be contacted by Iwaasa, and ultimately, following the release of the report an ad hoc committee was formed.  That report was accepted in principle by the council in September 2007, and the members of the advisory committee, including by this point a more extensive representation from the former Asian communities, began meeting regularly in early 2008.

Members include: Grace Doherty (chair), John Leung, Ray Iwaasa, May Gee, Joyce Lowe, Marie Lowe, Bernice and Katsaoki Takahashi, Tats Aoki (whose father was the principal of the Japanese language school, and whose mother was a teacher there), Josephine Peyton, Florence Bell, Carol Snaden, Dwayne Rourke, Tako Kiyono (who was briefly a resident of No. 1 Japanese Town), Imogene Lim, Donna Le May, Mas Aida and Lillian and Doug Tosoff.

Iwaasa confesses that he “came in starry eyed” at the concept of the project, and was a little blindsided by how complex the political scene was in Cumberland.

“I was eager to embrace all, but realized there were some issues between individuals and groups that were not easily surmounted,” he says.  “At the same time, however, despite disputes over other issues, almost all of the people I dealt with were well-meaning and intelligent.”

Determination to not let the matter die or be pushed aside lies in the diligence of Grace Doherty.   “I made a commitment to be vigilant,” Doherty says.  “I made a point of literally attending all council meetings just to make sure the concept didn’t evaporate.  We may have seemed impatient but the reality was that many of the people involved were not of an age to wait.”

At times, she says, she felt they were being stonewalled and it seemed that the park vision might never be realized if they didn’t get the support needed.  Then former mayor Bronco Moncrief came into the mix and his input on the matter of the parks was of huge import to the park proponents.

According to Doherty, Moncrief told her he had walked down to the old Chinatown area and was struck by the beauty of the natural setting and told her he had come to the conclusion: “Why fool around any longer?”  Moncrief had earlier told Iwaasa that he had lost a number of good friends when the Japanese were exiled in 1942, and he was motivated by their memory.

Junior racers Amanda Wakeling and Jordan Duncan get in some practice time on the streets of the Comox Valley.

Photo by Boomer Jerritt

While out and about on the roads and trails around the Comox Valley, you might want to take special note of some of the two-wheeled blurs that flash past—there just might be some champions in that pack of cyclists.

And some of those blurs may very well be members of the Comox Valley Cycle Club (CVCC).  “The Comox Valley Cycle Club is excited to be able to offer programs and support to the cyclists of the Comox Valley,” says CVCC Time Trials Coordinator Andrew Brown, “but we are especially excited about a few of our junior members who are already showing amazing promise.”

“Although Amanda Wakeling, Jordan Duncan and Nigel Ellsay have only been racing for a year, all are regularly competing at the provincial level and winning.  Amanda and Jordan are both are currently the Provincial Time Trial Champions in their age group.”

The Comox Valley Cycle Club is active in road racing and recreation, holding regular group rides, time trials, and an annual series of road races.  Road races are for riders of all ages—the current membership ranges from 10 to 70.  Formal time trials are conducted weekly.  The club also hosts the BC Masters Cycling Association, regional play-downs for the BC Seniors Games, and special events for province-wide junior racers.

Former and current club members include provincial, national and world champions, regular competitors on the international circuit, and Olympians.

The club has been involved formally in competitive cycling since 1986.  “The CVCC has a long history of supporting cycling and bike racing in the Comox Valley,” says Brown.  “Olympians and former National Champions Kiara Bisaro and Geoff Kabush are both past members.”

One of the long standing senior members of the Club, John Bernard, describes the success of the junior training program.  “A couple of years ago John van der Vliet started organizing a training program for juniors—mainly because his son wanted to learn how to race, and his son had some friends who wanted to learn to race.  Amanda Wakeling,  Jordan Duncan and Nigel Ellsay are involved in that—all are about the same age. Altogether there are about six junior riders.”

While the young cyclists are relatively modest about their achievements to date, Bernard says, “John took them to some provincial level races last year, specifically the time trials, and they walked all over everybody else!  They were really impressive.”

Junior members have always been a focus of CVCC, says Bernard, depending on who is organizing the riders, and last year was a particularly good year.  “We did have talent, but not just that—the talent that started it out encouraged other talent to come along too!  And it built on itself.  It was attracting other people, other kids into it.

