Over 50 Meter Off the Deck, A Breath of Fresh Mist!

Original text and photography by @eric-boucher.

Rejuvenating with its vivifying energies, waterfalls roar you back to life and uplift pretty much anyone’s soul! Thus, over the course of my life, visiting waterfalls has always been one of my favourite destination among many. Countless amazing times were spent either near or in waterfalls. They have even brought the sublime a few times in my life…

Three weeks ago, following a huge storm that blasted over Campbell River, Vancouver Island, I decided to go visit the newly erected suspended bridge that spans the gap of Elk River Canyon and its magnificent waterfall. Though the weekend was supposedly going to be all about drumming, the waterfall stole the show, hands down, and gave me solid vibes to drive all the way back home to Nanaimo.

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Today, I felt compelled to share with you of this beauty and encourage anyone driving through the wonderful Vancouver Island to make this location a mandatory destination. Easy to access, as the road signs are clearly indicating Elk Falls Suspension Bridge as soon as you reach the Elk Falls Provincial Park found a bit earlier, there is plenty of parking space on rainy days but would expect quite a few people to be present on nice sunny days, especially during summer. Apparently, as a tribute to the quality of the bridge and the beauty of the space, the bridge inaugurated in the spring of 2015 has already seen more than a million visitors this passed summer! Therefore, I’d plan to be there in the young hours of the day or much later to dodge the crowd and give yourself time and space to contemplate this wonder.

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The short walk to the falls offers you an immediate access to the suspension bridge, which is a shorter walk, or a longer one around the left hand side trek that brings you down to the actual river and at the same level where the falls launch themselves from. The area offers up to about 12 km of trails to venture on.

From the parking lot, you quickly enter a world of green light, moss, and evergreens among lush fern along a well groomed path including multiple stairs. The walk in surprised me with sun beams poking through the mist rising from the falls and the forest moisture. A few people were already taking photographs as I arrived accompanied by our dear Steemian buddy @integra-mare where I spent the night and with whom I drummed the previous evening.

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The opportunity couldn’t be missed, I took a few shots and breathed deeply soaking my lungs of oxygen and negative ion laden air… It was like breathing in life itself. Maybe I have spent too much time inside, working, or simply in front of computers lately. Something to remediate, right? Anyhow, the timing was simply perfect and we kept on going all the way to the first view point where one can observe and take in the powers of this 25 meter waterfall.

From there, I took a few shots of @integra-mare to give a bit of perspective of the size of the construction and the heights one reaches as one crosses the void. People with their favourite companions were coming across with their family of all ages: Young ones bouncing carelessly and blissfully on the bridge, old ones taking careful steps all the way across as the bridge swayed under our weight and movements, and, finally, dogs with worried puppy eyes were trustfully following tail between their legs their almighty owners.

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Following in the footsteps of @integra-mare, I went up the staircase to go dare the crossing of the suspension bridge fabulously constructed. From its centred stage, I positioned myself for a few shots. First, I took a shot of the Elk Falls themselves. If you notice, there are a couple of people contemplating its outflow from a view point across from me on a platform dwarfed by the size of the waterfall...

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Secondly, I had to show the river carving out of it and flowing its way through ages of stones. The canyon's seemed to be vibrating with life that was clinging on its walls.

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The sun had shun all day since the early morning clearing after the brutal storm that had left garbage, a chair, branches and trees strewn all over the Eastern coastal region of our beautiful island. In the late hours of the afternoon, as we were making our way back up the trail, clouds had gathered already and a slight drizzle came caressing my happy bald head. A new highly unexpected sight came to wake me up as the hike back was finally receding to low grade angles. Among the green foliage, branches and mist, stacked up on top of each other, a triplets of bright red leaves were shining in the darkening skies. It felt like a real gift to me. Protecting my camera from the rainy weather and droplets falling from the nearby trees, I took the shot crossing my fingers this needle in a hay stack would come out right for us all to enjoy... It was time to go back home along the vista road that follows the shores of the strait that connects us to the Mainland.

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