Hiking Mount Harvey
Interactive 3D map of the hike via Relive also available
I completed this hike on October 7, 2020 but didn't post until Feb 2022. I guess I'm a little behind in my site updates. Mount Harvey sits between The Lions and Brunswick Mountain and is a significant peak close to Vancouver. I have been up all three peaks and they are all worth climbing for the stellar views and the challenge. In this post I'll cover part of the route and show some images from the summit No hardcore scrambles but there are technical sections, good boots and decent fitness are necessary. The profile is shown below, with grades in excess of 30% it will give even experience hikers a challenge.
I knew I wanted to hike Harvey when I saw it from the top of Brunswick, seen here (below) looming over the valley.
Harvey, Brunswick, and the Lions can all be accessed via the same trail starting at the end of Sunset Drive in Lions Bay. Parking is limited, get there early and make sure you pay or you will get a ticket. The trail to Brunswick peels off first (to the left), but stay on the trail marked for The Lions/Harvey.
It starts fairly easy, a nice wide trail through the forest.
After a while you will find another set of signs, but these are not as well marked and the trail for Harvey is not that obvious (quality of the photos isn't great either, sorry). Here, the big trail carries on to the right and will take you to the Lions but to the left (and up) you start your climb of Mt. Harvey.
The next while is a fairly steep slog though the forest following what is, at times, a poorly marked trail.
You eventually come out of the timber, trees give way to a meadow.
Views are spectacular, despite still needing to cover some vertical to reach the summit. You get a good view of The Lions, and the peaks beyond.
The summit is spectacular, definitely worth the climb.
A view of Brunswick Mountain, the tallest peak in the region. This angle makes it look relatively tame but the summit is amazing.
A few more images from the summit. It was such a nice day, I didn't want to come back down.
One more shot as I started my descent. The hike took 8 hours start to finish, with at least an hour on the summit to refuel and enjoy the panoramic views.
East Van Visitor
![Comet Neowise - C/2020 F3 [50mm, f/2, 10s, ISO800]](https://photo.photokaz.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-07-14-Neowise-Comet-MKH-12853.jpg)
Comet NEOWISE in Vancouver
We have a surprise celestial visitor right now, comet NEOWISE (named after the observatory that discovered it: Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer). The comet's visit is fleeting, it will be gone by the end of July and not return to earth for 6800 years! If you want to catch a glimpse, find a dark area and look north just over the horizon after sunset. It's faint but visible to the naked eye, and easily viewable with binoculars. Here are a few shots from West Vancouver taken on July 13th.
My first few shots were with my longest telephoto lens, a 500mm. Not that easy to find and frame at this focal length but I did manage to get some shots of the comet with it's long tail (click for larger).
![Comet Neowise - C/2020 F3 [500mm, f/5.6, 2.5s, ISO6400]](https://photo.photokaz.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-07-14-Neowise-Comet-MKH-12833.jpg)
A more expansive view, showing some of the landscape and what could be some aurora. I think I even managed to catch a small meteor in the shot.
![Comet Neowise - C/2020 F3 [50mm, f/1.8, 10s, ISO400]](https://photo.photokaz.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-07-14-Neowise-Comet-MKH-12869_1.jpg)
The comet with a passing ferry.
Wider still, with the big dipper and most of the little dipper in the frame.
![Comet Neowise - C/2020 F3 [15mm, f/4, 10s, ISO1600]](https://photo.photokaz.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-07-14-Neowise-Comet-MKH-12847.jpg)
Moon shot with Nikon Z7 and AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF
Just a quick post showing the great performance of the Nikon Z7 combined with the AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF lens. Significant crop from the full frame, edited in Capture One and Photoshop.
1/500s, ISO 200, f/8, 500mm
British RAF Red Arrows North American Tour
I was sad to miss this year's Abbotsford Air Show, but did manage to see the enhanced fly over by the British RAF Red Arrows team. They have been on a North American Tour this summer and yesterday did a fly by in Victoria and here in Vancouver. Great to seem, my first time seeing this team in action.
