Our last days in Canada

21^st July

Checking the internet this morning we found that Mary had been in hospital for a couple of days. Lynne assured us that she was on the mend and hopefully would be discharged soon. We set off for the Glacier and Mt Revelstoke National Parks but decided we would limit our stay for only one night and be back on text and internet in two days. It is only a short trip thru these parks and it really did not change much. We are now following the Trans Canada Highway, the only road crossing Canada. It is very busy and quite rough not like the smooth interstate highways in the USA. We climbed over the Rogers Pass and thru several avalanche tunnels before arriving at the visitors centre for Glacier N.P. The ranger gave us some good advice about a couple of walks from the camp. After selecting a site we set off for a walk. In this area the Canadian Pacific Railway made a luxury hotel possible giving access to the mountains and the 10 glaciers. The hotel is gone but we were able to see the remains. It must have been quite a place! It was promoted as Canada’s answer to the Swiss Alps. The only access was the train and the rich and famous enjoyed the views and the climbing. Passed the old foundations of the hotel we climbed up a valley for views of several glaciers. It was cold in the night and our second duvet was broken out.

                                     22^nd July.

Another short drive thru Mt Revelstoke N.P. We stopped at a great board walk thru the wetlands with many birds and a strange plant called a skunk cabbage. The bears enjoy this plant. After a quick shop we checked into a camp at Revelstoke. This is another railway town. We texted Lynne and found that Mary had been discharged from hospital and was back home. We biked back over Columbia River to the town and a Railway Museum.

There were several carriages on display but the highlight was the steam engine. It was a huge oil burner built in 1948. One of the original engineers was in the cab and we talked to him and learned quite a bit of the driving etc of this monster. The weather is a bit overcast and the odd spit of rain but it is warm. We skyped Claire and Lynne. Mary seems fine but tired. We can not ring her as we have discovered our cellphone will not do international calls from Canada. Strange as we can texted NZ ok.

23^rd July

We have left the busy Trans Canada Highway now and are following the ‘23’ down into the Kootenays. There are a number of long lakes which will lead us out of Canada and back to the USA in about a week. Our first stop was at the ferry terminal on Arrow Lake at Shelter Bay. We were in a nice site overlooking the lake. We could watch the ferry crossing to the other side. It was hot and we enjoyed relaxing in the sun. The forecast is for thunder, lightning and hail! Around 5:00pm the skies darkened and we could see lightning and rain sweeping up the other side of the lake. Eventually the rain reached our side and we went inside. The skies opened and we had a beaut electrical storm. The rain settled in for the night. During the night we got some more thunder, lightning and hail.

24^th July

We joined the queue for the ferry and got straight on wedged between two huge trucks. These lake ferries are free as they form part of the Canadian roading system. It was about a 25 minute crossing and as it was windy the lake was quite rough. We drove a short distance to another provincial park at Summit Lake and spent the day inside as the rain did not let up. This is the first time in both of trips that this has happened. Around 5:00pm the rain eased a little and stopped by bed time. Not a great 24 hours for those in tents! No problem for us however.

25^th July

This is a Friday so we are looking for a two night stop. The little town of New Denver on the shores of Lake Slocan looked good so we booked into the town camp. There are lots of Canadians families here for their summer holidays. The rain has stopped and the odd bit of sun breaking thru. There is a nice beach here and we might get a swim tomorrow as the forecast is for 28C. We explored the town on our bikes. It is quaint with some lovely old buildings. At the information centre we learned of a bike ride we may also do tomorrow. At around 4:00pm it started raining again but as it was still warm we sat under the awning. The rain stopped and we sat in the sun until it set.

26^th July

A beautiful morning. We set off on a bike ride up the Galena Trail. We had to ride up the road for a couple of kms before the trail. This is silver mining country and the trail follows the railway where they brought the silver out. New Denver was named as they thought it would rival Denver as a prosperous town. Unfortunately the silver ran out! The trail was fantastic - gradually rising up the valley. After about 7 kms we came to a river crossed by a cable car system. There were hooks to put your bike on but we chose just to ride the cable car and then cycle back to the town.

The cable car was an aluminium basket dangling over the river. Quite a thrill! On the way back to the camp we went thru the town and bought a bear bell. Probably should have had one 4 months ago. Basically it rings while you walk (or cycle) lets the bears know you are coming. In the afternoon we enjoyed some time at the lake reading and even had a swim. The water was refreshing!

 

27^th July

We drove up and down two valleys to bring us to the next lake, Lake Kootenay. It was a short 50km drive but very beautiful. We checked into another Municipal camp at Kaslo right on the lake shore. We walked up into the historical town which has a sternwheel  paddle steamer pulled up onto the shore. The ‘SS Moyie’ was built in 1898 when it was the only transport in this area. It is the world’s oldest sternwheeler still in tact and we walked the decks from the engine room and cargo area, the luxurious saloons and up to the bridge. Back to ‘Ernie’ and down to the beach. It is quite hot (35C) and we sat in the shade before another ‘refreshing’ dip.

We walked up the main street passed the beautiful old buildings to the Kaslo Hotel where we sat on the deck overlooking the lake and enjoyed a beer.

28^th July

A short drive today. We followed the shoreline of the beautiful Lake Kootenay passed many holiday spots and beaches. It was a stop - start trip as we were trying to set up our voice mail with AT&T. All very frustrating as we were in Canada not USA. Eventually we gave up and will try again when we are back in the States. We stopped at the Kokanee Creek  Provincial Park and chose a shady spot away from the beach as was very hot (35C) but cooler under the trees. In the afternoon we walked to the beach and sat in the shade of some trees. The water was much warmer than yesterday and we had a couple of swims. Nice clear water. Although the temperatures are high as soon as the sun sets it cools quickly making sleeping easy.

29^th July

It was a short drive to Nelson. This is a large city beautifully set at the end of Lake Kootenay. After some enquiries we found a place to give ‘Ernie’ a much needed oil change and filters. They did this while we shopped. It was all very efficient and surprisingly cheap. ($20 for the labour!) We continued on thru some very small towns and dodgy looking camping grounds to Salmo and camped in the municipal ground under some huge shading trees. Salmo is tiny with a couple of nice buildings. An ice-cream was the highlight of our cycling tour of the town.

30^th July

We climbed gradually over a pass and down the other side into Creston. Another great drive thru the forests with a stream beside the road for much of the trip. This will be our last night in Canada and I was able to contact my cousin again. It seems he will be travelling west on the ‘90’ and we may catch up with him on Sunday. We once again cycled into the town of Creston. Not much to see but a lot bigger than Salmo. As we have power and internet at the camp we will publish this blog. We have been in British Columbia for a month. It is a great province very similar to the South Island with its lakes, mountains, glaciers and forests.