Six Star Magazine Six Star Magazine Spring 2017 | Page 39

My first Subaru was actually our family car, a 1983 Subaru
Leone GL Wagon we got when I was just two years old. Our
family then moved on to a 1990 Subaru Loyale Wagon. My
current Subaru, a Crosstrek, was purchased in 2014 and it just
rolled over the 60,000-km mark.
My daily drive has ranged quite a bit over the last three years of
ownership. It started as a short 20-km drive down what I consider
to be the most beautiful section of the Trans Canada Highway
between Canmore and Banff. I then moved to Vancouver where
my daily commute was 800 km west on that same highway.
After Vancouver, I moved again and went to work at a heli-ski
lodge 140 km north of Revelstoke, BC. My commute was only
once every two weeks, but I drove my Crosstrek right to the heli-
pad and was picked up by helicopter to go to work. On occasion,
there would be 20-30 cm of fresh snow on the road.
I now live in Whistler where my commute is 4 km long. Every
morning, I have to make the decision at a T-intersection whether
to turn left towards the ski hill or turn right to head to the office.
The office wins four out of seven days a week!
As a photographer, I’m often required to drive to interesting
locations or long distances to get the shot. The most interesting use
for my Subaru had to be when it shielded me from a mother grizzly
bear and her two cubs in Banff National Park. Thankfully, they
weren’t bothered — I was a safe distance away, behind my Crosstrek,
photographing them for several hours as they wandered a meadow
munching on grass.
In October last year, I was heading to Tofino on the very western
edge of BC. The remnants of a typhoon were approaching the coast,
but we made it across to the island on the ferry just before the weather
hit. Driving across the island was one of the wildest experiences ever.
There were 100-km/h winds blowing rain in all directions. At many
points, you couldn’t even see the road because of the branches and
leaves covering it. We arrived safe and sound in Tofino and enjoyed
some of the best storm watching I’ve ever experienced.
This year, I’ll be experiencing Canada’s 150 th anniversary with
several trips from behind the wheel of my Crosstrek. I’m headed back
to Tofino in the early summer and have several trips to the Okanagan
Valley planned. The icing on the cake will be a bucket list trip to Berg
Lake in Mt. Robson Provincial Park, near the BC-Alberta border —
it’s going to be great.
six star magazine 37