We were treated to a wonderful day in the mountains today, thanks to an invitation from Nicky and Derek to celebrate their wedding anniversary. And what a treat it was.

Mt Washington is a 5300′ peak near Comox, BC, just a 2-hr drive from our house. It boasts of wonderful downhill and cross-country skiing in the winter but as we learned today, it’s a great summer destination as well.

The summer alpine village provides zip lining and mountain biking for the adventurous. The zip line course looked amazing with incredibly long lines that would provide spectacular views; that will have to wait for another time.

For the less energetic, the chairlift provides a relaxing way to get up the mountain. We fell into the less energetic category today. We took the chairlift up and enjoyed a celebratory picnic lunch at the top.

We soon discovered that the wonderful thing about this peak is that there are spectacular views in all directions. In a 360° circle, you can see the coastal mountains on the mainland, the waters in the strait, islands such as Hornby, Denman to the south and the start of the Broughton Archipelago/Johnstone Strait to the north, more mountains, lakes, pastures and towns of Campbell River, Courtney and Comox. It was quite different than other mountain views we have enjoyed in our hiking days where you ‘just’ see more mountains. This truly gave you views into all the island has to offer – variety and beauty in one package.

We broke out the picnic lunch and bubbly as Nicky and Derek celebrated 42 years of marriage! Congratulations to you both; thanks for letting us share your joy and special day!

Then we had some entertainment as the local and not-shy Whiskey Jack birds decided they wanted to share our lunch. These pretty, but brash little birds, had no fear of us and took crackers and cheese right out of our containers. We also saw others hand-feeding them so these guys are definitely used to humans. But we did enjoy their antics and bravery!

After we packaged up the remnants of our lunch we did a short walk around the summit and enjoyed the views which really were a total of 360°. There was nothing obstructing our views in any direction.

And then we had great views towards the south, coming back down the chairlift.

It was quite a new experience to see such great views, so easily accessible and to see so much variety from one place. We really loved it. We are anxious to go back some time and hike up the mountain and also come back in the winter to snowshoe and/or x-country ski. It’s possible to make it a day trip but could also be a wonderful weekend trip. It was a very special day to celebrate a special couple.