Well, it’s a rare, snowy Vancouver New Year and I am finally buckling down to write some posts about my wonderful summer 2021 road trip through southern B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan. I hit the road early on the morning of June 16th, the day after the Covid travel restrictions in B.C. were lifted. After a lovely two-hour visit with my friend Anna in Hope, I was very lucky to have beautiful Highway 3 almost all to myself. Free and easy, here we go!
Driving through Manning Park to Princeton and on to Osoyoos is always a pleasure and for the first time in my Highlander I had some CDs along with me. Paul Simon’s “Graceland” proved to be excellent driving and singing music as I cruised at speed up, down, and around mountains and alongside two of my favourite rivers, the fast-flowing Skagit and the sparkling Similkameen.
In Osoyoos, I stopped for a walk at one of my favourite places – the dikes of the Okanagan River at Road 22. On this visit, I walked northwards on the western dike.
It was late afternoon, and the air was warm and still, so the birds were not very active. Nevertheless, I was greeted almost right away by two well-remembered friends, a cedar waxwing and an eastern king bird.
And of course the tall grasses and colourful wildflowers lining the path were a delight as always.
After my peaceful walk, I drove to Haynes Point Provincial Park – a long and narrow tree-lined spit that reaches east for almost a kilometer across Osoyoos Lake. At the day use area, I had a lovely north-facing view of the lake while I cooked and ate my dinner. Later, I set up my camp chair on the southern beach, midway along the spit, to read and write for a while into the evening. This was my glorious view looking south over Osoyoos Lake.
The campsite at Haynes Point was full (as expected) and I had already resolved to camp “stealth” in town in order to get over my fear of doing so. As darkness started to fall, I headed into town, drove to a hotel that I am familiar with, and then backed into one of the spaces in its crowded parking lot. I set up my privacy window covers and curtain and then organized everything I would need for the night. It was still a little early for sleep so I visited the hotel lobby with my ipad to do email and some googling to review details of the road ahead on the morrow. What a great first day I had!
I slept well and without incident, rose early the next morning, and enjoyed a simple breakfast while sitting on the bench in the photo below, overlooking another glorious view of Osoyoos Lake. Bonus, I saw a beaver swimming close to shore!
What a great day to travel! So, off I drove east on Highway 3 but I didn’t get very far before stopping to photograph the curving sweep of the road heading up Anarchist Mountain, and then from the top a beautiful view looking down onto Osoyoos and the south Okanagan valley.
I made a brief stop in Rock Creek to stretch my legs and I took a few photos of this tiny and charming small town.
From Rock Creek, I greatly enjoyed the beautiful drive through the Kettle Valley. Soon, Highway 3 said goodbye to the Kettle River at the neat and tidy town of Midway and then headed northeast through Boundary country. My next stop was in the historic mining town of Greenwood, the “smallest incorporated city in Canada.” Copper mined in the surrounding hills was smelted at Greenwood in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s but when the ore was exhausted the smelter closed and this once thriving town of 3000 almost became a ghost town. The town has seen a resurgence in recent years, and many of its more than sixty heritage buildings have been beautifully restored. Unfortunately, the town was very quiet and seemed a little depressed when I visited, likely due to the absence of tourist traffic because of Covid.
I started my visit to Greenwood with a walk along a short section of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail that parallels Boundary Creek. It’s difficult to see in the picture below (right), but great dark heaps of slag bordered the creek for some distance.
Next, I walked along the main street (which is Highway 3), lined with beautiful and historic buildings. In the photo below, the Windsor Hotel (center, blue windows) was built in 1896 and houses the longest operating pub in B.C.. To its right, the Pacific Hotel was built and rebuilt twice due to fires, first in 1899 and again in 1907. During the second world war, the hotel became a designated Internment Building and housed over 200 interned Japanese Canadians.
Below are several more scenes from Greenwood’s main street. If I lived here, I would join the Kettle River Art Club and the Women’s Institute, and I might occasionally participate in the Legion’s Saturday Meat Draw!
After touring the few short blocks of the main street, I walked uphill and past the historic fire hall, post office, city hall, and several beautifully restored homes.
One street higher up I reached the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic church, built in 1897 as “a mission by Fr. Palmer”, and right beside the church was an old beauty of a home, empty and not yet restored but in fine shape, with a large grassy yard and backed by a forested hillside. I sat on its front porch steps for awhile, enjoying the peaceful morning and the mesmerizing sound of crickets, and I imagined that it was mine. It would be a fine house to restore to its former glory.
I carried on through Boundary Country and made a short stop in Grand Forks. Before leaving home, I had read that Grand Forks recently had high case counts of Covid so I avoided a stop in the historic downtown but I visited the large riverside park and municipal campground for a pleasant walk in the shade of huge cottonwoods. Also, I had wanted to see why the town was named “Grand Forks” so I found my way to a small, unnamed pocket park where the Granby River (on the left) and the Kettle River (on the right) meet. I stood right on the edge of the sandy point that was being inexorably eroded on both sides. There was such a powerful feeling of movement, energy, impermanence, and change here!
It was time for me to keep on moving as well so I returned to my Highlander but as I was leaving town I just had to stop and take a photo of this very groovy VW van. 🙂
After leaving Grand Forks and later Christina Lake, Highway 3 traversed the forested slopes of the Rossland Range, rising to an elevation of 1535 meters at Bonanza Pass. It was wonderful driving, and I was compelled to stop yet again when I saw this view of Nancy Greene Lake with Old Glory Mountain off in the distance. I wish that I had known of the five kilometer trail that loops around this beautiful lake.
I continued eastwards on Highway 3 which soon made its descent into Castlegar and then rose up again steeply to a viewpoint with views back down to Castlegar and the mighty Columbia River. Later, the road followed the gorgeous, braided, and fast-flowing Salmo River for a while before it climbed up to the Kootenay Pass summit at an elevation of 1774 meters.
My next planned stop was the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area which is comprised of 17,000 acres of protected wetland habitat for the benefit of resident and migrating water fowl and other wildlife. Here there are many kilometers of trails, bird-viewing towers, and a small but excellent nature center. Brent and I had visited this nature reserve about 30 years ago and had taken a guided canoe ride through narrow water channels lined with reeds and cattails to view the abundant wildlife. It had been a most enjoyable and memorable experience (we had even sighted a muskrat!), and so I was very excited to visit this very special place again.
Bright yellow flag iris were beautiful to see and photograph, but they are an invasive species and work is underway to try and remove them from the reserve.
You can still book a guided canoe ride through the wetland, and when I saw the canoes I dearly wished that my family was here to join me on this warm and beautiful afternoon.
Heading into Creston, I stopped to take this photo of the Kootenay River. The river and the wide valley here are stunning!
In Creston, I parked beside the art deco inspired Tivoli Theatre (1938), treated myself to a late lunch/early dinner in a hipster cafe, and then spent some time relaxing under a shady tree in the town’s Rotary Park while I made a phone call home.
Continuing on my journey, I stopped in at Yahk Provincial Park campground and decided to stay there for the night. Conveniently close to the highway, my site was just a minute’s walk from the pretty sight and lovely sounds of the Moyie River.
I read in camp until dusk, and then returned to the river to watch as bats started their evening flights, swirling and twirling at speed above the tumbling water. What a wonderful way to end a second magnificent day heading east on Highway 3!
Nice to read on a miserable day, weatherwise!