John and I left the West Kootenays at Balfour on the Osprey 2000 for “the longest free ferry ride in the world” across Kootenay Lake. The vessel’s name honours the ospreys, which were inspecting nests on nearby pilings, and the year this spacious ferry came into service. It replaced the smaller MV Anscomb, which had taken vehicles and pedestrians back and forth across this huge lake for 53 years. Kootenay Lake not only separates West from East Kootenays, but also has a time line down the middle of it. Since this is invisible, Creston residents and others make their own rules about whether to change their clocks – or not. Driving off into the East Kootenays, we were close to the small community of Riondel but we didn’t go there this time. Our winding road took us south, beside the lake, along the western edge of the Purcell Mountains to the city of Creston, spring in full bloom. En route, we passed Crawford Bay where, in season, enterprising artisans can be seen making brooms, blowing glass, turning red hot metal into intricate objects at a roaring forge, and weaving colourful items.
The next few days saw us happily visiting more friends and enjoying good food, good fun, and more doggie walks. The Kootenay River was our companion as it wandered from its source in the Rockies, looped south through the States and back up into Kootenay Lake. At Bonners Ferry, rapidly rising water hid the sand bars, but when we crossed the river between Cranbrook and Jaffrey, the river still flowed within its banks. It wouldn’t be long before Libby Dam in Montana extended upstream to flood this part of British Columbia. Yes, all very confusing! But it would get worse: at Canal Flats just a low section of the Rockies separates the beginnings of the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers. On our right, the gritty Kootenay River was beginning its journey south, while a few miles east of it, the Columbia began its long journey by first flowing northwards through central B.C. before looping south through the Mica and Revelstoke Dams. The two rivers would find each other and mingle at Castlegar. A sign at a viewpoint overlooking Columbia Lake reads: “Source of the Columbia River which empties into the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Oregon”. A monstrous bridge spans it there.
North of Columbia Lake, the road wound around a few interesting curves. A much smaller, but very active creek draining from the Purcell Wilderness has eroded its valley leaving myriad shapes of hoodoos, fashioned over the years with the wind’s help. A flat rock sits right at the top of some, a temporary protection and reminder of the once level surface above them. Hot spring country – Fairmont and Radium – was ahead, but not on our agenda that day. We debated about doing a much bigger loop through the National Parks to reach home via Valemount, but low clouds and intermittent showers put a stop to that idea.
Our drive through snow-lined Rogers Pass from Golden to Revelstoke indicated we had made the right choice as abundant water came at us from above and below! Rain poured down and multi-wheeled trucks splashed us constantly. We were glad to reach Revelstoke, where we now crossed the Columbia River, having travelled a full circle though the memorable East and West Kootenays in a couple of weeks.
What about all the unnamed creeks we had crossed, waterfalls we had admired, and water spurting from rock faces? Which way does that all flow? Why – downhill, of course!
