Ever since I´ve been to British Columbia in the winter, it was on my list to see this beautiful place in the summer.

Well, that didn´t work out. By the time we started our trip, the leaves on BC´s trees had already started changing their color.

Traveling BC in the fall means having to deal with cold temperatures, rain and snow. But it also means less crowds, incredible landscapes and colors.

The obvious place to start a trip through BC is, of course, Vancouver. The first stop was the beautiful Lindeman Lake. Do you know those crystal clear, greenish blue shimmering lakes on postcards from BC? This is one of the places, although just a small one. Conveniently located along the highway to Kamloops (which was our next stop), this easy hike near Chiliwack can be extended if you go further to Greendrop Lake, which we couldn´t because we were on a tight schedule.

Hiking to the lake in mid-september was a good decision (no crowds!), also we were lucky with the weather. A dive in the lake was mandatory, but ice cold. It´s an easy walk with one steep section, and it is incredibly rewarding!

A quick stop in Sun Peaks and a successful job interview later, the plans for the winter were sorted and we were looking for some nice, hot weather. And we did find it! The Okanagan Valley is the place where a majority of the Canadian apples, peaches, plums and wine comes from! And where there´s wine, there´s lots of sun and warmth! A very different landscape from the high mountains and dense woods of the rest of BC, this place is a MUST in fall.

Because we had to cancel a multi-day canoe trip on the Bowron Lakes due to the bad weather up north, we were still looking for a truly Canadian canoe experience.

So we stopped at True Outdoors in Kelowna, rented a canoe and just went for it. Our brand new book “Camp Free in BC” gave away the exact directions to amazing places along very sketchy, washed out backroads and we had everything we needed to get out there and explore.

We spent a few nights at Island Lake and Postill Lake just east of Kelowna. Eat, Have a Campfire, Sleep, Paddle, Repeat for four days. Life at its best!

We were sad when we had to return the canoe in Penticton, but more adventures were waiting for us. After having read this amazing blog, we decided to head for the Cathedral Provinicial Park. We didn´t know yet if we could make it to the core area of the park (it´s an 8 hour hike in and back), but thanks to our campsite-bible we knew that even the road to the park had to offer a lot of lonely, wild campsites, and we just couldn´t get enough of those incredible campfires.

For different reasons (time,weather and the lack of equipment for a night in the tent at -5°C), we didn´t make it to the core area of the park. We were devastated, but after driving back to Osoyoos and a night at Haynes Point/Sẁiẁs Provincial Park, we were just excited for the next adventures that awaited us!

Off to Nelson! Stay updated for the next story following shortly!