Fire season - no fun for exploring the island!

I had big plans this summer to hike as many mountains as possible on the island, but unfortunately nearly all the backroads and main hiking spots are closed because it's just too risky for fires with the dry weather. I managed to get up Mount Benson before the fires started - well, almost. The first fire on the island had actually just started the day before this picture was taken. You can't see it from this angle, but there was a small smoldering patch in a logged area just off to the right. It seemed so benign at the time, but now the entire province is riddled in fires. 

As soon as the closures are lifted, I will be hiking Arrowsmith (with my trusty girl Juno, of course) and then moving on to explore the peaks and sub-alpine ranges in Strathcona. 

Summer stargazing.

Looking at the stars is one of my favourite hobbies. I'm always on the hunt for new stargazing spots with dark skies and a wide field of view. Vancouver Island is great for astronomers because it only takes a few minutes of driving out of town to get beautiful skies nearly devoid of light pollution. My favourite place to go is out Nanaimo Lakes Road to any of the powerline crossings. 

In this shot, the bright spot that you see is part of Orion the Hunter - and it's not a star. That's actually the Orion Nebula, a huge field of gas and stars that acts as a stellar nursery forming new stars. To the naked eye it looks like a fuzzy star, but through a telescope you can see the shape of the nebula - although still in shades of grey. If you get a kid to look through a scope though, they will most likely see blues and purples. The ability of our eyes to pick up subtle colours quickly deteriorates with age.