From Penticton to Trail

 On the Road

Penticton to Trail (click on the map to enlarge)

Dianne and I bid farewell to Jon and his friend Chris and hit the road a little after breakfast. I was looking forward to showing her my cycling route down the east side of Skaha Lake and on to Oliver Ranch Road before we joined Highway 97, which would take us south to Osoyoos before we turned east on BC Highway 3, more affectionately known as the Crow's Nest Highway. There were lots and lots of vineyards all the way through to Osoyoos, where we stopped for a coffee and a bit of fresh air before resuming our journey. 

Sorry I don't have any photos: you'll just have to take my word for it that the scenery right through to Trail was beautiful. Most of the first half of the journey was through farming and then ranching country, with a string of lakes along the Okanagan Valley.

 Most of the second half of the journey found us wending our way mostly through forested terrain, although there was also a fair bit of farmland either side of the town of Grand Forks . This small town originally was established to exploit nearby copper deposits but became well know throughout Canada as one of the places where  Doukhobor refugees settled after fleeing persecution in Russia, coming to Canada in four waves of migration in the early 20th century. 

A Short Stop in Greenwood

Greenwood

Apparently Greenwood is the smallest incorporated town in Canada. We've been through here a number of times before and always like to stop, but blink and you'll miss it. However, it's got a great looking "saloon" and some lovely old historic buildings. Like almost all of the small towns along the Crow's Nest Highway the town owes its existence to the mining industry. Once again - like in Grand Forks - it was the presence of copper that drew people to the area. 

As we'd stopped in Grand Forks for a feed we didn't go into the saloon but did stop at the coffee shop and "micro" bakery on the way into town for refreshments. There are a few little. artefacts surrounding the bakery and as a bit of a counterpoint to "Greenwood" the place calls itself "Deadwood Junction":

The baked goods were so appealing I had to apply considerable self-restraint

They don't just bake tiny things

Was this a real stagecoach I wonder?

If this was a "jail" then I reckon the desperados kept here would have been happy for the lodging

Back in the car the rest of the journey was quite uneventful, apart from a short but relatively heavy downpour as we were descending Strawberry Pass, not far from the end of our journey. There was quite a lot of snow laying around at the top of the pass and it was fairly cool so I felt for the cycle tourist we'd passed on the way up the pass. With luck he might have just missed it if it was confined to the southern side of the pass. One thing I'd say about today's drive though: it was quite reminiscent of some of the country Dianne and I cycled through in Austria, when we were travelling in the mountains following rivers up and down valleys and passes. Really quite lovely country to travel through.

Trail: Home of the Famous Smoke Eaters!

Any red-blooded Canadian male of my generation would have some inkling of the Smoke Eaters: an amateur hockey team that twice (!) won the World Hockey Championships. That's quite a feat for a team in a town as tiny as Trail, whose population numbers less that 8,000 souls. Trail is another town in southern BC that owes its livelihood to the mining industry. It is the home to one of the largest lead and zinc smelters in the world, and the smelter certainly dominates the town - perched as it is on a shelf overlooking the city centre. 

When we arrived at our motel - just a little early - it wasn't quite ready so we went to the nearest supermarket to do a bit of shopping. I was delighted when I came out of the store to see a gorgeous MG convertible sitting in the parking lot ...

Just look at that!

Wheel detail

You don't see mirrors like this any more

While I was taking my photos the owner came out and we had a bit of a chat. He told me that he'd owned the car since 1977, and just about everything on it was original - apart from the dashboard and a few other bits and pieces. It was my lucky day as he told me he'd last had it out of the garage in October of 2018! The car had spent most of its life in Victoria and this guy would have bought it the year after I left the University of Victoria to go off wandering around the world never to return. That made me think a bit.

A Ride to Castlegar

Trail to Castlegar and back

When planning this trip, our main reason for stopping in Trail was that it is a good driving distance from Penticton, and we thought it might be a good place to have a ride. The one choice that was most appealing was to head north to the town of Castlegar, because that route didn't involve a massive climb just to get out of town. I thought it would be a good route for Dianne and I to ride together, especially as the relay nature of the way our trip was structured didn't allow for much cycling together. 

