Nelson to Parksville, via Sicamous (2016-09-19)

The warm sunny days of the past week in Nelson ended on Saturday, with the return of the rains, which made the leaving a little easier.  Rather than head straight back to the coast on highway 3, we took the opportunity to visit our friends Neil and Heather in Sicamous, which made for a longer drive home, but it spread the drive over two days.  The fastest route from Nelson to Sicamous, is north up highway 6 to Nakusp, and then continuing north on highway 23 to Revelstoke, on to Highway 1.  But our neighbour, Moe, had suggested an alternate, more scenic route from Nakusp, via Fauquier, so that became the plan.

 

As it was a drab, rainy day, we did not stop for any walks or sightseeing, as most of the sights were covered in cloud.  We made good time to Nakusp and so we stopped at "Whats Brewing on Broadway", the best cafe in Nakusp (according to Trip Advisor), for coffee / tea and a shared cinnamon bun.  It was a cute cafe, with lots of funky signs for sale, but the cutest sign of all hung above the counter (see photo below).

 

Sign at Whats Brewing on Broadway, Nakusp, BC

The challenge for road builders in the interior of BC has always been getting across the lakes and the mountains - the roads skirt the lakes and cross the mountains at the most convenient points, resulting in a route that can be quite circuitous.  Hence from Nakusp we turned south to Fauquier, took the ferry across Arrow Lake at The Needles, and then over the Monashee mountain range to Cherryville, Lumby and Vernon.  We ate lunch in the car while waiting for the ferry at Fauquier, as it was raining too steadily to sit at the picnic tables.

 

Ferry Crossing at The Needles, BC

 

I remember a Trivial Pursuit question from days gone by that asked which Canadian province has the most ferries.  The correct answer at the time was Saskatchewan.  But today Saskatchewan has only 12 ferries, while BC has 25 (BC Ferries only) on the coast, plus many more on inland river / lake crossings, so would now trump Saskatchewan's claim to fame.  Several of BC's inland ferries are required as a result of hydro dams flooding large areas.

 

After a brief stop at Jitter Beans in Lumby (thanks again Trip Advisor) for a tea refill, we headed for Sicamous.  The only disappointing part of the journey was that the weather prevented us from seeing much of the scenery.

 

The weather cooperated in Sicamous, and we were able to enjoy a walk around town on Saturday afternoon, and we had a walk along the Eagle River plus a bike ride on Sunday, all without getting wet, although it pored with rain at other times.  These activities were of course intertwined with lots of eating and conversation with Neil and Heather.  The District of Sicamous has decorated the downtown area with planters containing fruits and vegetables, which you are welcome to eat, so you can actually graze while you walk.  What a cool idea!

 

Strawberry Planter in Sicamous, BC

 On Monday morning, in torrential rain, we left Sicamous and headed to the coast.  It rained most of the way, so again, no stops for walks or sightseeing.  We gassed up & picked up coffee / tea in Salmon Arm, refilled the drinks in Kamloops, had a bathroom break at the top of the Coquihalla highway, and were at our daughter's house in Delta by 2:30 pm.

 

Our son and his girlfriend were also visiting our daughter in Delta, so we had a short visit with the family over dinner and then caught the 8:15 pm ferry home, to complete our 2500 Km vacation.

 

It was a great trip and we hope to return to Nelson in the future, as there are still many trails that we have yet to walk or ride.  But for now, the garden beckons.

 

 

 

 

Nelson, BC - part 2 (2016-09-16)

On Wednesday we decided to explore the area south of Nelson, and headed off down highway 6.  Our first stop was in Salmo, for coffee at the Dragonfly Cafe, followed by a walk around Salmo. The coffee was good, and we spent more time at the Dragonfly than it took to walk around town.

 

Back on the road, we took highway 3B towards Trail, but turned off to visit the Champion Lakes Provincial Park and to walk the trails identified in the Walking Trails Around Nelson brochure.  Champion Lakes are a chain of three lakes, beginning at Champion Lake No. 3, with walking trails along / around all three lakes.

Marlene at Champion Lake No. 3

 Armed with water and our lunch, we took to the trails to get away from the large group of school children who were having a day in the park - they were swimming, playing volleyball, bike riding, but most annoyingly, beating on drums, on the beach at lake no. 3.  We walked past all three lakes, to the end of the trail at a beaver dam at the bottom of lake no. 1, which was our selected lunch stop.  The only sound we heard over lunch was the occasional jet aircraft passing high above us in the clear blue sky.  On the return journey we took an alternate route back to the top of lake no. 2, which of course went over the hill rather than around it. 

 

End of the trail at the bottom of Champion Lake No. 1

 By the time we got back to the beach at lake no. 3, the kids had all left, but there was no time to enjoy the beach, as we wanted to visit the town of Trail and get back to Nelson by 5 o'clock.

