Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

It took a little patience, but I was finally able to get the library's audiobook of Adam Shoalts' latest, Where the Falcon Flies , which won in the "Journeys" category of the 2024 National Outdoor Book Awards .  I have a bunch of others still on hold!   Title: Where the Falcon Flies: A 3,400 Kilometre Odyssey From My Doorstep to the Arctic Author: Adam Shoalts. Read by the author. Publication Info : Penguin Canada, 2023.  10 hours. Original hardcover by Allen Lane, 2023, 364 pages Source: Library Publisher's Blurb (via Goodreads): Looking out his porch window one spring morning, Adam Shoalts spotted a majestic peregrine falcon flying across the neighbouring fields near Lake Erie. Each spring, falcons migrate from southernmost Canada to remote arctic mountains. Grabbing his backpack and canoe, Shoalts resolved to follow the falcon’s route north on an astonishing 3,400-kilometre journey to the Arctic. Along the way, he faces a huge variety of challenges an...

In addition to the recent hike on the West Coast Trail, I enjoyed a few smaller adventures on Vancouver Island recently. Enjoy the photos! Besides the beaches on the trail, we visited Quadra Island and found some pretty beaches there. Tidepools with crabs, as well as tiny fish and shrimp (not shown). Comox Harbour Rebecca Spit. Of course, with a name like that, I had to visit! I also took a hike in the Paradise Lakes area of Strathcona Provencial Park. Paradise Meadows Battleship Lake Mountain stream Of course, a trip like this was also all about the ferries (all told, including the tiny "ferry" that took us down the lake to start the backpack trip, we rode 5). Large BC Ferries vessels to take us from Tsawassen (Vancouver BC) to Nanaimo. Leaving Vancouver, Mt. Baker dominates the skyline to the south. There's a sharp line where the muddied waters of the Fraser River flow into the Salish Sea. The small ferries that serve Quadra and the other islands are open-ended like the...