Graceful Old Trees in British Columbia

SEEK A TREE AND LET IT TEACH YOU STILLNESS-----Eckhart Tolle

Randal and I spent a few weeks travelling and camping through British Columbia in September and October.During that time we took walks into some of BC's old forests.

While walking through these treasured areas we enjoyed the serenity and silence of these elegant and majestic trees. They have been there for countless years answering to the divine energy of the universe.

We are in awe by the size of their circumference, with new growth that grow from many 500 year old stumps.

We traveled along the Trans Canada Highway through Revelstoke and stopped 28 km east at Shunk Cabbage Boardwalk. We walked along the 1.2 km trail and boardwalk that lead us over a swamp inhabited by muskrat, beaver, skunk cabbage and a host of birds. Signs helped us to identify the plants and animals along the way.

Giant Cedars Boardwalk is located in Mount Revelstoke National Park, Giant Cedars Boardwalk Trail offer ed us the chance to see old growth forest with trees over 500 years old. We started at the Giant Cedars Picnic Area, 30 km east of Revelstoke. A half kilometre boardwalk took us into the heart of the park's old-growth forest, among cedar trees that may be more than half a millennium old. Signs along the way relate the importance of functioning ecosystems.

At our stay in Salmon Arm on the Shuswap we made a trip to Margaret Falls. The trail leading to Margaret Falls passes through a rock chasm that feels like an enchanted forest. The unique and sensitive ecosystem of flowers, trees and shrubs are part of the park's natural heritage. The water from Reinecker Creek cascades down a sheer rock face creating a natural shower. We could see the hidden cave in the rock directly behind the falls.

One afternoon we went for a walk with our friends, Iris and Richard, in  This park officially opened to the public in 1912 and has been a popular destination among tourists and local residents ever since. Lynn Canyon Park has grown from 12 acres in its early years to 617 acres today and contains second growth forest with most of the trees aged approximately 80 to 100 years old. Lynn Canyon Park features a suspension bridge that sways 50 meters above the canyon. It was built privately in 1912 when the park opened. There area good selection of walking and hiking trails that connect to other parks in the region such as Lynn Headwaters, Rice Lake, and Inter River Park.

Hazelmere RV Park also has an old-growth area that is not far from our site in the RV Park that we take walks through.