Crawford Bay Spin

 By Maryanna Gabriel

Whitewater is where people ski in the Kootenay area. The famous Whitewater cookbooks drew me and I thought perhaps a great dining experience might be just the thing, given my skiing days were behind me. Driving in snow is not one of my strengths in life so I white-knuckled it up to the resort. The road was a straight vertical, matched only by my blood pressure. At the first ski lift and turnoff, I wildly rotated and without hesitation madly clutched the steering wheel back down again, praying my tires would navigate the ice. That was the end of that and I have survived to tell the tale. 

"Longest Free Ferry In The World"

Something less alarming, perhaps. My sights were set on a different part of the Kootenies. It meant crossing beautiful Kootenay Lake on a ferry and seeing a mysterious and less accessible area, Crawford Bay. The photos made it look like Hawaii the way the sand seemed to arrange itself around the inlet and I pictured lounging there with a book. "The Osprey" is the "world's longest free ferry", a titillating sensation given the fortune spent living in the Southern Gulf Islands over the years.

I packed a lunch. It was a beautiful day as I travelled on the ferry from sleepy Balfour where everything was closed, to historic Kootenay Bay. Kootenay Bay used to be a thriving enterprise and a major transport point for goods and miners from steamships to rail. But now? What remains is a paved parking lot accompanied by gender neutral washrooms, always a bit disconcerting. So I drove in a vast and remote geography beneath snow-capped mountains and glaciers that did not look at all like they were melting.

View From Crawford Bay

Crawford Bay was not what I thought, inaccessible, reedy looking, lonesome feeling, and everything shut tight. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the winters. Not for me. Exploring further, I came to a town I was curious about called Riondel. With all the natural space, the houses were cheek by jowel and had the feeling of the 1940's with their construction. Bunkhouses housed miners back in the day. Robert Sproule staked claims in Riondel in 1882 which included the Bluebell Mine, but he ended up being hung for murder in 1886 over a claim dispute. Today it is a retirement community with a population of less than 400. 

Riondel, mining town founded in 1882.

So that was that. I managed the drive in the opposite direction to lovely Pilot Bay and then it was time to go. Ferries do not wait. Do people become inured to the beauty, I wondered? 

Breathtaking Kootenay Lake

Picnic In New Denver

 By Maryanna Gabriel

"Where am I going? I don't quite know

Down to the stream where the king-cups grow

Up on the hill where the pine trees blow

Anywhere, anywhere, I don't know."

    - "Spring Morning" by A.A. Milne

Mountain weather is unpredictable and I knew I was having a lucky break with clear blue skies. The day was a gift so I decided to make a run for it. Without really understanding the geography and turned the nose of my Toyota towards the town of New Denver. David and I had been there - I remembered a dinner we ate. The geography, even with maps, is bewildering. What I didn't understand was just how much in the boonies I actually was. The road was a highway, totally clear, but nobody was on it except for a helicopter getting fuelled by a pickup truck. 

I was climbing, past a clear river, with views of glaciers and then beyond still frozen lakes. Three men were ice fishing, and I thought they were taking their chances as winter was melting the snow. I was grateful once again that I was doing this trip out of season, but wondered if my phone would work if I had a flat. More than once I commanded myself to keep my eyes on the road with precipices to one side as the views upwards of the mountains that so beguiled. Stunning glaciers. 

If possible. New Denver seemed sleepier than Kaslo. Like Kaslo, it was once a bustling mining town and many historic buildings still survive. It proved to be a peaceful picnic by the lake as I contemplated the passage of time and how life events have turned out. David has passed away but the people we have loved alway abide, don't they? He loved my hair in braids and was good about my passion for the outdoors; we had that in common. 

Picnic in New Denver. 

A Touch of Shangri La

 By Maryanna Gabriel 

"The present moment is filled with joy and happiness.

