Kootenay Rockies - 20 to 28 August 2014

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KOOTENAY NATIONAL PARK



We left Banff and headed South through Kootenay National Park. As we entered the park we pulled into a lay-by which is where the Continental Divide sits, the boundary line for where water runs East into the Atlantic Ocean and West into the Pacific Ocean. A large roadside sign marked the actual spot which also divides two national parks and two provinces - Alberta and British Columbia, so we were back in BC again.



We stopped a little further on at Marble Canyon, where Tokumm Creek converges with the Vermilion River. Over thousands of years the creek has slowly cut and carved its way through the limestone in a snake like manner as it divided the land in two. We set off on our first real hike of the day and it was good to stretch our legs in such a scenic area. It was a relatively easy hike with just a few slippery steps at the start. After that, we could criss-cross over the canyon on a number of narrow bridges, getting higher and deeper - in some places the gorge's opposite sides were nearly touching. It seemed like every time we came around a bend, you could see the path continue on forever into the distance. Eventually, though we hit a powerful waterfall that marked the end of the trail and you could not go any further. We stayed and watched the water gushing beneath our feet snaking down into the gorge and back down the way we had come. We also retraced our steps back to the parking lot as the rain started to fall more heavily. This was a very picturesque trail - not only the canyon, river, and falls, but the surrounding forest and mountains as well.



Kootenay National Park was hit by a huge forest fire in 2003 which burned for 40 days and consumed over 170 square kilometres of land. In some areas new growth trees were already over six foot tall, sprouting up around the ghostly spindles of long burned trees. Everywhere you looked there was evidence of the regenerative power of fire, so vital to forest renewal. Brightly fuchsia coloured Fireweed carpeting the cleared areas and grew in huge clumps around blackened tree trunks laying dormant on the ground. This flower is often abundant in burned-over lands and in fact the common name of Fireweed derives from the species' abundance as a coloniser on burnt sites after forest fires.



Indeed as we continued our journey through Kootenay National Park there were significant burn areas readily visible from the highway all covered in fuchsia pink carpets ... ...



We hiked again at Olive Lake, this short trail began in the trees and was quite muddy before it reached a boardwalk trail leading to the right and left. Either way led to a viewing platform overlooking this olive-green coloured lake - hence its name. The heavily cloudy skies and light drizzle though did not reflect its true glory but gave off a mystical appearance. At the trailhead and along the trail there were several interpretive signs describing the natural habitat and wildlife. There were numerous bear warning signs so we made a lot of noise just in case and Paul had his whistle - but no bears again today ………



We stopped at Sinclair Pass where a viewpoint looked out over the river and mountains - the road narrowly squeezing between two huge rock faces.



COLUMBIA VALLEY

We arrived in the Colombia Valley which has only three entrances; from the north via Golden, the south via Cranbrook and we were arriving from the east via Kootenay National Park, such a small park but beautiful nonetheless.



Our first stop was at Radium Hot Springs, a small village with a population of 800. The village is named for the odourless hot springs and we parked up and crossed under the road via a tunnel directly into the pool complex. Bathers were enjoying the ‘pools’ and the sun was coming out to warm them as well - not that they needed it. One of the pools is usually around 39°C and the other 29°C. There was also a tiny very hot pool where the water comes direct from the source at 44°C!!!! These Hot Springs occur naturally in the Kootenay Rockies with six main Springs, as well as smaller backcountry pools, these are much more to our liking than these heavily populated ones!



The Columbia Valley was originally home to First Nation peoples, serving as a traditional hunting and fishing ground. Both the Shuswap and the Akisqnik made their living from the land which provided everything they needed, food, medicine and materials for clothing and shelter. Both of these First Nation peoples continue to having thriving communities in the area and we passed place names like Skookumchuck and Spillimacheen, marking their long influence in the region. I think I have spelt them correctly but had real trouble with their pronunciation!



As elsewhere in Canada the fur trade brought in the first Europeans, arriving in the valley in the early 1800s where they set up trading posts and exchanged goods for pelts with the First Nation inhabitants. It was not until the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in 1885 that the first villages and towns were established.