 

The person who wrote the description of Trail for the tourist map deserves a marketing award - "....slip down the Columbia in a canoe or walk through Little Italy,.... meander the narrow streets, climb the covered staircases, or check out the amazing stone retaining walls of West Trail....".  They certainly put a lot of lipstick on that pig, as the reality is that Trail is dominated by Teck Cominco's lead and zinc smelter, which is right in the middle of town, you could sail the Queen Mary down the Columbia River it is so big, and the other "highlights" were not that impressive.  Definitely not our sort of town.  We drove through downtown and Little Italy, saw the covered staircases from a distance, and headed back to Nelson.

 

With only two days left, we decided to bike some of the Slocan Valley Rail Trail, and that turned out to be a good decision.  This trail is very pleasant riding, with a grade of less than 1%, and is very well-maintained.  It follows the Slocan River along most of the route with a few forested sections away from the river.  Over two days we rode two sections of the trail, Crescent Valley to Passmore & Passmore to Winlaw.  Day 1 was a 32 Km round trip, with a stop to pick up a tasty treat at Valley Vittles in Slocan Park.  There was much bear poop on the trail, but we did not see any wildlife at all. 

 

Jim admiring the Slocan River

Day 2 was a 26 Km round trip, with lunch in a nature park just outside Winlaw, where we had the whole park to ourselves, and a stop for coffee at the Sleep is for Sissies Cafe south of Winlaw.  Whilst having our coffee on the patio, an interesting young woman regaled us with her troubled life history, during which time she wafted the smoke from 3 cigarettes our way.  But hey, at least we weren't in Trail.

 

Marlene having lunch at a park outside of Winlaw

 

Jim taking a well-deserved break

We had one last drive into Nelson later in the day, and found that we are actually getting used to the town on a hillside.

 

The weather has been great for the whole week that we have been in Nelson, with no rain at all, but tonight that all changes, with rain settling in for the next few days.  As we can always enjoy the rain at home, it is time to move on.  Tomorrow morning we will leave Nelson and begin the journey home, but it will be a 3-day journey.

 

We really enjoyed the Nelson area & our home away from home at Bio Bio Suite.  Hopefully we will have an opportunity to return in the future.

 

Bio Bio Suite (below the verandah)

 

Nelson, BC part 1 (2016-09-13)



Nelson is in a beautiful location, nestled in a valley on the west arm of Kootenay Lake, surrounded by tree-covered mountains.  There is however very little flat land between the lake and the mountains, so the town is built in tiers up the side of the mountain, with each parallel street higher than its predecessor.  Even Baker Street, the historic main street of town, is well above the lake.  So everywhere you go, you go either uphill or downhill.  It is a busy town, with lots of amenities (and lots of visitors).

 

We spent the first day getting acquainted with Nelson, which included a walk around downtown and a bike ride on the Lakeshore Trail.  We thought that the trail was 7 Km each way, but after about 4 Km we passed no trespassing signs, and then rode through a homeless camp in the woods, on what did not seem like a city-maintained trail.  At this point we battled our way uphill to a road and headed back into town.  It turns out that the trail is 7 Km round trip.

 

On Monday we decided to ride part of the Nelson - Samlo rail trail.  Online info on the trail was sketchy, and I had the impression that the trail came from the lake up to Nelson and then down to Salmo, with a gentle grade.  We started at the top of Gore Street, where the Nelson station had once stood, thinking that this was the high point of the trail, but boy was I wrong.  The previous day we had scouted out the parking, but when we arrived at the parking lot, a crew was busy preparing it for paving, so we had to head back downhill and park on the street (with the parking brake on and the front wheels turned into the curb, as it was very steep).  After pushing our bikes back up the hill to the trail, we were ready to start our ride, when we saw a large fresh (wet) pile of bear poop, right in the middle of the trail.  This encouraged us to get going, despite the cool temperature (it had dropped to 6 degrees overnight and we were in the shade).  The ride started out uphill, but we found a pace that we could maintain, and soon were cruising through forest, crossing old railway trestles, while frequently ringing our bicycle bells, to let the bears know that we were coming.  12 Km later, on a steadily deteriorating trail (especially after Cottonwood Lake), we arrived, half frozen, at the summit.  After a short celebratory rest and some nuts, we turned around and headed back towards town, with minimal effort

 



Marlene at the summit of the Nelson - Salmo Rail Trail

In the afternoon we headed north to Kaslo.  Just after leaving Nelson, I had to brake extremely hard (throwing everything in the back seat onto the floor), and leaving rubber on the road, as a young woman pulled out right in front of us. Yikes! 

 

Our first stop was Kokanee Creek Provincial Park, where we planned on walking the Canyon trail, but on arrival found the trail closed off with yellow tape, as there were bears in the area.  The bears were there as the Kokanee (fish not beer) were spawning in the channel near the lake.  We watched the fish for a while, and then asked the volunteer on site if we could use the trail and she gave us directions to get onto the trail above the spawning area.  We had a great walk up the trail to a lookout, returning by a circuitous route that took us along the lakefront.

