This year for Christmas we endured an extremely hairy drive through the snow and ice in a very ill-equipped hire car (no 4-wheel drive, no snow tires, no snow chains) up Highway 99 to Brackendale, just north of Squamish. We had booked into our favourite B&B in the area - Meadowbrook Bed and Breakfast - for 4 nights and were determined to celebrate in style.

We first visited Brackendale last January for Monkey’s birthday and really fell in love with it. It is a small residential community but with all the conveniences of a big town because it is just next to Squamish with all its shops and services, and it is only an hour to Vancouver if you need to go to the city or an hour to Whistler if you need to go world-class skiing. Four of its best qualities are:

1) Spectacular mountain scenery;

2) Proximity to great areas for hiking, snowshoeing, mountain-biking, climbing and a host of other outdoor activities;

3) Two fantastic restaurants - Eagles Nest and Brackendale Bistro - and two great little pubs - The Watershed and The Shady Tree. More than enough quality establishments for the small population.

4) In winter Brackendale Eagles Provincial Park plays host to North America’s biggest gathering of bald eagles. Back in 1994, a world-record of 3769 eagles were counted on a single day.

In January we went on a Sunwolf Outdoor Centre float trip down the river to look for eagles . It was such a gorgeous, peaceful thing to do on a sunny, cold day. We saw quite a few eagles that day, but were told that we’d practically missed eagle season, so we were determined to go back when there were more eagles about. This time there were plenty.

We spent Christmas Day trampling through fairly deep snow down by the Mamquam river to the Mamquam Spawning Channels. The further we went, the more eagles we saw and the more people we met who had come to watch them.

We hiked in the same area 2 days later and needed snowshoes because the snow had been accumulating at a rate of 30 cm a day. That day we hardly saw a sole on the trails and, probably because of that, down by the spawning channels the trees were just full of eagles. There must have been over a hundred of them in one little area.

When we walked across the bridge over the spawning channels, we saw what they were all there for.

Loads of smelly dead salmon!

Aside from walking along lovely snowy trails every day and eagle watching, we had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas. Although it was only our second visit to Meadowside B&B, it has started to feel much like a home from home. We love the room, we enjoy our morning conversations with the owners - Carol and Wilf, and we spend far too much time in the hot tub in the garden dreaming that it is OUR beautiful house!