We passed through Invermere and continue on to Windermere situated on the east side of Lake Windermere (not the Lake District, UK one). This small community was extremely quiet which is not surprising really as it only has about 1300 residents. Comparing this to the ‘small village’ that we live in near Winchester with a population of 3,800 put it into perspective for us! We did not see anyone as we drove through the narrow streets that run down to the lakeside. We pulled up next to a pretty wooden church with the rain pelting down on us. A sign told us that Saint Peter’s Church was also called the Stolen Church. Apparently the building was ‘taken’ from the town of Donald, near Golden, by Rufus Kimpton for his wife Celina. Dismantled and transported to the valley via rail, wagon and riverboat. The church was then reassembled in Windermere in 1900, we were hoping to go inside but it was locked but a notice said that it was open on two days of the week but alas this was the wrong day. Instead we took a short hike on Windermere Point which overlooked the lake and community. On the hillside was the local cemetery with many tombstones telling the stories of those early settlers who arrived in the Columbia Valley.



Apart from the brief glimpse we had of the sun in Radium it continued to rain and below us the lake was completely deserted. Apart from us two, a bald eagle fishing and some little boats bobbing on the shoreline all was quiet. With the sun shining a few people would have been out on those boats enjoying the scenic lake and its little beaches. For thousands of years the Akisqnik First Nation people lived a nomadic lifestyle in this area and today they are the largest single landholder in the Columbian Valley, much of their lands bordering the shores of Lake Windermere. Their native Ktunaxa Language is a unique language that cannot be linked to any other native language in North America.



It would have been nice to have stayed a while and explored the area more but the rain kept us firmly rooted to our only means of shelter - the hire car!



Our journey continued passing through Canal Flats where we hoped to hike but again it was far to wet so we arrived early at our next destination Kimberley. A small alpine town we thought it would be a good place to break our journey so we had booked a couple of nights at Trickle Creek Lodge and luckily our room was ready so we could settle in. This area is popular with skiers in the winter because of its consistent snowfall and very short ski-lift lines! We could see the nursery ski slopes right outside our window but they were all covered in green grass and the ski-lifts of course were closed awaiting the winter snows. No snow for us or no sun, only rain which had followed us for much of the last week.



Kimberley was quite an interesting town which like many other towns throughout the country had developed around mining. It was named in the late 1800s after the well known Kimberley Diamond Mine in South Africa, although it was not diamonds that were mined but zinc and lead. In the 1970s the town was developed into a Bavarian town and became known as the Bavarian City of the Rockies ... ... You could still see this influence around the main square with cafes and restaurants selling; sausages, schnitzels and lovely apple strudel. We chatted to a lady at the Visitor Centre that had moved from Reading, UK about 10 years ago and she gave us lots of useful information and a excellent guide book of local hikes which she would not take payment for.



We did a couple of those hikes but the weather was still poor and we wished we could have done a lot more. We did enjoy the ‘Bavarian’ town feel though, it brought back happy memories of when we lived in Berlin in the early 80s. We even found some Spätzle in a local supermarket - we so love this noodle but it is often difficult to find whilst we are travelling. In case you do not know, Spätzle is a kind of soft egg noodle mainly found in the cuisines of Germany and Austria and like pasta has many uses. Margaret/Christa/Reiner - if you read this I hope I have spelt it correctly, it very hard to pronounce though!



Our journey continued through Creston passing many fresh fruit and veggie stands dotted along the roadside. We bought some delicious cherries which were just coming to the end of their season, we have never tasted better cherries anywhere. In fact we ate far too many as we drove along these scenic byways … … Arab/Andrea - I think I can remember you telling us that you also ‘gorged’ on these fruits when you were passing through the area! Apricots, Plums and Peaches were just coming into season and we really loved the ripe peaches, they even had a thick 'fuzz' on the skin - so fresh, having just been plucked from a nearly tree.



