In addition to the waterfalls in Strathcona Park we visited several other waterfals on our Vancouver trip. Our mileage varied…
We had some time between the ferry arrival and showing up at our bed and breakfast, so we decided to make what we thought would be a fairly short hike to Ammonite Falls on the way. The printed directions Eric had were not based in reality, however, and the steep “30-40 minute hike” was closer to 4 miles RT. Add to this several criss-crossing trails and confusing signage and we managed to get turned around a few times both on the way there and on the way back. At the falls, I declined to climb down a hill with a rope to the base of the falls, but thankfully there was some water flow for Eric to photograph. Along one the the detours, Eric managed to slice up his ankle pretty badly and I was (over)worrying about finding our way out of the woods before it got dark. All in all, not our best moments as hikers on this trip but at least we got a good photo of some Indian Pipe!
Ammonite Falls and some Indian Pipe along a trail that did not lead us back to the car.
We had just finished hiking a few miles in Paradise Meadows, so I decided to sit out this short and very buggy hike to Rosewall Falls. I kept myself busy in the car, reading our wiki pages and playing games on my phone when I realized that Eric had been gone for an hour. Considering this was supposed to be a 15-20 minute hike, I was a little concerned. Finally, after an hour and twenty minutes he shows up exhausted because he just ran two miles back to the car when he realized how long he had been gone. I blame a poorly researched last-minute itinerary addition and the idiot who told him the falls was just another 5-10 minutes further. Spoiler: It wasn’t.
Rosewall Falls, aka the time I spent in the car
This popular swimming area was refreshingly well sign-posted and even dog-friendly. There were quite a few people hanging out when we arrived but most everyone packed up when it started to drizzle. This is also a popular spot for salmon running, but alas, not during our visit. Several of the pools also looked like there were steaming. Overall, a pretty cool place to explore and relax.
Soaking my feet in the cool water… just before a young girl did a cannonball into the water next to me.
This is also a popular swimming spot for families and apparently the locals pronounce it STO-Come Falls. No visible “c” in the name, but there you have it. It’s an easy hike down a well-worn path to get to several viewing points along the river. The water was pretty high and fast during our visit, so we didn’t try to get across to the other side.
cascade near the bridge
second cascade a little further downstream
Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park
There are several view points of cascades in this park and the loop only takes about a half hour to complete. It was a little tricky to get the best angle of the falls without fencing or people in the shot, but it’s a nice easy walk in a scenic gorge.
Englishman River Falls Provincial Park
The upper waterfall flows into a deep gorge with a lot of power then continues downstream to a scenic swimming hole where many families were enjoying lunch in the mid-afternoon. We witnessed a few guys cliff-jumping into the water from the trail bridge and one young puppy fetching a frisbee over and over again (when he wasn’t stealing a neighboring group’s sandwich).
Unfortunately, the water flow was too low for the second falls but we enjoyed the hike here anyway.