For years, the romantic story of the S.S. Klondike revolved around the historic sternwheeler that travelled the Yukon River from 1929 to 1955 carrying silver-lead ore, freight, passengers and tourists. But the tale of how a steam-powered boat retired and found new life as the S.S. Klondike National Historic Site glossed over negative parts of its legacy.

Growing up in Nova Scotia, attending a high school with an outdoor education focus, taking a sustainable forestry course that asked her to connect how clearcutting killed Atlantic salmon, and joining annual field trips to Kejimkujik National Park, Hilary Harrop-Archibald always had her eye on an eventual career with Parks Canada.

“Going in the right direction on the trail.” That’s the literal translation of the Nuu-chah-nulth name — ʔapsčiik t̓ašii — for a new paved pathway in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, but there are layers of possible meaning. The name can refer to a person’s personal life journey or to being mindful of the environment and all living things. When the name is used collectively, First Nations Elders say “the land we walk on is made from the dust of our ancestors — in our life journey, we walk it carefully, respectfully, with humility and dignity.”

The iconic West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island is reopening for the first time since 2019.