Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/834339
iStock, All Canada Photos/David Nunuk, Jackie McBean/Alisha Cowderoy, Murray Foubister/Flickr SUMMER 2017 BCA A .COM 17 Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve. (here and inset) Cheakamus Lake, Garibaldi Provincial Park. Helmcken Falls, Wells Gray Provincial Park. SUMMER LIKE A LOCAL St. Mark's Summit Vancouver and North Shore residents know exactly where to find the widest, bluest views of Howe Sound: at the top of this four-to-five-hour trek up Howe Sound Crest Trail. The route runs from Cypress Mountain, gaining 460 metres of elevation and ending up high over Porteau Cove. Take a lunch and bring a camera. Lussier Hot Springs Found down a forest service road southeast of Canal Flats, Lussier Hot Springs is a much-loved rustic ring of rocks and series of pools (34–43ºC) at the edge of Lussier River. Here, locals gather for après-hike soaking in cerulean water while watching the glacier-fed river rush by. It's a spa day, Kootenay Rockies style. –Barb Sligl Nechako River, Prince George Some ride inflatable rafts, some hop on tubes and some kick back on air mattresses – but families, kids and pretty much everyone around here loves a good float on the Nechako River to beat the summer heat. Jump in at the Wilkins Park boat launch in Miworth and finish up around Nechako Flats or Cottonwood Island Park after two or three hours of bobbing along in gentle currents, past tranquil, tree-lined shores. ■