I only had my 500mm f/5.6 PF Nikkor so getting some wider shots was just not possible. Still, it was fun to watch the team perform and I managed to get a few nice shots from the all too short event. I hope the Red Arrows team can make it to the Abbotsford Air Show one year, they would be a great additon.
Nice formation flying.
Coming right at us with trailing red and blue smoke.
Close up of the BAE Hawk T1 aircraft with modified tail. Used to inject diesel and dye to create the coloured smoke trails.
Laying down smoke
A few extra shots.
Birds, Bunnies, and Bugs with Nikon Z7 and Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF
Not my usual post as I just want to share the images and not write too much about an otherwise uneventful day. These images were shot at Jericho Beach in Vancouver, BC using the Nikon Z7 and Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF lens. The rabbits are feral and while technically wild they let people get fairly close. You certainly don't need a 500mm lens to get decent shots here. A few of my favorites from the day first then the rest.
Hiking Brunswick Mountain
You can download my GPX or KML files for use in your own GPS trackers or mapping tools.
Brunswick Mountain is the tallest peak in the North Shore Mountains at 1788m and has a panoramic view of Howe Sound and other popular peaks including the Lions. My Garmin told me I climbed 1561m over a 17 km round trip with grades over 40%, which made for a long day. The effort is worth it in the end though, it's not often you get to look down on Mt. Harvey, Sky Pilot, the Lions, and everything else around. The hike starts at the end of Sunset Drive in Lions Bay, but there are only a handful of parking spaces and this is the trailhead for several popular hikes. It's pay parking and they will ticket you. Nothing is free these days, not even hiking.
The 2D profile for the hike is shown below. It gets progressively more steep as you go.
The trail gets into dense coastal forest immediately. I took a different route up on the lower slopes than I did coming back (see map above), and it was steeper so I don't necessarily recommend that section of trail. I did find an old truck frame though which is slowly sinking into the forest.
From the initial section of gravel trail you will come to the route marker showing the way to the Lions and to Brunswick. Don't miss the marker otherwise you are climbing the Lions. The way to Brunswick is narrow and over grown, easy to miss. Once on the Brunswick trail you start climbing through the forest with only slugs to see. The trail never seems to end and around every corner is just more of the same. New views at all, you just have to get through it.
As I was hiking I started to encounter fog/clouds and I was worried that the summit might be in cloud cover but I pressed on hoping for the best.
The trees eventually start to thin out but the trail gets even steeper from this point.
After more climbing, you start to see the first views through the trees. You have already gained significant elevation by this point, but there is plenty ahead.
You will come to an intersection with the Howe Sound Crest Trail and there are makers on several trees. You can head left to Brunswick Lake, Hanover Lake, or Deeks Lake. To the right is Mount Harvey, the Lions, and eventually Cypress. Straight ahead (and up) is Brunswick, it should be somewhat obvious at this point.
The trail isn't always obvious, but there are orange markers to help lead the way.
The views are starting to get good though, making the effort easier.
The last section of the climb is steep and sometimes loose.
You will reach a plateau where you can finally see over the mountain, but the true summit is just to the right.
Some views before the final summit push.
The summit is actually three separate peaks. This is peak 1 (which you can see in on the map at the top).
If you want to try and tackle the other two peaks it is possible without any special gear. This view doesn't show it clearly but there is a definite gap between all three peaks with the gap between the first and second being the most tricky. Obviously a mistake here has high consequences so I don't recommend it unless you are comfortable with such hiking.
The gully between the first and second peaks. It's a long way down.
Raven keeping me company.
The approach to the second summit is a bit sketchy. I'm not a fan of heights and I just mad sure not to look down too much.
Once on the second peak, you will find some remnants of a structure that is now a bench. You can see the view back to the first peak here as well.
Final push to the third peak.
The third and what seems like the highest peak of the three. Standing on the highest point in the north shore, which is a very cool feeling.
It's a harsh life for the plants and animals up here.
Hikers on the first peak. Don't want to slip here.
Some final views from the summit, then the long road home.
Mount Harvey in the valley, Lions in the distance, Howe Sound to the right.