 

We then headed up to Kaslo, just to check it out.  It was nice little town to wander around, and we came across a store selling Island Farms ice cream, my favourite.  To help the island and local economies, we just had to have an ice cream - great ice cream, but poor value for money (half the size of the ice creams at the Log Cabin in Parksville). 

 

Kootenay Lake & mountains from Kaslo

 Fortified with sugar we headed back to Nelson.  About 2 Km north of Nelson, I glanced in the rear-view mirror (Marlene heard a bang, so maybe I did too) and saw that two cars had collided right behind us.  I stopped and we ran back to see if anyone was hurt.  One car was in the middle of the road, blocking both directions, and the driver was lying on the road beside the car.  He said that he was just winded (he had some rib damage from the airbag deployment).  The other vehicle was on its side, but the driver was standing up inside and said that they were all okay. While Marlene helped another woman get the two children out of that vehicle, I called 911 and went through their 20 questions until the ambulances arrived, followed by the fire department and police.  We had to hang around until the ambulances left with all 4 people on board and the police were finished their evaluation, to give a statement, but eventually we were back on the road to Nelson.  Maybe we should stay off the roads tomorrow.

 

A nice woman at the Information Centre in Nelson had given us a brochure on walking trails in the area, so on Tuesday we decided to walk the Millsite trail at Sproule Creek, as it was a comfortable 10 Km walk and close to home (to minimise exposure to the local drivers).  The first 4 Km up were great, walking along the creek through a forest of evergreens and deciduous trees.  But the bridge at the 4 Km point was broken and this seemed to put people off going any further.  Not to be beaten, we clambered over the broken bridge and fought our way through the largely overgrown trail up to the old mill site.  The sun disappears very early from the valley bottoms and by 4 pm there was a definite chill in the air as we headed back down the trail. Next time I will take a sweater.

 

Bridge weight limit - 1/2 a Jim

 

We have certainly have had no difficulty filling our first three days here, and with warm sunny days forecast for the rest of the week, I am sure that we will see more of the great outdoors around Nelson.

On the Road Again - Delta to Nelson, BC (2016-09-09)



We had thought of taking a road trip in September, heading east to Saskatoon via the northern highway 5 and then returning via the southern highway 3, perhaps doing some camping along the way.  But then the weather turned cool and wet at the beginning of September, and as Marlene gets antsy in the car after 2 hours, we decided to head to Nelson, BC, which is only 7 hours from Vancouver.  We will perhaps hit Saskatoon in November, weather permitting.

 

On Friday morning, after spending a few days with our grandchildren in Delta, we hit the road to Osoyoos, which is about halfway to Nelson, and a logical place to break the journey.

 

We broke the journey with a lunch stop at Coquihala Canyon Provincial Park, just outside of Hope.  I had read online about a trail in the park that takes you through 4 tunnels on an old railway bed, and wanted to investigate further.  This rail line was part of the Kettle Valley Railway, built in the early 1900s and abandoned in the 1950s.  The trail is very flat, and only 2 km each way, so a nice break from the car, but not too strenuous.  The tunnels are all short, so we did not need flashlights (although we had them with us), and between 3 of the tunnels you cross bridges which span the river flowing down the Coquihalla Canyon, providing some great views.  A little beyond the tunnels we reached an intersection with the Hope - Nicola Valley Trail, and this provided a 3 km alternative route back to the parking lot.  Marlene of course chose the longer route back, and we trudged up 800 feet to go over the hill that the tunnels took us through so effortlessly.  But we agreed that it was worth the extra effort. 

 

Othello Tunnels - Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park

 

Our motel in Osoyoos was clean and comfortable, and we walked into town to pick up food supplies for dinner, which gave us an opportunity to see some of the town.  While loading the car the next morning, the car started rocking and I could see the motel windows moving.  The rocking went on for about 30 seconds, and we later learned that it was a magnitude 4.2 earthquake, centred East of Oliver, which is just north of Osoyoos.  I hope this was not an omen for the rest of the trip.

 

Osoyoos from lockout on Highway 3

 Lunch was a picnic at Nancy Green Provincial Park, followed by a 1 hour walk around the lake.  I asked Marlene "who the heck was Nancy Greene?" and she responded that all Canadians know about Nancy Greene, our famous olympic skier.  My excuse is that it was before my time as a Canadian.

  

Picnic lunch at Nancy Greene Provincial Park

 

We noticed that there are lots of provincial parks along highway 3, and they were not very busy, but probably a little cool for us fair-weather campers.

 

Our accommodation in Nelson is a suite on an organic farm about 10 minutes west of town (BioBio Suite).  Our hosts are a Swiss carpenter, his Russian wife, their two sons and two Burmese mountain dogs, and they are self-sufficient on their 5 acre property.  In addition to vegetables, they grow berries and tree fruit, and keep a couple of dairy cows.  They gave us a tour of the property and were happy to share their knowledge of organic farming.  The suite itself is beautiful (and inexpensive), and we know that we will enjoy our seven nights here.