“We have about 50 members,” adds Bernard, who is also in charge of membership for the CVCC.  “At one point we had more—when we were involved in mountain biking as well, which was a success at that time mainly because we had the parents involved and the grade schools involved.  But when the kids grow older and drop out, the parents drop out, and without the parents it’s extremely difficult to keep going.  Our club is not strictly involved in mountain biking any more—it has started up again under a different organization in Cumberland—though a lot of our riders do mountain biking.”

The CVCC, he says, is basically a road racing club.  “This year we’re doing four race weekends locally—three of those are one-day events, and one is a two-day event with three races in it. The first one is mid-May, then one a month after that ending up in August.”

Bernard considers himself a recreational cyclist.  “I don’t race!” he says, “I can’t keep up with them! Their speed averages in the low 30s I think, for 1-1/2 to 2 hrs.  Right now they are doing a group ride Sundays, and eventually probably three or four organized group rides every week, depending on how keen people are.  They don’t care what the weather is like—they’ll even go out in snow!  Those are basically training rides.”

Most racing in the Valley is on Sunday mornings when the roads are fairly quiet.  “Routes are chosen partly because the traffic is light.  We try to be as careful as we can about the way people race.”

They also offer a “good time trial series,” once a week starting in August. “We have a course that starts at Piercy and Condensory, goes up to the highway, up the highway to Dove Creek Road and back,” says Bernard.  “They do that once or twice around—that’s very popular.”  Bernard notes that some improvements such as road shoulders or smoother pavement would be welcomed by the cycling community.

That community includes the junior members and their families.  “I’ve always liked to ride a bike,” says 15-year-old Jordan Duncan, whose father Kent is vice president of the CVCC.  “But when I first met John van der Vliet, he really got me into cycling as more of a sport rather than just something fun to do.  I was in Grade 6 at the time, about four years ago.  John is the dad of one of my best friends from elementary school, Jake. Jake introduced me to his dad, who grew up here, moved to Australia and turned pro, then raced in Holland, moved back to Australia, married there and then moved back here to the Valley.”

Amanda Wakeling, also 15, got into cycling as a kid to keep up with her brother.  “We ride to school pretty much every morning with my dad,” she says.  “Then a few years ago I got a cyclo-cross bike from Jeff at Trail Bikes, and that just started me road cycling, which got me into the club meeting different people, and got me into racing more.”

Adds Duncan:  “She’s the mountain biker and I’m the road cyclist.”

“But we both do cyclo-cross,” says Wakeling.  “We do all three.”

Cyclo-cross, as a diversion from their other competitive racing, includes all trail surfaces such as pavement, wooded trails, and grass—but notably features steep hills and obstacles, requiring the rider to quickly dismount and carry the bike while navigating the obstruction, then quickly remount.

“Cyclo-cross is kind of crazy,” says Wakeling with a big grin.  “It’s kind of in-between mountain biking—you get up and run over barriers, run up stairs, crazy stuff!”

The bikes, adds Duncan, are similar to road bikes but with wider and more knobby tires for off-road riding.  “You can do it anywhere, that’s the coolest thing about it,” says Wakeling.  “It’s competitive—fast races, like a half hour or 45 minutes.”

Cyclo-cross is what they do when not competing from September to November.  “It’s kind of an off-season, fun thing to do,” says Duncan.  “Keep the fitness level up, but don’t get disappointed if you don’t do well.”

I don’t need to speak dog to know that the Siberians are eager to go. While musher Daryle Mills is setting up the sled and lines, the dogs jump, yip, howl, whine and bark, their eyes on Mills, their bushy Husky tails curled high. If they weren’t securely attached to a strong chain, which is anchored to Mills’ parked truck, they’d be leaping toward us—60-odd pounds each of solid muscle and single-minded focus, driven by what seems to be a deeply-embedded instinct: the urge to pull a sled over a snowy track.

The sled ready, Mills raises his voice to be heard over the tumult and gives me a quick lesson on how to harness a sled dog. There’s going to be a tricky moment where I’ll have to unclip the dog from its chain to get the harness down to its shoulders, and then clip it up again. During this moment I’ll have to hold the dog tight. “The number one rule is never let go of your dogs!” he emphasizes.

