what a fun assignment with such enjoyable research! i don't live in canada, but if i was going there i'd be sure to check out an ice hockey game. ;D

I've never been to BC or Alberta (though we contemplated a trip to the Vancouver area earlier this year and decided against it for now), but I can recommend these wonderful photos by gentlehobbit from a Alberta vacation she took last year. Looks like a gorgeous place to go.

And I don't know about moose, but when I was doing my research on hiking in BC there were pages telling you how to prepare for and deal with bear encounters, so I guess they must happen! I know you come across bear warning signs while hiking here in Ontario, too. Luckily, I've never encountered one...

Duh, I didn't put up the link to gentlehobbit's photos:

http://gentlehobbit.livejournal.com/136963.html

Oh I remember the pictures - but I had lost the link! Thank you so much!

In Alberta:

Badlands, Dinosaur National Park, and Royal Tyrell Museum. Awe-inspiring. The vast emptiness and flatness, with the huge gouges of badlands where dinosaur bones are found.

Banff: overrated and overpriced. Climbing the local mountain is cool.

Lake Louise: beautiful beyond any imagining.

Lake Moraine: even better. Back of the old Canadian $20.

The Rockies in general -- incredible.

Columbian Ice Fields -- not to be missed.

BC: Vancouver Island is superb according to my parents and my son. We've never been there.

However we did go to Yoho National Park to see Takakkaw Falls. Spectacular. Natural beauty beyond belief.

So... our trip to Alberta and brief trip into BC was of a beauty I will never, not in this life, expect to surpass.

Bear: go in August, when the berries are ripe, and there will be bear warnings everywhere. Bear are DANGEROUS and hiking trails will be closed.

Moose mate in September. They flourish near lakes and cooler areas on the mountainsides, and across the whole of Canada. Not so dangerous unless threatened.

FWIW I've seen bear many times, but never a moose. Dave has seen moose twice, because he used to camp in a national park as a boy, and bear many times.

In BC and Alberta you can also expect to see elk, bighorn sheep, ground squirrels, magpies, and deer in the moutains. On the plains, mustangs, mormots and prairie dogs.

Good luck!

Thank you so much - I just had a look at the Badlands (via website of course) and it looks amazing. All of it looks amazing.

I need money :-)

Thanks a lot for the help!

I live here in Vancouver, and I know BC pretty well. There are things to see all over BC. Vancouver Island is really pretty - go to Qualicum and enjoy the beach, and then Victoria. You can visit some of the gulf islands on your way over here to Vancouver. Once you're here, there are mountains and inlets all through the city. You can ski on Grouse Mountain in the morning and then in the afternoon swim in English Bay. You might want to take a boat trip up Howe Sound to island hop - misty mountains plunging into the sea, and little islands all around you are so pretty. Head up the Sea to Sky highway to Squamish and then to Whistler, pausing to visit the Britannia mines.

You will go east to Lake Louise, but don't bother with Banff - it's pretty but overpriced. Instead you should decide to head north, especially if you want to see moose. White water rafting at Lytton, through Hell's Gate is fun if you're an adrenalin junkie, and further north you'll find Lake McLeese, which is gorgeous in a very low-key way. You'll pass Prince George and start climbing - the Rockies are in the way of your progress Stop at Swallow Falls, cos they're pretty - and once you come down again to Dawson Creek your adventure truly begins. You hit mile zero of the Alaska Highway, and your journey truly begins. You're heading for the Liard Hotsprings, where you can bathe when the temperature is -40C, and you're absolutely guaranteed to see moose. You will likely stop in Fort Nelson, (mile 300) and I advise a stop at Auntie's Kitchen, at Pink Mountain on the way to Fort Nelson - the food there is the best food ever anywhere!

Is that enough?

That is... amazing. Can I take that for my presentation? I'm looking at a map from BC and Alberta right now with no idea where to start and which way to go round...

Of course you can, but I don't know that I did it in an orderly fashion. If you drove West from Alberta you could head past Lake Louise to Vancouver and do some trans Canada goodness. You could do Vancouver, Whistler, the Gulf Islands, Howe Sound and Vancouver Island from there and then head North.

Gotta visit Liard Hotsprings though. Last time I was there, moose were all around, and the springs are awesome.

Well, I was planning on starting and ending up in Vancouver, since I can get a direct flight from Dusseldorf there. But I guess I'll more or less stick to that route, thanks so much!