Visit the site of the 2010 Olympics. The eagles are a winter only activity.
They follow the salmon runs. Whale watching is best on the west coast of
Vancouver Island. Google Tofino. The links are all for the Sea to Sky area,
about an hour and a half drive north of Vancouver.

http://www.sunwolf.net/index.htm

http://www.elahoadventures.com/

http://www.tourismwhistler.com/to_do/outdoor/activities.asp?sid=1

Kerry

If you're going out and back each day that cuts out spending much time in
the Rockies, alas. Are you sure you can't stretch to a day or two in Banff
or Jasper, say?

As well as Kerry's suggestions, you might like to visit the George C.
Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary (see http://www.reifelbirdsanctuary.com).
It's the wrong time for the main migratory flocks but there's plenty there
all year.

These Web sites give you some other ideas:
http://www.britishcolumbia.com/Wildlife/
http://www.national-parks-canada.com/
http://www.purewest.com/adventures/
http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/driftwood/bcwwhome.htm
http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/interest/vancouver.htm .

There is, of course, plenty to photograph in and around Vancouver itself.

Roger

What a great time you're going to have!  Wish I could do the trip as
well.  My son just got back from his first trip to Vancouver Island and
hasn't stopped talking about it and the great photo opportunities he
had there.

We have a lady on our site who has some marvelous photos of where she
lives on the mainland but not far from the USA border and her
photography is just fantastic.

I was out in Banff two summers ago and was very disappointed as the
mountains were covered with smoke as it was a very bad season for
forest fires so I must return.

Enjoy!

Patzt

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Hi Tony,

Rent a car!  Here are a few trips.

1 .    Cross to North Vancouver from Downtown Vancouver, through Stanley Park, and
over the Lion's Gate Bridge.  A right and a left and you will be headed north on
Capilano Road up to the Capilano Gorge (which is spanned by a swaying
footbridge).  Both the road and footpaths from the gorge take you up to Capilano
Lake.  To get an idea of its beauty see page 27 of the current issue (April
2005) of Black & White Photography Magazine.  Farther on up Capilano Road, as
far as you can go (only a couple more miles), you will find an alpine lift to
the tops of the mountains, which are fairly impressive in height for being
within a few miles of the ocean.  Each of these locales offer many photo
opportunities.

2.     While on the north side of the water, take the Trans Canada Hwy (Hwy #1) to
West Vancouver, and get off at the exit for Cypress Provincial Park.  Go up
Cypress Bowl Road, which is an almost endless series of switchbacks giving you
an ever more awesome view back toward Vancouver and the perpetually snow-covered
mountains to the southeast, from the numerous parking areas for viewing.  As you
go up the mountain, however, you will notice signs telling you that you should
let someone know where you are.  And when you reach the limit of where a car
will take you, you will notice more signs warning you that the bears are not
tame.   From up there, at an elevation of over 3000 feet, you can look down on
the straits between the mainland and Vancouver Island at about a 45° angle!  You
are that close to the Pacific.  You will find eagles and bear up there.  Be
careful.

3.     From downtown Vancouver, take Rt. 7A east to the usually fog shrouded
inlets.  Barnet Beach Park, for instance, provides a good locale for shooting.
The roads wrap around the inlets up to the north east.   Alternative access from
North Vancouver is also possible.

4.     Take the Burrard Bridge from Downtown Vancouver to Vanier Park for
incredible views back to Downtown.  Go west a way further to Jericho Beacgh Park
for further viewing of the whole harbor and ships coming and going.

5.     Go south of the airporton Rte. 17 to the ferry crossing at Tsawwassen (just
north of Pt. Roberts, a U.S. town, on the tip of a Canadian peninsula) and take
a ferry (with your car) to Swart Bay on Vancouver Island.  The ferry ride itself
is worth the price of the fare.  First, whales can sometimes be seen in the
Straits of Georgia.  Second, the ship manouevres among hundreds of closely
packed islands and occasionally passes other ferries within distances that a
grappling hook could be fired.  Taking the continuation of Rte. 17 will bring
you to Victoria, which is probably the most pristine city I have seen outside of
Austria.  Both the inner harbor and the outer harbor present magnificent photo
ops.  If you want to get to some wild areas, follow the roads west to the
provincial park at East Sooke, from which, across the Strait of Juan de Fuca you
can see the mountains in Olympic National Park, in Washington State.

Francis A. Miniter