Focus Shift Shooting with the Nikon Z7 and 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro-Nikkor
None of my previous cameras had the focus shift feature so I decided to give it a try today. We had great light and my wife's flowers are in full bloom and made for good test subjects. There was a very slight breeze but the alignment seems to have done a good job with the slight movement between frames. If you don't know what focus shift shooting is you can read a bit about Nikon's implementation here. Essentially, the camera will take a series of exposures while slightly adjusting the focus between each frame. This allows a razor thin plane of focus to actually move through the subject thus getting it all in sharp focus. You need to stack the files into a single image using post processing techniques, today I tried this in Photoshop and Zerene Stacker. I had better results in Photoshop but admittedly I'm a rookie with Zerene.
One thing to note, despite having a very fast computer, processing 30 or so images, each a 45 megapixel raw file, brought the PC to its knees :) Might be time for another upgrade. I did four stacks with Photoshop and I'm sharing my Zerene shots at the end, they have issues.
I think all of the flowers shown here are varieties of dhalia.
Detail
Flower 2
Detail
Flower 3 (my favorite one)
Detail
Black and white conversion. Might need a bit more work but that is all the time I have today for editing :)
Detail
A couple of samples with Zerene. I tried both the DMap and PMax types but preferred the Photoshop stack to either. The DMap one has some very strange artifacts in the OOF areas, no idea why.
Vancouver Aquarium Macro
I have been to the Vancouver Aquarium many times before and always enjoy the visit. Today I took my six year old twins once again, and brought along my macro lens for some shots. Before we left the house, I noticed some of our flowers had recently been covered by rain. 
Even though the tanks and displays don't change too often, you always witness new and interesting behaviour by the animals that live there. It's always worth a return visit.
The best part of our visit today was that there were many butterflies on display in the tropical section. The kids loved it.
Hiking Cheam Peak in Chilliwack
On Sunday of the August long weekend my brother and I scaled Cheam Peak located just outside Chilliwack, BC. A truly breathtaking hike through alpine meadows towards an unobstructed and panoramic view of the Fraser Valley. The peak is visible as a prominent landmark from the well traveled Trans Canada Highway that will evoke great memories every time I pass by it.
You can see the location of the hike on the map below, or a larger version here. It's just east of Chilliwack but getting to the trail head is no easy feat. It's a one hour drive from Chiliwack following Chilliwack Lake Rd to Foley Creek Forest Service Rd. From there you take Chipmunk Creek Forest Service Rd where you will need a four wheel drive vehicle with reasonable ground clearance. I don't recommend anything less as you are liable to get stuck, break your vehicle, or both.
You can download my GPX or KML files for use in your own GPS trackers or mapping tools.
Here is the hike profile.
Though we had a relatively early start to the day, there were already quite a few cars in the parking area at the top.
The hike starts off with a well marked trail and gradual rise.
As you continue to gain elevation, you catch sight of a peak in the distance. I initially thought this was Cheam but it turns out this is a different peak called Lady Peak. There is a trail to that peak as well and it shares the initial part of the route with Cheam. I'll have to come back to bag that one another day :)
Since much of the elevation gain was on the drive up to the trail head, you are very quickly walking through the upper alpine area. Views are just stunning (click for bigger).
At about the half way mark of the hike, there is a slight detour that will take you to a nice view to the northeast and a look at Jones Lake.
The final stretch is well above the trees, exposed, and when we went quite hot.
Looking back from the rise to the summit.
The final stretch to the summit of Cheam, panoramic views in all directions.
Views from the summit (click for bigger).
Views from the top.
Shots from the way down, just a stellar day for a walk in the mountains.
I'm testing the app Relive which will draw the hike on a 3D map and add photos. It's fun and the result is shown below.
Relive 'Cheam Peak'
You can view some of my other hiking related posts at these links:
- Hike to Saint Marks Summit
- Hiking the Binkert Trail To The Lions
- Lynn Valley Hike – North Vancouver
- Hiking Stawamus Chief South Peak – Squamish, BC
A Visit to Pacific Northwest Raptors
Last weekend, my wife and I visited The Raptors for an all-day raptor experience. Located a short drive from Duncan on Vancouver Island and definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. We enjoyed it so much we brought our kids and their grandparents the very next day so they could experience it as well. Not only did we get to hold some awesome birds on our glove, we got to see the flying demo and participate in the Hawk Walk. Overall, a great time and highly recommended if you want to get up close to some birds of prey.