Mills of course makes it look easy, but at 5’3” I’m pretty sure I’m at least a foot shorter than him, and he confirms that I’m less than half his weight. I get the feeling that with one excited lunge the dog could pull me right over. Holding the harness open, just as Mills demonstrated, I move toward Bear, a black-and-white beauty with clear blue eyes, who jumps and barks with excitement. I grab tight to his collar, talking soothingly to him. Mills is right beside me ready to help out if needed, and in a few seconds I’ve got the harness on. Success! I help harness up a few of the others.

My next job, explains Mills, is to hold the two lead dogs once he clips them to the sled lines, giving him time to get the other dogs in place without the whole thing descending into a chaos of tangled lines and adrenaline-fuelled dogs. After that, he says, things are likely to move quickly. “The dogs are going to want to go,” he says. “When you hear me yell, ‘Get in the sled,’ you jump in that sled fast.”

Spirit and Dreamer, today’s lead dogs, are cooperative. I hold tight to their lines while Mills attaches the others in formation behind them. And then, it’s like he said—I hear his shout and I jump in the sled as it starts to move up the trail. Mills springs onto the runners behind me and we’re off.

Snow, speed, wind, the dogs’ strong haunches pulling mightily in front of me, the sled flying through the air and bouncing down as we go over bumps—I’m dog sledding!

This is what Daryle Mills does: he takes people dog sledding. The owner-operator of Vancouver Island Dog Sledding and the Ateemak Siberian Dog Sled Skool, Mills shares his 90-acre Dove Creek property with 20 Siberian Huskies. He feeds them, trains them, breeds them when the time seems right, and, throughout the winter, he takes them sledding on trails at the foot of Mount Washington.

Clients from all over the world hire Mills and his dogs to give them a taste of what Jack London, author of the famous sled-dog story Call of the Wild, called “the pride of trace and trail”—the magic of dog sledding.

And while dog sledding is a wonderful addition to the variety of winter adventure recreation available on Vancouver Island (as far as Mills knows, he is the only commercial musher on the Island), it is also, for Mills and his dogs, so much more than that.

Mills, a Native of Cree and Dene descent, says dog sledding is, above all, a way to honor and preserve a First Nations tradition that goes back thousands of years. “It’s about keeping the culture alive and sharing it with others,” he says.

This sharing can be surprisingly powerful, says Mills. In fact, his main focus for the past three years has been on harnessing (no pun intended) the healing potential of dog sledding for First Nations youth.

In 2007, aided by a grant from the Victoria Foundation, Mills embarked on a pilot project teaching First Nations youth affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) to work with the sled dogs. Administered by the Wachiay Friendship Centre in Courtenay, the program has seen approximately 100 youth go through so far.
Mills sees these young people make huge strides. “I’m so proud of all of them,” he says.

On a practical level, they learn skills such as basic carpentry (there are dog houses to be built, kennels to fix, and more), work with sledding equipment, and typical farm chores associated with keeping animals.

Taking care of the dogs teaches the kids empathy and responsibility. Working as part of a team helps them learn communication skills. Sledding gives them a much-needed experience of adventure and challenge. And above all, they gain self confidence and a sense of cultural connection.

Ten of the participants have continued to work with Mills and are now competent mushers. He hires them regularly as assistants for his recreation clients and also gives them the opportunity to compete in sled races.

As far as Mills is aware, this program is the only one of its kind in the world. However, the healing potential of dogs is nothing new. Dog visits in hospital and long-term care facilities have been proven to increase the well-being and medical outcomes of the patients. Dogs provide incredibly skilled and caring services for blind and physically handicapped people; they soothe and focus kids with learning disorders, and are even used in literacy programs. As well, numerous scientific studies now verify what most ‘dog people’ have always intuited—just having a pet dog has positive benefits on health and longevity.

Mills doesn’t need any scientific studies to confirm what he witnesses and feels every day.

“There’s something about humans and dogs,” he says. “I sometimes think it’s in our DNA.”

