Explore Magazine Spring 2025

I like to keep my design team in suspense this time of year. “When is Dave going to send us his editorial? Is he going to send us his editorial?!” My Spring issue “Trailhead” is always a bit late. But there’s a good reason (at least in my mind). Because of the shortened month of February, the magazine goes to press a little quicker this season. As such, I’m stuck writing about tulips and canoe trips in the height of winter—when springtime inspiration is tough to find. In fact, as I slowly type today, Vancouver is experiencing a rare deep-freeze. It’s about as wintery as it gets on the West Coast. Luckily, I have some hot news to tell you about… First off, you may notice this issue feels a…

A group of four adults and teenagers snorkel through a kelp forest among rocky reefs. Most are content to float on the surface and wait for something to swim past. Scott Wallace is on the hunt for sea urchins. In a previous life, he was a David Suzuki Foundation biologist. Three years ago, Wallace opened an eco-adventure lodge in the historic Aguilar House, one of the more fascinating buildings in remote Bamfield on Vancouver Island’s West Coast. His sea urchin quest has a dual purpose. The host in him wants to entice guests to try uni—the raw, creamy orange gonads of a sea urchin that are a highly sought delicacy in Japan (it’s not for the gastronomically squeamish). The biologist in him feels zero remorse over plucking a few more…

Mountain caribou used to be so numerous in the Klinse-Za region of the Rocky Mountains north of Prince George, British Columbia, that elders in the West Moberly First Nation said they were like “bugs on the landscape.” That was a while ago. In 2013, there were just 38 animals left in the herd. That trend has played out across the mountain caribou’s historic range, which included most of the Mountain West, from the northern US to northern BC. In 1990, there were an estimated 10,000 mountain caribou in 41 herds. Today there are less than 4,700, and 15 of the herds no longer exist. Over the last decade, the Klinse-Za has bucked the trend with a “remarkable” recovery that is providing hope for the remaining herds. “Mountain caribou populations are…

Spring. That time when paddlers in Canada can get their craft back in the water after winter’s chill had froze the lakes, ponds and rivers in much of the country. Here’s a list of 10 waterways across Canada you might want to dip a paddle in whether it’s a canoe, kayak, SUP or raft. Kayak Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick An island in the Bay of Fundy, Grand Manan offers interesting coastal paddles along its own coast or among the tiny islands surrounding it. You get there by ferry from the mainland at Blacks Harbour (reservations recommended). Renowned for birdwatching and whale-watching, you may also find yourself paddling past shipwrecks, old lighthouses and, if you’re lucky, you might even get to play hide-and-seek with some seals. There are two or…

Paddling a canoe solo is a welcome trend—strong headwinds be damned. Why? Solo canoeists enjoy a sense of freedom, a lack of scheduling conflicts and no nasty group dynamics. You go when you want to go and do what you want to do. Don’t assume a solo canoe is just a scaled-down version of a tandem canoe. The weight, size and dimensions are altered to suit a single paddler, and in general they come in three design options. Symmetrical Prospector The shape of a prospector canoe is symmetrical, meaning both ends are the same. As such, a tandem prospector (14 to 16 feet) can be paddled solo—if you paddle backwards. You paddle a prospector backwards by sitting in the front seat, in the reverse position, and trimming the boat by…

We know there is an irony in gearing up to Leave No Trace. We also know the right tool makes any job easier, including reducing our individual and collective impact on parks and natural spaces. That’s what the seven principles of Leave No Trace are all about. These seven products will make it easier to play your part. 1 PLAN & PREPARE This is all the pre-trip planning you probably already do, like knowing regulations and restrictions, packing food, bringing the necessary gear and generally knowing what to expect. Increasingly, that can be done from your wrist with a GPS watch like the Polar Grit X2 Pro ($1,100; polar.com). It displays topographic maps, provides route guidance, tracks progress and has dozens of other functions when it’s paired with an app.…