BC II - Kootenay

We headed back to Canada in September, escaping the smoky sky of North Central Washington for the blue sky in British Columbia.

Mount Revelstoke Nat'l Park, hike to Jade Lake Pass

I felt like I was hiking in the Cascades in Mt. Revelstoke NP. The ranger reminded us we weren't in Washington anymore with a Grizzly story. He told us about a problem bear who had broken into a Honda and enjoyed quite a feast. After that reward, he continued to be a bad boy and try to break into cars - but only Hondas!

Next stop was Roger's Pass where we came up empty handed in our quest for a Roger's Pass tee-shirt but had our senses filled on the Great Glacier hike.

Great Glacier hike near Roger's Pass, Mt. Sir Donald on left

During our lunch break we chatted with a couple Israelis who live in Tel Aviv. They told us how normal day to day life in Israel is and how safe they felt living there. (This was before the recent hostilities with the Palestinians in Gaza.) They did comment that no plane leaving Israel will fly over an Arab nation so it is faster for them to travel to the U.S. than to Australia.

View at rest stop along Kicking Horse River

Next we headed to the Bugaboos, which were as fun as the name suggests. We spent the night in our car at the trailhead parking lot.We arrived shortly before dark and had to scramble in order to erect a chicken wire fence to protect us from marauding porcupines! Well - protect our car. Apparently, the porcupines are looking for salt and will chew your tires and any exposed rubber hoses. We didn't quite believe the threat was real but the locals assured us it was and every other car in the parking lot had a chicken wire around it.

Chicken wire surround at trailhead in Bugaboo Glacier Provincial Park

Our hike the next day to Black Forest Ridge was well worth the porcupine menace. It was a great hike with fall colors, golden larches, and awesome views.

View from Black Forest Ridge, Bugaboo Glacier PP

We saw a big, fat fresh grizzly footprint on the way down from Black Forest Ridge. We never saw the bear who left it. Helping to encourage the bear to keep his distance was another group of hikers on the trail. As they descended, we could hear their anti-bear bells and approximately every 60 seconds a loud "DAY-O" rang out. The group caught up to us and the funny thing about their use of "DAY-O" to repel the bear was that English was their second language. They were from Calgary, of Asian descent, and among themselves spoke in their native tongue. Maybe Canadian bears only understand English - or French in Quebec.

At the trailhead to Fish Lake in Top of the World Provincial Park we were met with a bear warning sign and a notice that a bear had been seen hanging out in the meadow we would pass through. We came to the meadow and Roger stopped there for a lunch break! I didn't want to BE LUNCH but Roger was reluctant to continue. When the man's gotta eat, he's gotta eat.

Slocan Chief Cabin hike, Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park

Driving to most provincial park trailheads was long and nasty. One exception was the Slocan Chief Cabin hike. We were able to drive there without clattering teeth and involuntary bouncing and bashing our heads on the car roof. Then, after the initial elevation gain, the hike itself was like a walk in the park with 7 lakes in about 7 km of gentle terrain.

Drinnon Pass hike, Valhalla Provincial Park

Our last hike of the trip was in Valhalla Provincial Park which was, indeed, worthy of the Norse Gods. On a perfect day we had this idyllic spot all to ourselves and found it so very hard to leave and return to our car for the bumpy ride back to civilization.

Drinnon Pass hike, Valhalla Provincial Park

We did use our boat which looked so out of place at all the mountain trailheads. With calm waters, we enjoyed relaxed kayaking at Whiteswan, Kootenay, and Champion Lakes.

Whiteswan Lake

Re-entering the U.S. we learned that it may be faster to go through a busy border crossing than one on a lonely stretch of highway. It took the border patrol guy quite a while to acknowledge us even though he had no "customers". Then he asked us all the usual questions plus a whole bunch more. When he asked if we had bought anything in Canada and we replied 3 tee-shirts and chicken wire for porcupine protection, he didn't even crack a smile. When he asked about fruit, I fessed up that we still had 2 apples with Washington State stickers that we purchased in Canada. He inspected the apples and then began searching the car and found some melon slices and grapes in a container that Roger had purchased at a deli that morning. He grumpily commented, "You didn't tell me about this fruit". He didn't find any more dangerous contraband and 3 or 4 cars had arrived at the border crossing so he eventually let us go.  

Despite the grumpy border guard, another good trip, eh.