RADIUM HOT SPRINGS

Columbia River Wetlands about 5 miles south of Radium Hot springs looking west toward the Purcell Mountains.

We have just returned from a two week visit to SE British Columbia.  Having heard how congested the Banff area was in the summer, we had decided to stay on the western side of the Rockies in the town of Radium Hot Springs.  
It was an easy, but long trip north from Coeur d'Alene and the border crossing took all of 30 seconds.  Nothing like our experience crossing into Vancouver.  The drive up to Radium was through a long narrow valley which encompasses the headwaters of the Columbia River.  Over 80 rivers feed into the Columbia creating a large wetlands with marshes of horsetails and cattails, streams crisscrossing each other, ponds, flowing rivers, and lakes.  The area is not inhabited due to the seasonal flooding so it provides a wonderful sanctuary for all kinds of waterfowl, hawks, wolves, black bear, and smaller animals.  

Radium Valley Vacation Resort

We stayed in the Radium Valley Vacation Resort and although it was convenient to the town, the hot springs, and the drive over to Banff, we would not stay there again because of the nature of the park.  What we did not know until we got there was that it was an RCI park which caters to family camping and there were children everywhere, including in our site, babies crying at midnight, babies in diapers in the hot tub and swimming pool of the resort, and there were fines for not obeying the rules, which were numerous.  

Radium Hot Springs, Kootenay National Park

The hot springs are in Kootenay National Park about 4 miles from Radium.  There is a hot pool and a cooler pool, although it was still warm enough.  It was reasonably priced because it was run by the national park, so we were able to drive over several times during our visit to sit and soak at the end of the day.  Although the pool itself is similar to a regular pool, the surroundings are steep cliffs with the occasional bighorn sheep or deer walking across up above the pools. 

Fairmont Hot Springs

We also drove south back down to Fairmont Hot Springs one day, about a 30 minute drive, to try their pools.  It was similar to Radium in that there was a hot pool and a cool pool, but the price was double that of Radium.  What was really great however, was that they had a huge rv park attached to the resort back in the pine trees.  So those folks who were staying at the rv park got a special rate and a bracelet to wear which allowed them to enter the pools as many times as they wanted.  After a long soak in their pool we had been tipped off to a good place for lunch called "From Scratch".  One of the best meals we have had on the road in a while.  I had a roast chicken with grilled veggies and Allan had the ribs.  I know it sounds ordinary but the spices and sauces that accompanied each dish were extraordinary.  Sorry, no photos, I know that many of our readers seem to crave photos of our best meals, but we were so hungry after our soak, we just dug in and scraped the plate before we remembered about taking photos. 

Bighorn Sheep in downtown Radium

One thing that really worked out well for us was the location of where we were staying.  Hwy 93 turned east into Kootenay National Park right in the center of Radium.  It was an easy hour and fifteen minutes up to Hwy 1 which is the east/west interstate that goes from Vancouver over to Alberta, Canada.  From that intersection, we could go south about 20 minutes to Banff or north 20 minutes to Lake Louise.  Since the first three days of our visit was rainy, we took the drive to see the town of Banff.  It was mostly hotels, tourist stores, and restaurants.  The only thing we purchased was a jacket for me, mostly because it was on sale from $100 to $40 and $40 Canadian dollars are equivalent to about $32 US dollars and it was a great jacket which, I might modestly say, looked great on me.  

Entrance to Kootenay National Park

We did have a really good lunch in an Irish pub.  What was really interesting for me when I looked at the menu was to see a selection entitled "bacon butty".  Now for many of you who know me really well, you know that I am a foreign mystery buff and have read mysteries in Africa, Spain, Brazil, Germany, Russia, Israel, Canada, and Iceland to name a few.  But I also read a lot of British mysteries and the Inspector is always telling someone to go down to the caff and get him (or her) a bacon butty.  Well there is never an explanation of what that is exactly.  Obviously it is some kind of sandwich, and it has bacon, but other than that I have been clueless.  So I asked the waitress in the Irish pub, what is a bacon butty?  And it is two pieces of white bread, buttered, with bacon in between.  So now you all know too.  Just in case you are ever asked.  

Lake Louise

I have saved the best part of our trip for last.  The visit to Lake Louise was the highlight of our visit.  We had to wait for a sunny day, and we had to leave very early in the morning, as we had been warned that if we did not get there before nine a.m. we would not be able to park very close.  We also had to take the dogs with us, which we usually don't do, but this was going to be a full day.  As we were pulling in off of the highway around 8:30 a.m. we were in a long procession of vehicles all doing the same thing.  We did get a parking spot near the hotel, but when Allan went back to the truck one half hour later to drop off our jackets, the parking lot was already full.   

Lake Louise water tastes good.

We took the walk along the north side of the lake which is the same trail that takes everyone to the teahouses.  We did not want to go that far but did walk over 4 miles, out and back.  The dogs were troopers and had a great time getting admiration from everyone and sniffing noses with other dogs and even going into the water when they wanted a drink.  

Looking back towards the Hotel

We made it all the way to the very end of the lake where water was dripping down from the glacier above.  The minerals from the rocks provide the color of the lake and there was plenty of sediment all around, they even built a boardwalk to get across some of it for the walkers.  We were really glad we saved the best for last.  If we do come back this way, I think we will brave the crowds in Banff and stay at the rv park there so that we can do more exploring in this area.  

BACK TO BC

Tomorrow we are leaving Coeur d'Alene early in the a.m. and are heading north to Radium Hot Springs in British Columbia.  It will be a long drive for us plus the added time of crossing the border.  

