Living Virally: Fungi, Ferries and Fingers

 Episode 9 Part II

Nakusp is small sleepy village situated on the shores of Upper Arrow Lake. The town grew from a sawmill serving the silver mining rush in 1892. The lumber industry continues to be the economic mainstay to this day. What drew us here was to hike the Kuskanax Creek Hot Springs Trail.

 

Day 4 and again we woke to a thick fog and 4C. Not the most conducive start to our 8K trek up into the Selkirk Mountains. The weather person did forecast morning sunshine so we headed out with the hope that we would climb above the fog and get to see some of that promised sunshine. 

It took a few kilometres and a some pretty good elevation change before we got above the fog. Sadly too late to enjoy that promised morning sun. At least it wasn't snowing or raining

 

Nakusp is located in the Slocan Valley and just one mountain range east from our home in the Okanagan Valley. The Slocan Valley has a temperate climate with a definite rain forest vibe. 

 

The Okanagan Valley has a semi-arid climate making for a much drier environment than the Slocan Valley and a very different environment for a hike. 

As for example, this picture from our second attempt in June at summiting Nkwala Mountain just above Penticton. No Ewoks to be found here though perhaps they could be found bellied up at a winery somewhere.   

With the wet environment we found an extensive variety of different fungi and mushrooms along the trail. 

All at the same time they looked so tasty and poisonous. 

It was a magical hike. Not many grand vistas but the moss and lichen covered forest floor hid a myriad of mysterious shapes.  If you are a Star Wars fan, you might recognize similarities to the planet of Endor.   "Yub nub" or "party on" for those who don't speak Ewok. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tHOkQ3nV1c

The hike ended at the Nakusp Hot Springs Resort with a well deserved soak in the hot pools. The route was originally a pack horse trail to carry tourists up to the hot springs. We opted for a return trip with Nakusp Taxi. A perfect ending to a wonderful day without the smell of horse. 

 Photo: bchistory.com

Day 5 and another ferry ride that I failed to mention to Nonie. Shelter Bay Ferry is a 20 minute ride needed, to cross Upper Arrow Lake to the city of Revelstoke and a late lunch. Hunger won out over Nonie’s ferry phobia. From Revelstoke we traveled west on the famed Trans Canada to Three Valley Gap for an overnight.

 

Three Valley Gap located deep in the Rockies is a 200 room, resort hotel with a lake, historic ghost town and railway museum. It opened in 1952, with 7 rooms and a 7 seat restaurant. We have driven by it many times but never stopped. As we arrived the sky filled with dark ominous clouds along with a little rain. Checking in, we were told that this was the last day open and that we may be the only people staying in the hotel.

Wait a minute, didn't a couple horror movies start this way.  

It was truly a "Shining" like experience wandering the  empty hallways. Every once in a while we could hear voices droning in the distance but never saw a single person. We had the pool and hot tubs all to ourselves. That night our hotel room door was double locked and chained. But looking at the door, it would probably not cause much of a problem for Jack Nicholson armed with an axe. Just to be sure, skipped the morning showers as well.  

Despite the rain, a visit to the ghost town was necessary as it too was closing for the season. The town consists of 26 historic buildings gathered over the last 50 years from around the province and restored to house the thousands of artifacts collected by the owner.

Photo: Peter Sentjens

My plan for the train museum was to climb aboard the old steam engines. But I discovered that the museum was also home to a former Governor General’s railcar. In 1982, after repatriating the constitution, Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau borrowed it for a vacation trip to the Rockies with his three sons. One being a young Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

The car became infamous when Pierre gave the “one finger salute” to protesters while the train was parked in nearby Salmon Arm. It became known as the “Salmon Arm Salute”. 

 Cartoon: Paul Graham

It was reported in the Times Colonist that the protesters deserved the finger.

"They were directing inappropriate stuff about Daddy wasting money. The protesters were yelling at two young boys. I stood by a CBC reporter when a man came to the window and gave the protesters the finger before pulling down the blinds.The protesters were being rude, perhaps meaning the insults for the prime minister, but delivering them to the boys."

The railcar rekindled my own memory of when I first met Pierre. It was June of 1968 and I was walking home from school when I heard my name being called. I turned towards the voices and saw a large stake bed truck pull up to the sidewalk. The back of the truck was filled with cheerleaders and they were yelling at me to jump on. When a truck full of Cheerleaders pull up and yells at you to jump on, you don’t question it, you just jump on.

 

As we bounced down the hill from the high school, I was given an orange tee shirt and told to put it on.  Opening the shirt I found it was printed with a really cool picture of Pierre Trudeau. My pulse started racing, was this excitement my awakening to Trudeaumania?  Perhaps it was the truck load of cheerleaders. 

 Art: Trudeaumania UBC Press

We were headed to the airport. Pierre was arriving for some electioneering. We were his mobile cheering section. Greeting him at the airport, to following him around town, always arriving before him to greet him with loud, lusty cheering and girly screams of “I love you”. Like a scene from the 1964 Beatles film "A Hard Days Night". 

 

One of the few Kamloopsians not wild about Trudeau’s visit was my father. As I walked in the door that night, proudly wearing my tee shirt, he yelled at me to get out and not come back in the house until I had taken off  that GD tee shirt. My Dad was a dyed blue Conservative. I think that was the moment I became a life long "left of centre" Liberal. It wasn't long before the tee shirt mysteriously went missing. 

Day 6 saw us heading home to Penticton and a return to our monastic viral life. It looks like things could  be pretty quiet till 2021. Assuming Biden wins the election, blog worthy events may be few and far between so stay safe and warm everyone.