The first stop of my Canada summer trip is Revelstoke, British Columbia. Revelstoke is a wonderful little town. The fresh air smells of cedar. There are not many cars so the air is also clean. Columbia River crosses through a big part of the town, creating a nice view together with snow covered mountains.

In summer, 10 PM here is still very bright outside. On top of that, I didn’t know that Alberta and British Columbia have different time zone. I forgot to set my watch one hour earlier. I felt I have so much time after I did! But really, all I had was one day to explore. Obviously, this is not enough.

Centennial Park.

At 9 PM, I walked around the town and passed by Centennial Park. Next to the park, there is a soccer field full of kids playing soccer even at this time. People here seems to enjoy an active lifestyle. In the whole trip, I didn’t notice a fat Canadian.

These benches face toward the west where the lake and sunset are. Must be a nice view at dusk. Kids still out playing soccer at 9PM. It still looks like afternoon.

For most of the time here, the weather was cloudy. There was no epic sunrise or sunset. Still, I tried my best to get the sunset picture of Columbia River with mountains. In my experience, nothing is ever certain. Even an unfavorable situation can be favorable as long as I take the chance.

It was raining for a long time during my visit. The sunset doesn’t look as nice on a clearer day. Someone had the sick idea of putting a doll here. Could be scary at night You know there are teenagers here when you see shoes hanging on the power lines. There are two tiny islands in Columbia River in Revelstoke. Maybe someone can build a house there.

Centennial Park has a hiking/biking trail along Columbia River. I woke up early at 4 AM when I thought it was 5 AM. With so much time, I decided to hike the trail. There was almost nobody up because it was 4 AM but the day is already bright. It was weird like the whole town is eaten by zombies.

The neighborhood seems very beautiful with a mixture of old and new houses. Flowers, both wild and domestic, are beautifully grown along the trail and the streets.

A traditional-looking home at Revelstoke This flower smells nice and also looks beautiful.

History of Revelstoke

Founded in the 1880s, Revelstoke started off as a town for railway construction. Railway workers came from many places such as Italy, Scotland, China and Japan.

Forestry contributes significantly to Revelstoke’s economy. There is a big lumber mill near Centennial Park. The nice cedar odor in the air comes from this mill. It has been working since 1950.

This lumber mill makes the whole town smell like cedar.

As a very tiny town, everyone seems to know one another. People casually greet one another as they walk pass by. Many businesses aim to accommodate tourists.

This building reminds me of houses in Asia. The second floor looks like it was built a while ago.

Mount Revelstoke National Park

The main attraction here is Mount Revelstoke National Park. In summer, the roads “Meadow in the Sky Parkway” opens so visitors can drive up to the top and enjoy the view. When I was there (early summer), about half of this road was closed. If you plan to go, make sure to go in midsummer, so you can see everything.

For me, the view was good enough even not from the highest point. The view of mountains up close is breathtaking. Unfortunately, the park opens at 8:30 AM. I cannot get a good sunrise shot here as the sunrise is at around 5 AM in summer here.

Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk

This is a nice and short hiking trail that surround you with stinking skunk cabbages. The cabbages are very big. What I like about this trail is that a large part of it is actually a swamp. There are several strange plants making the place seems like a different planet. The boardwalk is very well made. Even when raining, the boardwalk did not flood.

Careful not to step on this little guy on the boardwalk. In Canada’s national parks, expect to find these red chairs. I like how they have to be red to constrast with all the greens.

Here are the skunk cabbages, also known as swamp cabbage. “Skunk” refers to the bad smell these cabbages have.

Giant Cedars Boardwalk

A moderately distanced trail that has many big trees. The entire trail is covered by the trees, making the place very cool even on a sunny day.

Before the entrance, there were several health-conscious prairie dogs eating grasses (not junk foods from the tourists).

A health-concious prairie dog eating a piece of vegetable Prairie dogs live in a tunnel network. They can easily escape predators. A health-concious prairie dog eating a piece of vegetable

Rogers Pass

This trail is too long for me for the limited time I had. It’s full of greens with abandoned railway structures. Looks like ruins from a destroyed civilization.

Bear Creek Falls

A somewhat long hike down to a waterfall. Easy to go in but very tough to come up. There were mosquitoes here. But I walked too fast for them to eat me. The waterfall splashed a lot of water to me as the hiking trail lets you get in very close. I hid behind a rock to not get completely wet while taking pictures. It was very refreshing though.

Trans-Canada to Golden

After leaving Revelstoke, we drove to Golden, British Columbia. There are several interesting things along the way.

There was one resting spot where there is an artillery gun on display. The gun points toward the mountains. Supposedly, guns like this one are used to control avalanche from happening. And I thought Canadians aren’t supposed to have guns.

I saw wildlife in the area as well. A Steller’s jay and several prairie dogs quickly came to my mom as she opened a trashcan. Mom didn’t give them any food. So, one prairie dog went into his tunnel and grab a piece of hot dog to show off.

A Steller’s jay approached my mom as she opened the trashcan. Then, a prarie dog appeared. Mom didn’t give them any food. So the prarie dog went into his tunnel and grab a hotdog Mom didn’t give them any food. So the prairie dog went into his tunnel and grab a piece of hot dog to show off. A fat prairie dog waiting for foods near a trashcan along Trans-Canada Highway

Thank you for reading. Subscribe to my blog for more story on this trip! Next, I’ll write about Golden and Yoho National Park in British Columbia.