Saturday Travel Feature
A Castle in the Sand
This Castle in the Sand was built in 2006 during the Harrison Hot Springs, B.C. Sand Castle Competition. On the shores of Lake Harrison with the mountains looming behind not only sand castles but mermaids, lions, pirates, dragons, gargoyles, and even a whole army was sculpted. Builders came from all over the world to this the World Championship of Sand Castle Competitions.
Although the Competition starts each September, the Tuesday after Labor Day, an exhibition of sand sculptures is on display during the summer. The display may sound small, about a dozen displays, but it packs a punch since there is nothing like it.
Harrison Hot Springs is of course well known for its hot springs that not only give the town its name, but are available for bathing and help to warm up the lake water for swimming. The other big attraction of the area is the possibility of seeing a Sasquatch. This is a legendary ape like creature that is hairy, twice the size of a man, and has been reported to have been seen a dozen times. In fact, if you take a tourist boat cruise out onto Harrison Lake they guarantee you will see one.
The Sasquatch has been chosen as the model for one of the mascots for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games to be held in the Vancouver and Whistler. The fuzzy brown fellow is called Quatchi. He comes in different sized stuffed animals as well as appearing on other official Olympic products. In fact, you can even seen larger than life sized ones dancing around at Olympic Festivities.
To get to Harrison Hot Springs from Vancouver you need to drive about one hour and forty minutes east on the Transcanada Highway. There sits the town of 1,473 and one Sasquatch.
Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/instamarv/sets/72157607549204123/
This Castle in the Sand was built in 2006 during the Harrison Hot Springs, B.C. Sand Castle Competition. On the shores of Lake Harrison with the mountains looming behind not only sand castles but mermaids, lions, pirates, dragons, gargoyles, and even a whole army was sculpted. Builders came from all over the world to this the World Championship of Sand Castle Competitions.
Although the Competition starts each September, the Tuesday after Labor Day, an exhibition of sand sculptures is on display during the summer. The display may sound small, about a dozen displays, but it packs a punch since there is nothing like it.
Harrison Hot Springs is of course well known for its hot springs that not only give the town its name, but are available for bathing and help to warm up the lake water for swimming. The other big attraction of the area is the possibility of seeing a Sasquatch. This is a legendary ape like creature that is hairy, twice the size of a man, and has been reported to have been seen a dozen times. In fact, if you take a tourist boat cruise out onto Harrison Lake they guarantee you will see one.
The Sasquatch has been chosen as the model for one of the mascots for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games to be held in the Vancouver and Whistler. The fuzzy brown fellow is called Quatchi. He comes in different sized stuffed animals as well as appearing on other official Olympic products. In fact, you can even seen larger than life sized ones dancing around at Olympic Festivities.
To get to Harrison Hot Springs from Vancouver you need to drive about one hour and forty minutes east on the Transcanada Highway. There sits the town of 1,473 and one Sasquatch.
The Castle in the Sand was demolished in the fall of 2006.
Photo: Taken Mother's Day 2006 by SW.
