Western Dreamz TripLog
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Saturday July 10, 2004
And everything was still there when we got up (fooled you). So here's the rundown on Kelowna. It's basically the BC version of Wasaga Beach. Very touristy and clique-y. Very rich in parts (mostly tourists) and dumpy in other parts. The weather there is supposed to be amazing, but we really onlysaw "mostly cloudy" until today. So to sum up, I would not want to live there despite it being all the rage according to people who don't live there. Today we woke up to sunny skies, so we packed up and hit the beach immediately. THey do have a decent beach that wasn't too crowded (though it was still before noon so I'm sure everyone was still sleeping off their alcohol from Friday night at Wakefest. Since Rocky and I are not so good at sitting still, we lasted ab out 40 minutes there before taking off. Today's drive was great. We crossed Lower Arrow Lake on a ferry (very cool) on our way to Nakusp. We decided to head to Nakusp because (According to Rachel) it is a quiet spot which we figured would not be too hectic on weekends. The campsite we chose was actually quite full, but it was nice nonetheless. McDonald Creek Provincial Park is on the coast of Lower Arrow Lake and has a couple kilometres of sandy beach. Since it was early, we paid for our site and left a tarp there to claim it, and then hit up the Nakusp tourism office in search of hot springs and bike trails. Nakusp probably offered the most helpful tourism office yet. Though small, they had plenty of information and photocopied driving directions and maps for both the trails and the springs. Our priority here was springs, so we went for those first. What we did NOT want was a pay-for-use swimming pool with chlorinated spring water. Luckily, the lady at the tourist office understood this and sent us to a great place out in the woods. We drove 25 km out of town, then another 11km on a rocky logging road in search of a steep trail into the woods. We found it along with a family of three sitting at the top of the trail. They had tried to drive their VW bus down the steep sideroad (I guess it was more than a trail) and gotten it stuck (typical hippies [hehehe]). THey had sent a logging guy off with his "satcom" (satellite phone) to call "BCAA" (CAA) for them. We wished them luck and trekked off down the path. One wrong turn took us down into a deep ravine to a river that was quite the opposite of hot. Back up that trail (in my flip-flops I might add) and along the sideroad some more and we found the REAL trail. We hiked down the side of the ravine again, and this time ran into the real deal. A rickety houthouse and some basins built up by hikers. The basins were fed with hoses jammed into the springs coming out of the rocks, and were basically built from wood with a plastic lining. Luckily we kept trakking down the trail because right along the riverbed are the good pools. People had built up pools surrounded by rocks, fed with hoses and/or directly from the springs coming out of the rock along the shore. The water was hot enough to burn, which was mind blowing. It bubbled right out of the cracks in the rocks, steaming hot. The pools were designed such that river water would flow into the spring to cool it off. You still had to constantly stir the water to keep it at a tolerable temperature. THe only downside was the naked french couple with their kids. THough they were very friendly, they were also very naked and kinda... disturbing. Luckily their teenaged kids kept their clothes on. We did meet a nice couple from Vancouver who had already checked out another spring guarded nby a hippie in a school bus (another story) and who kept their bathing suits on. After about an hour there, we hiked back out to find the family still waiting a tow. We told them we'd bmake another call for them and headed for town. In case you are wondering, we passed the tow truck near the end of the logging road so you can stop worrying about the family. Oh another thing to mention is that you can camp for free just above the hot springs. Very cool.
So you might think this day is over but it's not. We went back to the campsite and were setting up (and eating) in the dark when a guy dropped in from a few sites over after seeing our Ontario plates. It turns out he was from Niagara, and was living in Kelowna. He (Gavin) and his girlfriend (Crystal) were getting away from Kelowna for the weekend. We stopped in at their fire and drank a bunch of their beer (they were very generous) and chatted through the rain and clear skies and rain again. It turns out they both went to the same school in Lindsay but did not know each other. Then they ended up both moving to the Yukon, where they met again and got together (in the boss' office nudge nudge wink wink) while working at the same environmental comp[any. It turned out to be a great evening, and we now have another Kelowna connection in case we go back through there.
Sunday July 11, 2004
Today the rain was coming and going as usual, but it was not too bad weather-wise. We drove back North to Revelstoke, which involved another ferry run which was a bit longer than Saturday's. Just outside of Revelstoke we stopped at the cross-country ski trails for some biking. Taking the Quarry Trail, we ended up on a really great woodsy section with a slight down grade.. perfect biking. It turned quickly to a tough up and down section, however, and we got totally schooled by wet roots the entire time. It was still a good time though (just a little bit too much walking for our taste). Afterwards we went a little North to Martha's Creek Provincial Park, which was a funny little campground with paved driveways and very clean, groomed sites. Along the way we passed the Revelstoke dam which was interesting. FOr the first time in a while we got to the site with ample daylight for eating, and time for a decent campfire.
Monday July 12, 2004
Our first stop today was the bike shop in Revelstoke where we got directions to the trails at the ski hill which are supposed to be amazing. I say "supposed to be" because we never actually rode them. The hill was amazingly dumpy in terms of services.. a couple of ugly build-it-yourself buildings and one lift. Unfortunately for our legs, the road to the bottom of the hill was barracaded near the bottom, so we had to park and ride about 5km before we were even at the bottom of the skihill. We then proceeded to follow the directions we were given, which included a zig-zag climb that went off of the hand-drawn map. So we walked up and up and up and up until we were at the TOP OF THE SKILIFT. We were going too slow to even register speed or distance on the speedometer. Then, the road kept going, so we kept following it until we decided that there was no way we could continue. We could barely stand. I forgot to mention it was blistering hot and sunny (finally!) which did not help with our mountain climbing stamina. So we rode back down the upper part of the road to the top of the lift, and picked out a trailhead from there. It was the worst downhill trail we'd seen yet. Not only was it unrideable for us, but it was eroded and rutty and rocky, and just plain evil. At one point i was dragging my bike down the hill in anger. So we cursed the hill for giving us NOTHING for our hour long climb, and rode back to the car (down the 5km on loose unfun gravel) and drove back to town. At this point ROcky went back to the shop to buy a new tire, and was promptly laughed at for going way to far up the mountain, and taking the old downhill course back... a course that hadn't been used in years. So, cursing Revelstoke, we left for Golden. Tomorrow: Rafting!
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