With Di out of action I had to do the ride on my own. I thought it would be more interesting to do a bit of a loop at the top end rather than just a simple out and back; also, that would give me a bit more time and distance on the bike. (😁)

Before setting off the next day, I thought I'd try to track down a great friend from UVIC days, a guy by the name of Bob Rafter who was a proud ex citizen of Castlegar. I'd almost given up locating him after quite a lot of fruitless searching but finally found a phone number for a "Robert Rafter" in Penticton - where of course Dianne and I had just left! After a couple of tries calling, Bob answered the phone and we had a great chat about the water under the bridge over the past 45 or so years. That set me up nicely for my ride the next day. Castlegar sits at the confluence of the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers and I was keen to snatch some views of both rivers. Here are a few photos of the journey ...

A view of the Columbia on my way north to Castlegar

Crossing the Kootenay River east of Castlegar 
(note the old railway bridge and the train on its way under the bridge I'm on, which was undergoing repairs on the day that I crossed it)

Crossing the Columbia River just north of Castlegar

Typical views along the road when not riding alongside the river

A cheeking selfie back at the motel, confirming
another ride in Canada for the Southern Pedals Strava Cycling Club

A Delightful, Damp Stroll Along the Columbia River

I'd deliberately left early for my ride so that Dianne and I could have lunch together in town and then have a stroll somewhere. The kebab place we thought we'd like to visit was packed and it looked like being a long time before we'd get something to eat and Di was famished. Lucky for us. She'd spotted some umbrellas close to the river and we wandered over to the Bridge View Cafe which was a brilliant find. Super friendly service and no-nonsense but delicious food served in appropriate portions. Perfect. It set us up just nicely for a walk along - and across - the river in light rain, which was actually quite delicious.

Enjoying light rain and balmy temperatures

A significant amount of urban renewal has occurred in Trail, especially alongside the river as the town's history is intimately connected with this mighty waterway ...

Unfortunately this proud old building, although structurally sound and only twenty or thirty metres from the river's edge is boarded up and in significant need of repairs. It would make a great space for public housing I reckon.

On the other hand, this cottage is well maintained and occupied ...

In the year 2017 Canada marked its 150th anniversary as a nation. The following photos from the riverside park that was created in Trail to commemorate the anniversary ...

The most significant aspect of the project was the pedestrian and cycling bridge that was built to link in a more intimate way the parts of the city on either side of the river ...

Worth reading: click on the image

It's a magnificent and quite inspired structure. At least that's what I think ...

The pedestrian/cyclist bridge that spans the Columbia River at Trail

Further downstream is the original highway bridge, built in 1911 ...

The original highway bridge crossing the Columbia River at Trail

Having been replaced with a newer bridge upstream, this bridge is not open to traffic of any sort ...

I bet youngsters sometimes climb the gate as a bit of a dare on dark nights ...

I thought it would be nice to get closer to the river to feel its energy so I scrambled down the bank and shot this short video ...

Back up on the walkway along the river I took this photo of the smelter looming above the town, but also giving it life ...

The Trail Lead and Zinc Smelter

Walking further and detouring slightly we came across this brilliant mural depicting flooding that has affected trail over the years ...

Back on the river's edge I thought it only appropriate to take a picture of the "new" bridge, which was constructed in 1961 ...

At the northern end of our walk we spotted this one lonely mural acknowledging the pre settlement habitation of the area by indigenous peoples ...

The walk was such I delight that I made a little Relive video. If you want to see exactly where the photos were taken and in what sequence you can click here.

Although this particular walk happened more or less by accident it was the perfect way end our short sojourn in Trail, but I want to finish this post with a short note on ...

Craft Beer!

I've had plenty of chance - and help along the way - to sample a variety of craft beers here in BC. And I must say, the boutique brewing industry is thriving in this part of the world. And I reckon that, for whatever reason, it has its ultimate express out on the coast. It's there that seems to be doing the most interesting and varied brewing ~ and also producing the best beer cans. Here's a short sample ...

Blacksmith Brown Ale from the Wheelhouse Brewery in  Prince Rupert

From the southern end of Coastal B.C. comes Bowen Island Brewery's West Coast Lager ...

Bowen Island Brewing's West Coast Lager

...  and at the head of Howe Sound, in the town of Squamish is Backcountry Brewing, the makers of this brilliant IPA ...

Widowmaker by Backcountry Brewing

No doubt there will be plenty of opportunity over the next couple of weeks for folks in the interior to dissuade me of my embryonic concept of the relative merits of Coast vs Interior when it comes to craft beers. I'll see what I can find out and report back. 😉