Plenty of photo opportunities as well, here are a few of my shots. All taken with my new combo of the Nikon Z7 and Nikkor Z 24-70 f/4 S.
Golden Eagle
Gyrfalcon, which was also in the flying demo. Very cool.
Lindsay holding this beauty.
Great Horned Owl, possibly my favorite. During the flying demo he gets so close to the audience you can feel his wingtips on your head.
Bald Eagle. Just awesome to see such a beautiful bird up close.
Boomer, the entertaining Kookaburra
Spectacled Owl
Turkey Vulture
Red Tailed Hawk coming in for a landing during the Hawk Walk.
Saker Falcon
American Kestrel
Nikon Z7 : High ISO, IBIS, Focus Peaking
I took a walk around my neighborhood with my kids to look for fall mushrooms and flowers. I wanted to test a few aspects of the Nikon Z7 including high ISO shots, ability of the in body image stabilization (IBIS) to steady shots at slower shutter speeds, and the focus peaking (which none of my previous cameras have offered). To test, I mounted my 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro Nikkor lens on the FTZ adapter and headed out. It was late afternoon light with some heavy tree cover at times, I first tested focus tracking by trying to get some shots of my kids. I was quite disappointed with the performance of the Z7/105 combo, the tracking was terrible. The camera missed almost every shot, even with the kids just walking. The 105 was never a good performer in this regard and it continues it's poor performance on the Z7.
Regardless, I tested on some static subjects and the results were quite good. Fairly clean output at ISO 3200.
Test of manual focus with peaking, worked very well.
This squirrel was running around and I managed a shot. It's acceptably sharp for web use but not ideal.
This girl was moving on the web and the web was also moving in the breeze. Of 30 or so shots only two yielded results worth sharing.
This shot was at 1/80s hand held but I tested as slow as 1/5s and could get reasonably sharp photos. I don't think that would have been possible with my D810, even with a VR lens.
Nikon Z7 First Shots
One of my favorite places to visit is the Vancouver Aquarium, and that is exactly where I went to test out the new Nikon Z7. I only had a short amount of time so only two test shots but more to come soon.
Visit to Toronto
I had very little time to take photos in Toronto, just one night after work. Ventured to the islands off of downtown and managed to get a few nice shots. I'll try to update this post once I edit a few more.
Vancouver Aquarium with the iPhone X
Some photos from this weekend using the iPhone X. Captured in RAW (dng) using Adobe Lightroom Mobile (a free app) and edited with Lightroom on the desktop.
The Aquarium presents especially challenging conditions for any camera (shooting through glass, reflections, low light). Though the quality still pales to that from a camera with a larger lens and sensor I'm impressed with the photos the phone can produce. The future looks bright if this is how far we have come in only a few years.
Vancouver Aquarium with the iPhone X : 2018-09-09 : Emerald Tree Boa
Last one, not from the Aquarium but I just liked the shot :) Still an iPhone X shot.
Abbotsford Air Show 2017
I had a post about the Abbotsford Air Show, but my blog decided to act up. There were a bunch of other photos and a description of each but I had to restore from backup and now I don't want to rewrite the content. Here is a random selection instead :)
Taken with a Nikon D810 and Nikkor 200-500 f/2.8 VR and Nikkor 14-24 f/2.8.
Squamish Bald Eagles (Again)
This was my third time in Squamish to shoot Bald Eagles, and it will likely become an annual excursion. Not only do I love Squamish and Brackendale, it is a great opportunity to practice wildlife photography with a photogenic subject. Unlike my previous trip to the area when I visited in January, this time I came when the eagle concentrations were much higher. There were several occasions when I saw up to eight eagles all trying to get one or two dead salmon, unsurprisingly some fights broke out.
As I was heading to a new location to begin my search for eagles, I saw an interesting log pincer thingy (correct name) and had to stop. I managed to get a shot with my wide angle that included the Stawamus Chief in the background.
