East Kootenay Wanderings

We spent a few days at the end of last week wandering around some of the East Kootenays. This is an area that we often drive through, but seldom stop to explore. This time, in conjunction with a Library Federation meeting that Catherine had to attend, some new areas were visited.

This is the valley with Cranbrook at the south end and Golden at the north end. The Kootenay River comes in from the east at Canal Flats and heads south and the Columbia River originates, also at Canal Flats, and heads north. The second picture is of the "mighty" Columbia River, just north of Columbia Lake, near Fairmont.

One area we found excellent for bird-watching was a hill just north of Wilmer overlooking the Columbia Wetlands Conservation Area. We saw several new species there

We also spent a short time hiking to the top of the hoodoos near Fairmont. Nice views from the top of the cliffs.

One night was spent at Alces Lake (Latin for Moose Lake), which is in Whiteswan Provincial Park, about 22 km up a Forest Service Road east of Canal Flats. The lake was cute and the campground was just what you'd expect of a BC Provincial Park campground - nice sites, excellent trees...

One luxury was a soak in Lussier Hot Springs, a couple of natural, undeveloped pools on the western boundary of Whiteswan PP. This was the early morning soak so as to miss the crowds later in the day. Nothing like the smell of hydrogen sulfide and hot water!!

The next night was spent at Lake Enid Rec Area - a BC Forest Service Site only a few km from Wilmer (near Invermere). A resident loon and several pairs of Red-Throated Grebes added to the ambiance of the lake with the Rockies in the background. Unfortunately, our peaceful evening was disturbed by some Albertans (have I mentioned that this valley is Calgary's playground?) arriving at 10 pm, unloading their dirt bikes, ATVs and chain saws and feeling the need to start up each one of their toys and make noise at 11 pm. Fortunately, they didn't stay up too late.

The next night, we tried a Forest Service Road (FSR) west of Canal Flats along the Findlay Creek. Findlay Falls was interesting and the Forest Service campground was very nice. Quiet and peaceful with the sounds of the Findlay Creek in the background.

The last day, as we were heading home, we rode our bikes a short distance through Bummer's Flats, an area along the Kootenay River just north of Ft Steele. Mainly we were looking for birds, but there was a cool, spring smell to the air and the ride was a nice diversion to our trip.

Further along the road home, we spent an hour or so wandering around the Creston Wetlands looking for new bird species.

After this, we had only the drive north along the east side of Kootenay Lake to the ferry and home.