We travelled alongside Lake Kootenay for ages not passing much traffic - not surprising really as the lake is one of the largest lakes in British Columbia at 64 miles long and 1 to 3 miles wide - that's big. Every now and then we would get little glimpses of the lake as the road snaked along the cliff edge just above the shoreline. We stopped and had lunch at Kuskanook Harbour and clambered down rocks to sit beside the lake and enjoy some welcome sunshine at last ... ... ... Local children were jumping off large floating logs into the icy cold lake but thoroughly enjoying themselves - we gave it a miss! A toll-free ferry crosses the lake between Kootenay Bay & Balfour and so we pulled up at the dock and waited for the next one to arrive. The road ends here so you cannot travel any further, if the ferry was not running you were stuck and would have to travel back along the length of the lake again ……… We had delicious ice-creams from a little cafe above the dock whilst waiting for the ferry to arrive and watched a Kingfisher diving for fish.



We boarded the ferry along with a few other cars as well as a few large logging trucks - hope they can accommodate all that additional weight! In the end though it was a very smooth and scenic crossing and we could not believe that it was ‘free’ as well. It took about 30 minutes to cross the lake so we thought that was real ‘value for money’. We disembarked and continued to follow the lake on the other side and about 30 minutes later we ‘just’ managed to find our accommodation, a vacation rental called Willow Point just outside the town of Nelson.



We had tried to book this accommodation via Air B&B, a recommended website. However because we did not have a mobile telephone we were unable to register on their site. Luckily with internet research we located the accommodation and contacted them direct via email. Air B&B is a useful accommodation finding website, but if you do not have a mobile then it is useless as you are unable to register. We have contacted the website hosts and told them of our problem - why you cannot register using your email address instead of by mobile telephone is beyond us!!!!!!



We drove up a very tight steep drive, overhung with trees and we were dearly hoping that we would not meet anyone coming the other way! Guess what - we did, Ulli the owner was on her way out with her daughter. We stopped and introduced ourselves and she said that she had left the door to our suite open so we could walk go in. We managed to ‘squeeze’ pass each other and we continued to the house.



The house had recently changed from being a 7 room B&B into just two vacation rentals and our room, The Colonel’s Garret was perfect. We had a living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom all to ourselves. The house was built by Colonel Taylor who travelled from England in the 1920 after the first World War with his young family wanting to build a quiet refuge in the Wild West - a land of peace. Nestled on a quiet acreage on the mountainside, the house overlooked the Selkirk Mountains, and was a short hike down to glacier-fed Lake Kootenay.



The house was owned by Ulli, Mel and their 8 year old daughter, they had moved to Canada from Switzerland to find a better lifestyle ten years ago. The grounds were so peaceful and quiet but were rather overgrown. It must be a nightmare keeping them in pristine condition as the lush forest keeps advancing inward! We could hear the trickle of a waterfall and a stream nearby but the undergrowth was so thick all around the house. We asked about any trails and Ulli said she would draw us a map as they were a ‘little’ overgrown, mainly used by deer and bears……….. Bears come into her garden to eat any ripe fruit but she said her old dog usually saw them off … … … we did not seen any bears during our stay even though their plum tree was ‘dripping’ with plums. It was such a very quiet and peaceful sanctuary and we enjoyed our stay chilling in our little suite.



Ulli's husband, Mel was a Director at nearby Kokanee Creek Provincial Park and he told us that the RedFish Festival was taking place the next day. It was only the third annual festival which is presented by the Kootenay EcoSociety to celebrate the annual return of the Kokanee Salmon to the creek for channel spawning. Mel said that last year it was touch and go that the salmon would arrive before the day and they had in fact only arrived in the creek the day before! It was really difficult to time the festival to coincide with their arrival - nature has a habit of changing year to year. This year though the salmon were in the creek and it was a great chance for us to join in some local celebrations as well as learn more about these ‘landlocked salmon’ who return year after year - a vital key to the web of life here.



