Trail to Radium

 

First Stop: Creston

Some people might say there's not a lot between Trail and Creston but I'm not one of them. There are a couple of small settlements, the village of Salmo (population ~ 1,150) a lot of trees, another beautiful river (also called Salmo), Staghorn Creek which tumbles down alongside the Crowsnest Highway as you climb up towards Kootenay Pass (elevation 1,775 metres). There was still plenty of snow as we climbed up towards the pass and it was almost snowing as we reached the top. 

Not my photo, but a good representation of the scenery on the way up to the pass

For the interests of cyclists following this blog, according to RideWithGPS the climb to the pass is 24.3 kms long, rising 1,171 metres at an average gradient of 4.9%. And the reward? A 34.9 kilometre descent of 1,295 metres at an average gradient of -3.4%. Sounds brilliant and the ride down in the car sure made me wish I was on my bike!

The topography changed completely once we got down of the that hill and arrived in the rich farmland of the valley bottom below. It was incredibly lush alongside this section of the Kootenay River: a very flat valley bottom filled with glacial silt accumulated over tens of thousands of years.

Kootenay Lake at 104 kms long fills a significant part of the valley floor to the north.

Kootenay Lake

As one can imagine, the soil surrounding the lake is very fertile and I think this must be the asparagus capital of Canada. Two supermarkets I visited in Creston were selling huge bunches of wonderfully fresh and delicious-looking asparagus for only a few dollars. Naturally I bought a bunch and made a salad with smoked salmon, pine nuts and feta cheese for our dinner that night. Sutcliffe farms claims to be the largest asparagus producer in British Columbia which isn't a surprise given the environment they have to work with. Here's a short video showing their operation in full swing ...

A Little Detour

Sirdar Station Pub

We thought it might be interesting to explore a little way up the valley to the north and have some lunch before making our way into Creston for the night. The Sirdar Station Pub sounded intriguing as it was totally derelict before the current owner bought it and spent two full years gutting it and totally refurbishing it. The train line runs along the valley between the road and the lake, and I guess there must have been a station here at Sirdar. It was a successful excursion, with the locals friendly, food good and scenery on the drive up and back very pleasant.

Riding and Walking in Creston

Short but sweet

Our Morning's Exercise

Our drive the next morning would only be short so I decided to go for a quick ride while Dianne had a walk. It was quite overcast and drizzled lightly on me as I got up into the hills on the northeastern part of the ride but it was very quiet on the roads. 

There were a few turkeys wandering around, including this one ...

Turkey patrol

... but the highlight of my ride was coming across six White-tailed Deer. No chance to get a photo as they weren't hanging around, but I have a beautiful image burnt into my memory that will last a long time.

There were a number of properties up there under the range with horses, including this one ...

While I was close to the border of the DisUnited States of America I had no interest in going across, but if you look closely at the map above you can see that I made the short detour to have a stickybeak ...

From there it was back towards Creston, crossing the Goat River - which was running pretty high - a little ways before town ...

... and on the edge of town I passed an old church and a couple of decommissioned grain elevators ...

Di said she had a very enjoyable walk around the orchards near our accommodation and gave me a few photos to include in the blog. Clearly she had the better of the weather, not having ventured close to the range of hills to the east like I had ...

Our morning exercise complete, we packed up, thanked our hostess at the Air B'nB for her hospitality and hit the road for the short drive to Cranbrook.

On to Cranbrook

In contrast to the previous day's drive, the journey to Cranbrook was relatively flat, but did gain 300 metres in elevation, taking us from about 600 metres above sea level to just over 900 metres above sea level as we travelled northeast and drew nearer to the Rockies. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it was another beautiful drive especially as we were alongside the gorgeous Moyie River for much of the route. There were few towns along the way and it was a relatively quiet drive highlighted by Moyie Lake, another large expanse of water with lots of holiday accommodation and camping along its shores. 

A Fondo in the East Kootenays

We had two nights in Cranbrook, and I took the opportunity to have a slightly longer ride which took me past the historic town of Fort Steele, north along the Columbia River, up to the charming town of Kimberley - which is the site of what was the world's largest lead-zinc mine from 1917 to 2001 - and then back to Cranbrook. Now a popular venue for mountain biking, it is also the home of Kimberley Ski Resort, which boasts that it enjoys some of the sunniest conditions of any ski resort around. Some images from the ride ...

Hmm. This guy looks familiar

As I approached the rider above I thought he had a familiar look about him. We'd been leapfrogging a cyclist since we'd left Trail, beeping and giving a wave as we passed, and this guy in his kit and with his bike and panniers looked familiar. I pulled up alongside and started chatting. Turned out I was right: he asked if we were the folks in the black car with the bikes on top.

Rance from Pullman, Washington on his way to Jasper, Alberta

A little further along the road I came past this sign ...

... and then these guys ...

... who were manning the turnaround point for the Wasa Triathlon. As I continued towards Wasa a woman wearing Australian national kit steamed past me, then a guy wearing Canadian national kit. I discovered in a coffee shop back in Cranbrook the next morning that there the race was a qualifier for more prestigious events and that there had been a number of world class athletes competing.

During the ride I crossed the Columbia River twice, once as I was riding with Rance, and then again north of Wasa after making the turn towards Kimberley. This is the second crossing ...

Columbia River just north of Wasa

The road towards Kimberley was pretty quiet ...

After a steady climb I neared the town and the Kimberley Alpine Resort which sits just above the town became clearer .... 

I wandered around town a bit looking for a coffee shop for a jolt of caffeine and a quick bite. In my meanderings I happened upon this lovely pedestrian mall in the centre of town ...

Once refuelled I headed off under rapidly darkening skies. It started raining lightly just as I was leaving town, and then started absolutely bucketing down. It was so hard I had to stop briefly because it was impossible to see, and I was riding downhill at some speed. Fortunately the downpour didn't last long and I was back on dry roads. The rest of the ride down into Kimberley was relatively uneventful. Here's what my route looked like ...

Cranbrook loop

Dianne had a short walk but spent most of the day resting, which was a good plan. Here she is sitting under the main feature of the lobby of our hotel ...

Di and moose

The picture above gives some idea of the size an adult male moose can be but here is another image just of the moose itself ...

Pretty darn big, eh!

Just to put things in perspective, according to Wikipedia the largest know moose was one shot at the Yukon River in Alaska. It measured 2.33 metres high at the shoulder and weighed in at 820 kilograms.

As we were getting ready to leave Cranbrook for Radium this couple from Ontario emerged from their room equipped for their day ahead ...

Rick Swinson and Laura McDiarmid

We'd passed Rick and Laura on the road the day we arrived in Cranbrook. They too were having a full day there before heading off to Fernie. Like all bona-fide Trans-Canada cyclists they had started in Victoria at the extreme western end of Highway #1 and were on their way to St Johns, Newfoundland, the extreme eastern end of the highway. Unlike most of the cyclists they'd chose the Crowsnest Highway to traverse BC so they wouldn't have as much relentless traffic. Good choice I reckon.

Cranbrook to Radium

There's not a lot to say about our trip north from Cranbook to Radium, except that it followed the Columbia River north along the early part of its sinuous journey to the sea at Portland, Oregon. It would have been quite spectacular had it not been heavily overcast with periods of rain. With the Purcell mountains to the west and the Rockies to the east there's a lot to look at in fine weather.  Given that is the case, I thought an image of our route showing the topography of the area might be worth including ...

The Columbia River wending its way north between the Purcells and the Rockies

We sure are in the mountains now, and there will be more about that in the next blog post!