I will be turning off my phone for two weeks.  If anyone needs to get in touch with us, please use our email.  We will not be able to receive text messages or phone calls.  We will be returning to the U.S. on August 6th.  

I am hoping that the park in Radium Hot Springs has a wifi in which case we will be able to get our email regularly and I will probably be able to post a blog.  But if we have to rely on wifi at hotspots then there will be no blog entries until we return and I will only be able to email when we have service.  

p.s.  The photos above are the four of us enjoying the hot summer days on the Wenatchee River.   We had very relaxing times in the water on day 1 and day 2.... but on day 3 a three foot snake went right over my foot which was in the water and that was it for me, I was out of there, with the dogs following me.  So Allan called it a day as well.  After working for the forest service and having numerous awful encounters with snakes, usually rattlesnakes, I prefer to avoid them whenever possible.  I don't know what kind of snake was touching my foot, but he did not look nice or friendly.

Signing off for now..... Sharon and Allan, Elsie and Murray 

VANCOUVER REFLECTIONS

Capilano RV Park

We have been off line for the last week because we were visiting Vancouver, British Columbia.  We crossed the border at Blaine, WA and it was about a half hour wait with an abrupt, dare I say hostile, border patrol guard who was a bit in your face with questions about what we were going to do while in Vancouver and how long we were going to stay, but after we were asked the same questions over and over with nary a smile, it became insulting.  

After negotiating the border hurdle, we had smooth sailing to the Capilano RV Resort which is located in West Vancouver, just across the Lions Gate bridge from Stanley Park.  

Capilano River, men lower right corner waiting for a salmon.

The park is located on tribal land and is right on the Capilano river.  It was an easy walk to the mall across the river where we could go to the Whole Foods Market or catch the bus to downtown Vancouver.   We could look down on the river as we crossed a small bridge and see the native men who were sitting on the rocks every day with nets to catch the salmon as they came upstream.  The men were there from early in the morning until about dinner time and placed the salmon in little pools created with the rocks.  By the end of the day, there were about 60 or 70 salmon in the little pools.  Supposedly the natives were allowed to catch salmon for food... but it was a little suspect to see the same guys there every day, drinking beer and smoking dope? which was passed around in a little pipe.  

We had been to Granville Island in 2006 but wanted to return and peruse the public market and visit some of the artisans who have studios on the island.  This time we got to see a public art project by two Brazilian street artists known as Os Gemeos.

Detail photo

 They painted the Ocean Concrete Silos at the concrete plant and the close ups of the art work show show how they achieved the wrinkles in the clothes and other details to make the clothing look just like fabric from a distance.  There are many street performers throughout the district but the big draw is the food. 

 Another day we went by bus to downtown Vancouver and then walked to Gastown where we just browsed some of the shops and had lunch.  But mostly we wanted to visit a used bookstore by the name of MacLeods. 

The place was run by two old guys and they knew where every book was.  

All you had to do was ask for something and they knew right where to find it.  We had been looking in other book stores for a long time to find Winston Churchill's book "The River War".  They had a rare copy for over $300. and then they had a less expensive copy which Allan snapped up right away. 

By the way... if you are in downtown Vancouver, you should make a point of eating lunch at Meat and Bread.

 I had the best Porchetta Sandwich I have ever had in my life and Allan had a Corned Beef Sandwich which was eaten by him at the speed of light.  It is just a walk up and buy a take away lunch but we found a place outside at an office building's patio which worked out great.

One of the places I really wanted to visit was the Vancouver Art Museum, which they call the Vancouver Art Gallery.  

They have over 1000 of Emily Carr's paintings of British Columbia forest lands and I was really looking forward to seeing them up close.  Unfortunately, all they had of her work was some of the tree paintings, no totem poles at all, which she is known for painting. It was really a disappointment but I was happy to see what they did have on view.  

I had no idea that her paintings were so musical and almost spiritual.  Seeing her work in a book does not convey the lightness of her strokes and the mystical nature that she has given to the trees in the forest.  

At the time when she did these paintings, the natives lived almost exclusively on the edge of the forest in order to access the bounty of the sea.  The forest was dark and forbidding and she managed to capture that aspect as well.

These paintings were practically hidden on the 4th floor of the museum and the remaining 3 floors were holding special exhibits.  If you think that I might have taken a photo of a workroom where we had gotten lost, you would be mistaken, this shelving unit with all the junk is the exhibit.  I guess I am just not that enlightened.... because I could look at my own closet at home and see plenty of this kind of art. 
 

One whole floor of the museum was dedicated to this nonsense.
  In addition, there were some other completely terrible ideas of art designed to provoke the viewer.  The tables where Allan is standing have figures cut out of a book entitled "The Last Two Million Years".  

And my personal favorite is the Banana.
We actually paid $15 each to see these exhibits and the exhibit that should have been given some prominence was relegated to the back room, so to speak.  

Large Quarry Garden in Queen Elizabeth Park

On our final day in Vancouver we went to Queen Elizabeth Park which also houses the Bloedel Conservatory.  This was a great finale for our visit as the garden was exquisite with a duplication of the Busch Gardens in Victoria, filling some quarry areas with walks and floral displays.  

Although the day was overcast and sometimes drizzly, it was still great to be out walking and being inside the Bloedel Conservatory was a delight with over a hundred species of birds, all fairly well familiar with humans, so we were able to take oodles of photos close up and personal.  

Of course Allan couldn't resist goofing around with the statuary before we left the park.

I am also happy to report that our border crossing back into the US of A was welcoming and friendly.  We did have to wait in line for about half an hour, but we got a smile on our return.