(As always, click to view larger. You can also just scroll through all of the photos in a slideshow)
Getting to the beach at the south end of Squamish was more fun than expected due to deep snow. Once I arrived, there were no eagles to be seen but I did brave the elements to get this long exposure shot before I packed up and went searching for the elusive birds.
First stop was near the SPCA. Mount Garibaldi was looking majestic as usual so a quick shot was necessary.
I did find a single juvenile bald eagle
Pretty sure he saw me.
Also came across a Great Blue Heron
Plenty of crows, which I used to practice my focus tracking for flying birds.
A gang of seagulls.
A few shy ducks.
This is the reason the eagles are here in high concentrations, plenty of dead or dying salmon to eat. Other bird species also enjoy the annual feast.
Finally, in the most popular spot there were plenty of eagles. These were all found off Government Road near the Watershed Grill restaurant.
This one looking like he has found something interesting.
As I said previously, fights were not uncommon though rarely seemed to result in any real damage.
I shot a LOT of photos to only get a few worth keeping. Not an easy subject to photograph.
The seagulls don't stick around to ask questions when they see the eagles coming in.
Another fight sequence.
This guy wanted to make sure the young eagle knew who the boss was.
And a few more shots. It certainly won't be my last time visiting the area.
The Wonderful Art of Dale Chihuly
I have been a huge fan of Dale Chihuly for many years. He is a glass artist from Tacoma, Washington (USA) and now has an amazing gallery in Seattle called Chihuly Garden and Glass. I don't have too much time to ramble on about each piece, each one can speak for itself. His incredible versatility and technical execution makes each piece special. I hope to own a few of his works one day.
A bunch more photos from the trip. Click any image for a bigger version.
And one photo from our journey back. Some random pub in a town I no longer remember.
Squamish Bald Eagles
I was eager to try out my new Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 VR lens that I received for Christmas from my lovely wife. I knew that Bald Eagles were likely still in Squamish as I had been there previously. I ventured out one very old morning to see what I could capture.
The sun was rising as I pulled into Squamish and I noticed it was illuminating Mount Garibaldi. I decided to see how the lens performs for a long distance landscape shot. Nice detail despite the distance.
The rig
The shot
I then walked around one of my favorite spots in south Squamish and did encounter a few eagles.
One thing I realized is that I have a lot to learn about wildlife photography, especially birds. Learning how to use a telephoto lens has a fairly steep learning curve, and trying to capture birds in flight makes it even harder. I took a lot of shots but only have a few keepers and even those I'm only mildly satisfied with. Having said that, the combination certainly does help in comparison to shooting with my iPhone.
Eagle shot with iPhone
Same eagle with a Nikon D810 and Nikkor 200-500 f/5.6 VR lens. Anyone claiming "gear doesn't matter" hasn't tried to shoot wild eagles.
I relocated several times but had a hard time finding eagles. I found out later that there are much higher concentrations of eagles in early December and by January they have started to depart as most of the salmon that they are feeding on are gone. It was still a beautiful day so I made the most of it by shooting some landscape shots. Even some with my iPhone.
My trusty Tacoma, it never disappoints.
This was actually a hand-held shot with the Nikkor 200-500 lens. Shutter speed was relatively long but the VR system helped me get an acceptably sharp shot.
After more driving around and looking in a few spots I have never visited before I did find a few more eagles. Didn't get the focus or composition right in all of the photos, but I did get a lot of practice in tracking eagles in flight.
Finally, a comparison of iPhone vs Nikon. See that moon in the top right?
Now a little closer with the telephoto.
October Flowers & Mushrooms
Today, when I took the dogs for a walk I decided to bring my camera along. I haven't had very much opportunities to use it recently and needed to get my photo fix in somehow. We have had a very mild fall in Vancouver and there are still plenty of flowers in the neighbourhood. I also came across some mushrooms, and even a few critters.
My route with the dogs
The flowers, I can't believe we still have this many at the end of October!
Some mushrooms
These flowers are still growing in my yard. Maybe this global warming thing isn't so bad ;)
Some of the critters.