If you are attentive, you will see it."
- Thich Nhat Hanh

A sharp intake of breath at my first view of Kaslo. Smitten. The historic buildings with the mountains and lake beyond had me. The hotel room was lovely, overlooked the water, had touches of luxury, and was worth every penny. Downstairs, there was a crackling fire. After sleeping like a lamb, and before more exploration, I visited the Blueberry Bistro and had to try Bao - an avocado deep-fried with panko and coconut, served with a fried egg, arugula and Korean hot sauce on a bun. A deep, earthy coffee accompanied it. Wow.

Later, I walked. At first, the miners came by rowboat. By 1893, Kaslo had a population of 3,000, mostly men, and bustled in its heyday. Silver prices fell, freak windstorms, fire, and flooding beset the town. The SS Moyie, pictured below, later serviced the residents and is now proudly retired. Kaslo has a music festival and a Shakespeare festival every summer, but I enjoyed the sleepy quiet of the town in the March  morning sunshine.

Ainsworth Hot Springs - Spirit Waters

 By Maryanna Gabriel


                                        

My heart sank when snow was forecast and cloud and rain moved in the day before my jaunt. Then, all of a sudden, it cleared up. Yeah!The day for my adventure dawned clear with sunny skies and in these mountains, that is no small accomplishment. My spirits rose. 

In 1808, David Thompson described the area as "stupendous and solitary Wilds...where Mountains connected to Mountain, to immense Glaciers, the collection of Ages." The beauty is certainly inspiring. Ainsworth was decribed in 1895 as a place where a frog concert can be heard every night of the year. The frogs lived where the hot water oozed from the earth despite the cold of winter.* A fire eventually burned the gold rush town and today, remnants of the mines are submerged by growth. 

The hot springs were the way I remembered, although they have been refurbished and are under new ownership with the Yagan Nukly (Lower Kootenay Band) buying back what was theirs in the first place from the gold claim that was made in 1883. They call the springs "spirit waters". If feels sacred. 

For some reason, when I made my way into the horseshoe shaped cave, it was pitch black. The sides are

smooth as years of mineralization have built sculptural formations and where the occasional crystal glitters. I stood under a waterfall and made my way to where the waters disappeared into a dark recess. I was thinking about the Greek story of Plato and the cave, where people are chained in the dark by wrong beliefs, think the dark shadowy cave is reality, and refuse to make their way out. A sudden fleshy touch caused me to scream when a woman who was quietly beside me also screamed. It was so dark I did not know she was there. We laughed nervously and as I decided it was definity time to make my way out, I joined in on some interesting conversations and learned the minerals were healing. One woman said it helps with arthritis. Another said the mineral lithium helps her with depression. I also learned the waters are so hot that they have to pump cold water in to cool the pool down, otherwise visitors would be scalded. It seemed people had come a long way to enjoy the experience. 

That night my body tingled, and the next day me and my traumatized bones (from a debilititating fall off a roof) moved with noticable ease. Then I remembered there was a healing aspect to the waters and wondered if it was because of my visit to the springs. Maybe. Would love a season pass. 

* Ghost Towns and Drowned Towns of West Kootenay, Elsie G. Turnbull, c. 1988. 

Kaslo

 By Maryanna Gabriel

Am packing my bags. This house hunting is getting a bit depressing, and as it is almost spring, I thought I would explore the historic town of Kaslo which is called "the Little Switzerland of Canada". The mountains right now are snow-capped, which makes the journey quite spectacular. 

Kaslo wound down with the outbreak of the first world war but before that, it was a bustling silver mining town. It has many historic buildings with a population of 500 or so. I am staying in an historic hotel which includes two swims at the Ainsworth Hot Springs about ten minutes away, which should be interesting. I came to Ainsworth with David on our honeymoon, and we swam together in the hot springs. David and I canoed the Bowren Lakes and then traveled through the Kootenay region as we headed to an archaeological dig near Cranbrook. We were both active in archaeology at the time. It is always a bit strange to revisit the past. That seems so long ago.

Loved

 By Maryanna Gabriel

Walked the lake. 

Tired. 

Lay down. 

Watched Navalny's funeral.

Wept from the bottom of my soul.

Foetal position.

Bethoven's 7th.