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For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, I have included the forecast for Fernie for the next few Days. Sickening, isn't it? :-)
Anne and I have been very busy, walking the many trails around Fernie. Our good friend, and temporary tour guide, Ian, has been showing us areas of Fernie that are not frequently visited by tourists. In fact, there are areas around Fernie that used to be coveted, and hidden, by locals. Trails to these areas would be constructed so the locals could frequent them, however these trails would stop about 100 metres from the road, so they they could not be found by wandering tourists.
Friday was a great day, with a drive to Hartley Lake and beyond, then a hike on the Mountain Lakes Trail. This is a 20km hike to Island Lake Lodge, but on this day we traveled only to 'Bisaro Cave', which was truly an amazing hike. There was only 1 other group we came across on this hike. If this trail was transported to the Dandenongs, or somewhere in Melbourne, there would be hundreds of people hiking this trail every day. It is truly spectacular. Waterfalls, lush forest, and
panoramic views. No Bears though (I'm not complaining!). Ian thought we should go only as far as Bisaro Cave (on the map, it's only about 2km in from the start of the trail). I thought that was a bit of a short walk, however I was soon to realize that most of it was straight up! Anne and I were pretty worn out by the end. It also gave me a good dose of medicine for my vertigo illness (working on the Homeopathy concept of what doesn't kill me, makes me stronger!)
I hooked up again with Ian again on Saturday morning with Dave and Bill, two of Ian's hiking buddies, on another hike to one of the largest fossil ammonites ever found around Fernie. The trail was essentially a creek bed most of the way, with a good dose of stinging Nettles. Essentially a Rambo walk. A great contrast to the day before. The Fossil was huge, about 1.4m across and 35cm thick. Most of the ammonite is preserved as an imprint with part of the last whorl appearing as a mould.
The ammonite, which looks like a coiled squid, is an ancient relative of the nautilus,
Wild Goats
Tough eating, apparantly!which swims around in the shallow water of the South Pacific. While living, the ammonite would have been happy in the sub-tropical Jurassic Sea that covered the area between 200 and 145 million years ago.
After this walk, we returned via some of the bike trails, so I could get a an idea on how these trails come together at various points. (I think Ian was try to insure against this tourist getting lost in the forest!)
All up the walk was about 5 1/2 hours. I was beat.
Sunday we acted like locals, with the ski hill have a 'locals appreciation event'. This included a trip up the Timberbowl Express Quad lift, and a Prime Rib Burger (best burger EVER!) for two bucks (or should I say, a "Twonie", as it's called here). This is a lift that was constructed after our last visit in '94, and it's fast and long. We exit at about 5700 feet, at "Lost Boys Cafe" and enjoy the view with our juicy burger (can I ever go back to vegetarianism?).
We may not get another opportunity this summer, so Anne and I (with our excellent escort Ian), hike a
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I'm envious of these guys climbing abilities little further up, and touch the last of the snow on the mountain. Snow. In the middle of summer! Amazing.
Thus ends another great weekend in Fernie.
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Kity
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Lovely
They are absolutely beautiful photos... What a gorgeous place....Keep the pictures coming....