The park was nearby so we did not have far to travel to join in the festivities. There was a small art exhibit by the Nelson & District Arts Council with paintings by local artists as well as local vendors selling their foods and crafts. Entertainers; Bessie Wapp & Friends and Bryce & the West Arm Bottom Bouncers were entertaining the crowds. We really enjoyed the latter who played some interesting music whilst we sat in the sun eating giant burgers - yummy … …



We visited the visitor centre which detailed information on the area and joined a ‘fish tour’ with a trained naturalist to learn more about the landlocked salmon along the creek. As we walked along the river she explained the life cycle of these fish and the man made spawning channels that have helped them to survive. The channels were full of these fish fighting to get up stream just to lays their eggs and die. Everywhere these bright red fish were struggling as they tried to navigate up the fast flowing waters of the creek before finding a fine gravelled bottomed area to make their 'nest' - without the fine gravel bottom they would not be able to lay their eggs.



The Kokanee Salmon had begun the final chapter of their life’s journey, to spawn and die in the creek where they were born a mere three years before.



The naturalist explained to us that these fish had limited options when about 12,000 years ago retreating glaciers meant that the ocean going Sockeye Salmon were unable to reach the ocean. It was a case of adapt or die - so they adapted to living in freshwater, foregoing the ‘smolt’ stage of adapting to saltwater in the estuaries of the Pacific Ocean. Because these salmon never migrate out to the ocean to feed they are much smaller in size than ocean going salmon. However, other than size, Kokanee Salmon have very similar identifying characteristics as Sockeye. Whilst we were there they had counted nearly 2,000 in the channel - the total they are expecting though is over 8,000 with the creek turning bright red as it fills. We were so glad that we were able to see such a natural phenomena on our brief visit to the area.



The next day we crossed the iron bridge into Nelson and walked along the lake before heading back to the Park for more hiking having another look at the fish in the ‘red’ creek. We hiked three connecting trails that day but enjoyed the Canyon Trail which followed the east side of Kokanee Creek best passing through some large cedar and hemlock trees to a terraced viewing platform overlooking a canyon with a small waterfall. The canyon was really narrow with huge rocks covered in green moss such an idillic setting and just for us to enjoy. We connected the Pine and Woodland trails traversing through a forest of yellow pine and birch to make a circle route back to where we had started.



Back at our new home our host Ulli told us that British Columbian school teachers were still out on strike, we had heard this on the news over the last few weeks and seen many demonstrating on the roadsides. All schools in BC had been closed since mid June, causing quite a problem to many parents but most were backing the teachers. Ulli was trying to get her daughter into a summer camp but there were only 20 places so she was heading off early to be first in the expected long queue! She recommended a hike to Pilot Bay for us so we set off to find the trailhead. We had to catch the free car ferry, Osprey 2000 back across Lake Kootenay and drive a short distance along the lake on the other side. It was a really enjoyable hike passing through the forest along the lake edge with glimpses of the smooth blue waters way below - a bit like a coastal path walk. We arrived on a small inlet with a track leading down to Pilot Bay where the lake’s water lapped the shore. It was very quiet and peaceful and we sat and had a picnic watching a couple of sailing boats floating in the smooth waters. It was such a scenic spot and we had four beaches all to ourselves. It was very hard to tear ourselves away but we had to return so we hiked back and caught the ferry back to Belfour Village. We stopped to buy yet more fresh fruit this time, Cherries, Plums and Apples - delicious. It was such a good time to be visiting the valley.



The next day we visited the town, parking was not easy and indeed costly near the centre but we had been forewarned and parked up the hill and walked down. In the early 1980s, Nelson suffered economic downturn when the Kootenay Forest Sawmill closed. Someone had the foresight to try and save the town’s historical and oldest areas particularly along Baker Street and now it was like walking back in time. Streets were lined with many different types of shops and a variety of pubs and eateries with such a pleasant ambiance. We wandered down this renowned street following a self guided trail which detailed the various ‘saved’ buildings along the way. It was market day and this was stretched along the centre of the street selling local jams, honey and pickles as well as an array of bric-a-brac. Dog lovers would not like it here though as dogs are banned from the main streets with strict fines in force. The town was also known as Canada’s ‘pot capital’ and you were aware of this in certain areas as you passed by!



We took another short hike along the lake passing a small airport and watched several planes circling the mountains before landing smoothly on the tarmac. We have really liked the area and enjoyed our time in Nelson but it is time to move on and tomorrow we move South again and into the Okanagan Valley - see you there.

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Photos

Willow Point - Nelson
Our Accommodation