This episode is a continuation of my ultimate adventure vanlife roadtrip through BC and Alberta, and this marks my return to BC. Naturaly, I celebrate by canoeing on the Columbia River. I spent the day in the town of Radium Hotsprings, where I eventually cooked a pizza at a rest stop on the side of the highway, that rest stop had an absolutely stunning view of the river below and the wheels started turning. I did a little bit of research, and not only was that river definitely paddleable. It even traveled through part of the largest protected intact wetlands in North America! This video starts with me riding my bike from the endpoint to downtown Radium. It was all uphill, but I made it, and I even saw a couple of deer on the way. Eventually, when in downtown Radium, I locked my bike up and then got on the city bus. Shout out to BC Transit. First, the bus cost me $2 for this transfer, and 2nd, there was a lady on the bus training the driver, and she was super helpful. I had no idea what I was doing, so she told me where to get off, and also gave me local camping tips, and even told me that I could very easily of extended this padddle to at least Edgewood BC. I was already committed to what I was doing by then, but Ithis trip was so beautiful I'll almost certainly be back to explore more. The bus dropped me off in Invermere BC, by the A&W, where I was a 5 minute walk away from James Chabot Provincial Park, which is where I had stashed my canoe that morning. James Chabot Provincial Park is a small beach located on the sandy shores of Lake Windermere. Lake Windermere is a beautiful lake, perfect for beach days, and in the winter, it transforms into the worlds longest skating trail! Once on the lake, I eat my Peak Refuel breakfast skillet, then head onto the Columbia River to start my paddle proper. Once there, the real beauty of this place starts to show up. The Columbia River Travels 2000 Kilometers from here in the Columbia Valley, where it winds its way through Canada and into America, where it meets the Pacific Ocean at Astoria Oregon. Along the way the river is home to many things, including huge amounts of hydro dams(follow this channel for an interesting video coming where I paddled between the 2nd and 3rd lagest hydro dams in BC on the Columbia), but more importantly for this video, it's home to North America's largest intact protected wetlands. Boasting over 15,000 hectares of protected wetlands, the Columbia wetlands is an absolutely stunning landscape. I only traveled 18 Kilometers through them today, in a small section known as the Athalmer Wetlands. The wetlands are an integral habitat for many species, big and small. From rich plant life, to fish and birds, to large fauna like moose and grizzly bears, the Columbia wetlands are critical habitat for the incredible biodiversity that calls British Columbia home. So fallow along on this journey, from the bike to the bus, to the beach, to the river and the air, this video is a tour of an incredible landscape from all angles, and I know you'll enjoy it.
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12 дек 2023