It’s in his DNA, for sure. Mills is originally from Fort Chipewyan in Northern Alberta, where his Cree and Dene ancestors lived in symbiosis with their dogs until relatively recently, when snowmobiles took over.

“I grew up around dogs. My grandfather had dogs. My uncles had dogs,” he says. “My people have been a dog culture for thousands of years. It was part of our whole lifestyle and part of our culture. Dogs were our protection, dogs hunted with us, dogs carried our burdens. Just like it is with the horse cultures, we have our stories and songs about them.

“Dogs have a big spiritual significance to us. This is part of what I teach the kids. One of the first things we do in the program is to sit in the sweat lodge while I tell them some of the old stories.”

One of his favorite stories comes from the Anishnabi people and it recounts how dogs came to be human companions. Mills shares a shortened version with me:
Long ago, human beings lived as one among many beings on the planet. But the time came when human beings began to violate the sacred laws, says Mills, his voice slowing and deepening as he steps into the storyteller role.

The human beings became careless with how they used the plants of the earth and how they hunted prey. They became greedy and impatient. The other animals of the earth grew angry, and decided to wipe out the human beings entirely. But the dogs took pity on the humans and wanted to protect us. They befriended us and helped us survive. For this, they were banished from the wild kingdom and given the task of carrying our burdens. To this day they protect us from the wrath of the wild kingdom. They bark when a bear comes close, and they bark when a cougar comes close, always warning us of potential danger. They have become part of human culture, human communities and human families.

Mills has found dog stories from sledding cultures all over the world. For instance, the Chukchi of Northern Siberia say that dogs know the spirit world. “They guard the gates of heaven, so when you die, you go to the gates of heaven on your sled. The dogs determine if you will pass through or not, depending on how well you treated your dogs while you were alive,” he says, a twinkle in his eye.

Mills didn’t set out to be a musher. He says it was a dog, Kavik, who made that decision for him.

Eighteen years ago, Mills had a career in security and body-guarding—a seemingly natural fit given his large frame and calm demeanor. He was helping a friend in a dangerous situation keep safe, and at the same time was called away for a security job. He didn’t want to leave his friend unprotected. He remembered the old story about how dogs are charged with protecting us, and wondered if that could be the answer.

The next day he opened the newspaper and saw an SPCA ad with a picture of a Siberian Husky/wolf cross named Kavik. Following his instincts, he adopted the dog and took him to his friend, where he seemed to know naturally what his job was.

Later Kavik came to live with Mills. His second dog, Misha, appeared out of the bush a few months later. Mills saw her sniffing around his truck one day near Merville. He put her in the truck with Kavik and the two of them immediately got along. Mills tracked down her owner who, it turned out, was looking for a new home for her. And so Misha too went to live with Mills. After that, more dogs found their way into his life, each with their own story.

With the dogs came an interest in sledding, Mills says. At that point in his life, he’d already begun a journey of rediscovering his roots, searching out Native wisdom and learning Native traditions such as drumming and storytelling, so it was a natural step to seek out elders who could share some of the old knowledge.
“For the most part,” he says, “I’m a self-trained musher. I read every mushing magazine I could find, I talked to the elders, I tried and failed and tried again, learning by experience.”

Sledding remained a hobby as Mills gradually shifted away from security and became a youth worker. Like everything in his life, this was a natural progression as he followed his heart.

“Because I’d been learning about native traditions, people started asking me to come be a resource, to talk to kids about native culture, things like sweat lodges and drum-making, so I started volunteering a lot. Eventually I went to college to get the certificate and I turned my hobby into my work,” he says.

He spent a few years working with young offenders and providing cultural programs for youth; in the meantime, he had about eight dogs and was mushing in his spare time. Once again merging his hobby with his work, he came up with the idea of a dog sled program for youth at risk. The idea garnered three-year funding as a pilot project, and thus was born the Ateemak Siberian Sled Dog School.

Last year, he expanded his operation to offer recreation and adventure rides to locals and tourists under the name Vancouver Island Sled Dogs.

The recreation rides can vary from a short “express” ride to get a taste of the trail, to a full three-hour workshop where participants learn the basics and get a chance to try mushing.

