My Favourite Places on Vancouver Island: Ridge Trail to Jocelyn Hill, Gowlland Tod Provincial Park

Ridge Trail outlook at Gowlland Tod. Stunning views even on a foggy day.

Trailhead location: Gowlland Tod, Caleb Pike trailhead on Caleb Pike Road about a half hour drive west of Victoria

Note: It's also possible to approach Jocelyn Hill from the McKenzie Bight access point at the north end of the park. This section of the trail has longer inland stretches.

Hike length: 8km

Hike duration: 3-4 hours

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Whenever I've mentioned Gowlland Tod  to locals on Vancouver Island, I've noticed there's about a 50/50 chance the name of this hidden gem of a park will be recognized.  Considering the beautiful views to be seen from it's hiking trails it's a mystery to me why it isn't more popular.  If I had to take a stab at the cause of it's lack of renown, I would guess it might have something to do with poorly marked trails.  When I first began visiting the park, it took numerous false starts before I could confidently navigate the series of looped paths near the Caleb Pike trailhead to successfully reach Jocelyn Hill. Happily, I noticed on my most recent visit that numerous new sign posts have been added.

The Ridge Trail hike from Caleb Pike to Jocelyn Hill overlooks one of the area's most impressive fjords, Finlayson Arm.  The 8km trek (4km to the the summit of Jocelyn Hill and 4km back) includes a few strenuous sections, but numerous scenic outlooks provide plenty of  opportunities to stop for a rest along the way.  Of course, the struggle is more than worth it.  Once you reach the summit of Jocelyn Hill, with it's stunning views of Saanich Inlet and the Gulf Islands, you'll know what I mean.

Exploring New Technologies at SIGGRAPH 2011

Emerging Technologies displays at SIGGRAPH 2011

I've been lucky enough to attend past SIGGRAPH conferences in Boston and Los Angeles, and having traveled a fair distance from my home base on both counts, I thought it was wonderful this year's host city was nearby Vancouver. A fantastic opportunity to rub elbows with an amazing array of world class digital researchers, artists and developers right in our own back yard.

Anyone would jump at the chance to go to SIGGRAPH. Right?

I especially appreciated having the opportunity to share the experience with many SIGGRAPH newbies, though admittedly, enticing friends to join me in attending the conference was more of a struggle than I had anticipated.

SIGGRAPH stands for Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques, and the subjects covered in the presentations highlight the mind-boggling scientific methods and theories developed by leading thinkers in the field. In past years I've mainly stuck to taking in the layman-friendly presentations but I've also made it a point to try to struggle through a few advanced level sessions. Memorable  moments include the MIT Lab's Ramesh Raskar and Jack Tumblin's 2006 course on computational photography, and Mine Özkar and Sotirios Kotsopoulos's 2008 course on spacial grammars.

What SIGGRAPH offers everyday folks (with an interest in technology), like me

But I digress, or rather, perhaps I should digress! The reason I love attending SIGGRAPH is, when it comes to exploring forward thinking concepts in technology, in my books this event is the bomb!  I've repeatedly observed those seemingly abstract new developments eventually mature into more mainstream interfaces, tools and services. It was at SIGGRAPH that I first encountered early examples of micro-blogging systems (like Twitter), augmented reality gaming interaction (like Wii), and new ways of interacting with devices (like your new smart phone). Along with discussions on the science of these technologies I've also heard early rumblings on the social and legal implications that go along with these developments.  Questions on privacy, morality and ownership that might surface down the road.  Then of course there are the artists who use the technologies to comment on current issues in society.  Much food for thought.

SIGGRAPH 2011 did not disappoint.  Some of my favourite offerings included Jack Stenner and Patrick LeMieux's augmented reality installation, Open House, an exploration of the results of the U.S. housing collapse; and the PocoPoco musical interface developed by Tokyo Metropolitan University and IDEEA Lab.

Hope to see you at SIGGRAPH 2012!

Trying out new gaming interfaces in The Sandbox at SIGGRAPH 2011