An image a friend shared of a foggy mountain landscape with an imposing ridgeline poking out of the fog wasn’t all that alluring, but the location’s name was another matter: “Valhalla Ranges”. Any place named after the mystic hall where Nordic warriors feast in the afterlife must be nothing short of spectacular, right? So when it comes time to plan a trip to Canada to explore British Columbia, the Valhalla Ranges’ name resurfaces, as if out of another fog, this time the metaphorical fog that’s everyday life.
When I say, however, plan a trip to Canada, this should be qualified. As always for us, holiday preparation turns out to be limited to booking flights and making a hire-car reservation, and little more. Tent, shoes and a summer sleeping bag into the pack equals ready for Canada in July. Besides, we have eight hours on our drive from Vancouver Airport to Nelson—a town of 10,000 people smack-bang in the middle of a landscape with high mountains and lakes—to scour over maps and fill our week with the promise of adventure.
e settle on two multi-day hikes—one in the Valhallas, the other) Still, we aren’t sure if porcupines eating car parts is a joke for visitors, a bit like drop bears in Oz.