He has plans and dreams for both endeavours. His idea for the recreation sledding is to acquire property on the mountain. He envisions a cozy log cabin with the kennels around it, and perhaps some simple cabins for guests to stay in while participating in dog sledding programs. This setup would allow him to offer residential workshops with sledding and First Nations cultural programs, and to live with his dogs right next to the snowy trails they love.

In the more foreseeable future, he wants to offer day-long dog sledding trips into the back country. “There’s something indescribable that happens when you’re out there for four, five hours, just you and the dogs and the snow and the forest. It affects you really deeply,” he says.

Mills’ vision for the youth program is to share it with other communities. “I’d like to see us get more funding to go on the road and take it to different Native communities, like some of the reserves up North, and help them set up a program like this. It wouldn’t be hard to replicate and it would work so well in those places,” he says.
These sound like ambitious goals, but Mills doesn’t worry too much about them.
“I feel like I’m being guided in all this. Things just seem to come to me when the time is right. The way my dogs have come to me,” he says. “Really, it’s all about the dogs. People think I train them, I teach them, I lead them. Actually, they lead me.”
Out on the trail, watching Spirit, Dreamer, Joe, Bear, Dakota and Angel leap ahead, pulling me swiftly along the snow, I have a similar feeling—it’s all about the dogs.
There is Mills standing behind me, a powerful presence to be sure, an experienced musher, calm and in control. And there is myself, full of enthusiasm, fuelled by childhood readings of Call of the Wild, giving myself over to a wonderful new experience. But it is the dogs that give this experience its color; it is the dogs I will dream about; it is the dogs that raise this fun recreational activity to an archetypal level, connecting me to something ancient and simple and beautiful.

Toward the end of the ride Mills gives me a chance to mush. I stand on the runners; controlling the sled with the brake and dogs with my voice. At first he sits on the sled, his weight and his presence an assurance that things won’t feel too out of control. Then he has me stop the dogs and wait while he walks up ahead, leaving me to experience mushing on my own.

The dogs want to follow him. I see Angel’s feet dig into the snow; her hindquarters surge; she’s ready to run. I stand down hard on the brake, talking to them in a deep calm voice, the way I heard Mills do it.

Perhaps it’s my imagination, but I sense that the dogs are listening to me; they seem to calm for the length of a slow exhalation. A couple of bright-eyed faces turn back to look at me.

And just then, something shimmers and shifts in my experience: I’m no longer just a curious onlooker, a cultural tourist having a unique experience. I forget that I’m feeling nervous, I forget that I’m writing an article, I forget that I’ve got dozens of emails waiting for me when I get home. Instead, I feel the strength of my legs standing on the runners; I feel the dogs’ excitement and the effort of their self-control; I feel their good will and their love of the trail.

Mills signals to me. I jump off the brake and onto the runners, shouting to the dogs, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” I feel the Huskies’ power and eagerness come up through the soles of my feet as the sled leaps forward, flying along the snow.

For more information about Vancouver Island Dog Sledding and the Ateemak Siberian Dog Sled Skool, go to www.VancouverIslanddogsledding.com.

Several members of the Vancouver Island chapter of the Back Country Horsemen of British Columbia (BCH) enjoy a leisurely ride along One Spot Trail on a recent summer evening. The BCH played an integral role in the construction and completion of this historic project.

Photo by Photo by Boomer Jerritt

In 1988, when Langley, BC equine enthusiast Jim McCrae embarked on a solo horseback ride of the 4,260-kilometre Pacific Crest Trail, he knew that it would be a life-changing experience. But he had no idea that his adventure would be a catalyst to change the lives of so many others, too.

McRae started at the trailhead in Mexico, then travelled up the coast through California, Oregon and Washington, before eventually winding up in British Columbia. It took him and his three horses five months to make the trip.

When he encountered problems along the way, McCrae was grateful that there was always someone available to provide assistance. On many occasions, the individuals who came forward to help were members of an organization called the Back Country Horsemen of America.

Needless to say, when you spend 147 consecutive days on a solitary trail ride, you have plenty of time to think. One thing McCrae thought about was that the Back Country Horsemen of America were doing some amazing work on behalf of recreational riders in the USA. He decided that his home province of British Columbia could benefit from the creation of a similar organization.

