We took a three day trip into British Columbia to complete the International Selkirk Loop and two of the Super Side Trips on the Canada side. We made the Best Western Plus in Nelson, BC, our home for two nights. This small artsy town, on Kootenay Lake, was conveniently located at the junction of the two super side trips that we planned to travel.
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| Box Canyon Dam south of Metaline Falls, Idaho |
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Lunch at Kootenay Pass (5,820 feet)
In Stagleap Provincial Park on
Canada's Highest Year Round Highway |
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Glass House in Boswell, BC
constructed of more than 500,000 discarded
embalming fluid bottles. |
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| Pilot Peninsula Lighthouse |
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| Climbing the steep lighthouse stairs. |
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| Beautiful View of Kootenay Lake |
Highway 3A requires a 45 minute free ferry crossing of Kootenay Lake. This was a very scenic boat ride and quite a deal for the price.
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| Two ferries kept the schedule right on time. |
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| The two ferries pass at the half-way point. |
Silvery Slocan Super Side Trip
Monday morning we headed northeast out of Nelson along the Kootenay Lake shore. In our opinion, this turned out to be the most beautiful of the six Selkirk Super Side Trips. Lots of snow capped peaks and abundant wildflowers along the roadside.
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| Our first stop was Ainsworth Hot Springs and Caves. |
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| View from the hot spring pool deck. |
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Hike to Fletcher Falls
near Mirror Lake |
We stopped in the charming village of Kaslo for a self guided tour of the SS. Moyie a Canadian National Historic Site. This is the world's oldest intact passenger sternwheeler. Built in 1898 for the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Moyie steamed on Kootenay Lake until 1957. This method of travel was very important due to the lack of roads in this area at the time.
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| SS. Moyie carried passengers and freight for 57 years. |
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| Pilot House and Texas Deck (top) |
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Pantry on Board
Hot food was prepared on the deck below in
the Galley and transferred via
a dumb waiter in the center above. |
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| Ladies Saloon |
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| Pilot House |
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| 17 Foot Paddlewheel |
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| 1940 Canadian Pacific Railway Caboose. |
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| Riding the rails |
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| View of Kootenay Lake from the Texas Deck |
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| Ever Present Flowers Gracing the Roadway |
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| Stopped at the mining Ghost town of Sandon. |
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The little power plant is still generating
2300 volts of hydro-electric power. |
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| They sell their electricity to BC Power |
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This is what is producing the power. The water
will eventually join the Columbia River,
flowing through 12 more hydro-electric dams. |
Our last stop of the day was in the town of New Denver to visit the Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre. This is a memorial dedicated to the memory of the 22,000 Japanese Canadians interned during World War II.
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Most internment camps were destroyed after the war,
this is one that was preserved. |
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| Slocan Lake and Valhalla Provincial Park
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Rivers, Dams and Mines Super Side Trip
Tuesday we left our hotel in Nelson and started our drive back to Idaho taking our final Super Side Trip. We stopped in the Russian village of Castlegar. It is located at the confluence of the Kootenay River and the Mighty Columbia.
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Suspension Bridge to Zuckerberg Island
In Castlegar, BC |
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| Home of Alexander and Alicia Zuckerburg |
2 comments:
The embalming fluid house would have given me the creeps!
Sounds like a great trip!
Yes it was kind of creepy. Beautiful area.
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