After the dust had settled on his legendary ride, McCrae put his thoughts into action. In 1989, along with his wife Marilynn and several other equine enthusiasts, he formed the Back Country Horsemen Society of British Columbia (BCH). It would become a registered society in 1991.

Today, with McCrae’s continued support as well as the volunteer efforts of hundreds of dedicated members, BCH has become a province-wide organization with more than 600 members and 16 chapters, including three on Vancouver Island.

The first Vancouver Island chapter was formed in Nanaimo in 1996. Many of its then 100-plus members, however, lived in the Comox Valley and surrounding communities, so commuting to meetings was a challenge. As a result, in 2002 the Vancouver Island chapter was moved to the Comox Valley. Additional chapters were eventually started in Duncan (South Vancouver Island), Port Alberni (Alberni Valley) and, most recently, Saltspring Island. Total membership on the Island is about now about 100, 60 of which are in the Comox Valley region.

“While the name ‘Back Country’ may mislead some people into thinking that our organization is only concerned about trails in the far reaches of the wilderness, we also work to secure access for horses and riders, to maintain and to use trails in urban and rural settings,” explains John King, chair of association’s Vancouver Island chapter and vice president for the provincial board of directors. “Many of the trails are multi-use and are frequented by hikers, cyclists and people on all terrain vehicles (ATVs). Some trails are decades old and historic, built for horses and used only by horses, but almost all are suitable for other forms of recreation, as well as trail riding.”

The Vancouver Island chapter has been extensively involved with the development and on-going maintenance of several well-used and much-loved trails in the Comox Valley and beyond. Not only do members ride these trails, they take great pride in them, too.

In the wake of a wind storm, volunteers clear deadfall from trails. If a bridge needs to be built to ensure a safe creek or ravine crossing, volunteers organize a work bee and build it. They have even constructed a few outhouses in the outback—always a welcome sight after spending several hours in a saddle.

One of their most recent accomplishments has been the development of the historic One Spot Trail, which runs along the former mainline railway grade of the Comox Logging and Railway Company. (See sidebar.)

The group has also been collaborating with the Merville and Area Residents and Ratepayers Association (MARRA), in their First Nations Land Claim consultations with the provincial and federal governments. The goal is to ensure the public will continue to have access to the 20-kilometres of trails that wind through the magnificent 520-hectare Williams Beach Forest Reserve.

“We have been at risk of losing public access to this particular parcel of Crown land for many years,” explains Sharon Pickthorne, volunteer treasurer for both the Vancouver Island chapter and the provincial organization. “In 1998, there was a land rights trade proposed. The community rallied together and the deal was cancelled. For the recent negotiations, I joined MARRA’s team to represent all horse riders, on behalf of BCH. Our efforts are supported by Horse Council BC and the Joint Trails and Access Committee.”

On October 2, 2008, MARRA was invited to present its case to save Williams Beach to six members of the provincial and federal negotiating team. Pickthorne says they were disappointed when the two-hour time allotment was shortened to only an hour, but they still managed to present a strong case. With the assistance of a lawyer, who had volunteered her time to help prepare an extensive briefing, the presentation was complete with maps, newspaper clippings, historical information and excerpts from the Official Community Plan. One federal negotiator commented that no group had ever given her anything so professional.

“I was able to speak for about 10 minutes on the equine connection and Back Country Horsemen,” adds Pickthorne. “I described why we love this forest, how it is such a great place to take a novice rider or a green horse for their first trail rides. I explained the lack of conflict with other users and the perfect footing. And I asked that we have the foresight to leave this Crown land with public access, to accommodate a larger population base of many users in the future.”

After many hours spent preparing documents and coming up with a strategy to save the Williams Beach Forest, Pickthorne came away from the meeting feeling they had given it their best shot. Only time will tell if those efforts were successful.

More recently, Pickthorne, again representing BCH, was invited to represent riders in the Resource Group for the Comox Valley Parks and Greenways Planning Strategy. This is a 50-year plan that encompasses recreation land use, including trail riding. This inclusion was considered a great honor and an acknowledgement of the sound reputation the Society has fostered in our community.

In addition to these key projects, BCH makes continuous effort to work with various private landowners (such as timber companies), woodlot licensees and the provincial government to secure access for trail riders on both privately-owned and Crown-owned land. Considering the scarcity of Crown land on Vancouver Island, maintaining a good working relationship with various government sectors—such as forest and environment—is of utmost importance for BCH members.

While lobbying to ensure the right to ride is an important aspect of the society, not all members get involved in politics and policy development—many simply saddle up and ride.

“Back Country Horsemen are a unique and dedicated group,” says King. “Our membership is comprised of both men and women of all ages, from all walks of life. They use English or Western tack and ride various breeds and sizes of horses or mules. Many are life-long horse lovers who have grown tired of the cost and competition of the horse show circuit and just want to get out and enjoy their horse on the trail.”

It is interesting to note that while most horse-related organizations attract a large contingency of women, the majority of BCH members are men. “But don’t let that make you think we’re just a bunch of old geezers going into the back country with pack mules to hunt moose!” adds King with a smile. “A few of our members may fit that profile, but the majority of us simply like to take our horses out on the trail for a few hours on evenings and weekends.”

“Many of our members are experienced trail riders,” explains Pickthorne. “However, we also welcome people who are new to trail riding and will help them work with their horse to ensure they have fun and learn to ride safely. In fact, you don’t even have to own a horse or a horse trailer to join.”

In addition to trail riding, further education is a major focus of BCH. Meetings are held at 7 pm on the third Thursday of every month (from September through June) at the Grantham Hall on the Old Island Highway. Special guest speakers, videos and member presentations cover a wide range of topics, from horse health to environmental stewardship. In addition to the educational presentation and reporting on the Society’s business, there is always plenty of opportunity to network and socialize at the monthly meeting. Anyone is welcome—you do not have to be a member to attend.

BCH hosts several trail riding events and clinics throughout the year, some in alliance with the Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA). You can simply attend the events as a participant or elect to progress through four levels of CHA trail riding certification. Trail Rider Level 1 covers the basics of horsemanship and trail skills, requiring you to complete at least two group rides that are organized and operated according to the standards set by the CHA Trail Safety and Etiquette Guidelines. Wilderness Rider Level 4 is far more advanced, encompassing not only riding and horsemanship but trail and camping skills, group control and organization, advanced pack animal management and considerable field experience.

“To ensure the safety of both horses and riders, education is an important part of our activities,” says Pickthorne. “But we also want to ensure that wilderness areas are used responsibly and in cooperation with other recreational user groups.”

A popular annual event is the province-wide Rendezvous held the last weekend in May. This year’s three-day event at Rock Creek in the BC Interior attracted more than 225 people with 175 horses from across the province. Both Pickthorne and King attended and say it was an amazing experience that was well worth the trip.

“From big events like Rendezvous to solitary rides on the trails at Seal Bay, my involvement with the Back Country Horsemen has given me the confidence and knowledge to get out and explore many areas of the province that I very likely would never have been able to see,” says King. “It has been time well spent for my wife and me, and for our horses.”

Pickthorne agrees. “Sometimes, when I am on a wilderness trail and I gaze out at the view across a valley, I think to myself… ‘Wow! It doesn’t get any better than this!’ Then I venture further up the trail and am even more amazed by the next vista. Traveling the back country on horseback is something everyone should be able to enjoy.”

For more information call Sharon Pickthorne at 250-337-1818
or John King at 250-338-6789.
bchorsemen.org

While this may be “one great spot to ride,” this eight-kilometre long trail is actually named after the first locomotive that was used on a railway line constructed here more than 100 years ago. “One Spot” was the nickname for a wood-burning Baldwin steam locomotive that was built in 1909 and used to transport timber from the various logging camps in the region up until 1943. The railway tracks were removed in 1954, after the main logging operations at Headquarters Road were shut down. The land lay dormant for the next five decades. It was officially designated as a multi-use trail in 2008.

While the One Spot Trail was constructed primarily for horseback riding, walking and cycling are also permitted. (ATVs are not.) Interpretive signs along the path describe the past, present and future of the area and offer insight into the beautiful second growth forest through which it travels.

For information on this and other great equestrian-friendly trails throughout British Columbia check the Trail Directory section of the BCH website: www.bchorsemen.org