A Park Revisited

Located in the South West corner of Alberta, right next door to Glacier National Park in Montana, Waterton Lakes National Park is a place, definitely worth a second visit.

Neither of us can remember the exact year of our first visit but we can certainly remember the month as it was  Valentine weekend.

We stayed at the 100 year old Kilmorey Lodge.  It was old, dusty, smoky, creaky and very romantic. Sadly, in 2009, it burned to the ground.  

We arrived on a beautiful sunny afternoon only to see the weather deteriorate into a full-on snow storm that would last for the whole weekend as well as the ride back to Penticton which we fondly remember as the 10-hour ride from hell.

Since we had already visited the park in the dead of winter, it seemed only appropriate to visit when the weather was nicer.  At the same time, we included a roll through Calgary for a visit with one of our nieces and a drive by of Fairmont Hot Springs for a dip and a visit with an old friend.

The Trans Canada highway through the Rocky Mountains has to be one of the most scenic rides in all of Canada.

Overcome by its beauty we stopped in Golden for the night leaving us a short drive into Calgary the next day.  Partied with a rogue elk we met at the hotel.

Calgary has changed quite a bit since we were last there in the late 70’s.  Albertans have grown a lot since then

but they still retain their unique pioneering spirit

and their genteel demeanor with life.   A couple of days in the big city and we were ready for the peace and quiet of Waterton.

Arriving at the park is an event for your senses. There are no foothills to ease your way into the park. In a very short span you go from the flatness of the grasslands into majestic snow capped mountains. The weather was wonderful and it remained that way all weekend.

I had one goal for this trip. It was called the Crypt Trail. Voted best hike in Canada in 1981, I had read about it on our first trip and immediately put it on my bucket list. I may have forgotten to mention it to Nonie as there is a reason it is called the Crypt.

The hike starts with a short 15 minute, water taxi ride from the town to Crypt Landing. From the landing, the hike is a 17 kilometre round trip

with a 2,300 foot elevation gain.

The trail crosses several small creeks before coming to a very high, very steep scree slope where the trail narrows to about 50 centimetres. I don't believe I mentioned this to Nonie

At the end of this section of trail, you must climb a small steel ladder then crawl through a 100 foot natural mountain tunnel. Did I mention, I didn't tell Nonie about this.

On the other side of the tunnel, was a traverse along a sheer cliff with only a slim and rocky trail between you and a 1000 foot drop to your death. I think I may have overlooked telling Nonie about this part.

This trail petered out to a small rock ledge with a cable transverse. I definitely did not tell Nonie about this section. 

At 65 and she can still climb mountains.

We were rewarded with a stunning view of Crypt Lake where I told Nonie that we would have to return along the same route.

It is a trip that we will brag about for years.

Day 2 was a much quieter day. Our leg muscles were complaining loudly, so we kept our hikes short and simple.

At  dusk we headed out of town a few kilometres where we had been told that it was rutting season and the elk would gather to, you know, to do stuff. I discovered the male elks make really girly noises when courting.

Bear warnings were posted everywhere we went. We spotted fresh scat here and there but no visual sightings. Our bear spray remained  holstered except for some practise bears we found along the way.

One more stop before heading home, Fairmount Hot Springs.  Our muscles were looking forward to a soak in the springs. Luckily, our friend Gail had a pass that got us into the resorts private pool. It was great spot to catch up.

With our newly loosened up muscles, we were able to enjoy a few more hikes.

The ride home was a much nicer ride than our first one. All in all, a memorable  road trip.

A Ride Interrupted

The Kettle Valley Railway was opened in 1915 and built to service the burgeoning  mining industry of the Kootenay Valley located in south east end of British Columbia. It's construction had the added intent of thwarting the American attempts to dominate the mining industry in the area. Starting in Midway at the mouth of the Kootenay valley, the railway crosses several mountain ranges to terminate in Hope B.C. at the eastern mouth of the Fraser Valley.

The line was closed down in 1964 and over the next few decades the rails and ties were removed and the line transitioned into a hiking and biking trail running through some of the most scenic parts of southern British Columbia. Riding the trail was on our bucket list.

The mining rush into the Kootenays started in 1853 when two Americans were chased across the border by a First Nations (Indian) band shere  they stumbled across gold in a small creek entering the Kettle River, near what is now the small village of Rock Creek.  In 1995, Rock Creek was the start of our 20 year sojourn to bike the complete length of the  Kettle Valley trail.




RIDE-1   2001
Rock Creek to Penticton     200 Kilometres

This is probably the most scenic section of the KVR. Sadly if was pre-digital photo's for the Cornell's and so our photos are buried somewhere in one of five bins of photos and not available for this section of the blog.

The trip was planned over four easy 50 K days. The group numbered over 20 riders and the skill levels varied from beginner to hard core biker.  That and the first 100 K was all up and coasting was not an option.

Our first stop, Beaverdell (snicker, snicker), overnighting at the 100 year old Beaverdell (snicker, snicker) Hotel.

Day two saw us comfortably ensconced in a beautiful cabin on Hydraulic Lake. Sadly no longer there.

Day 3 saw us ride the famous and beautiful Myra Canyon section of the KVR.  The route through the  canyon required the construction of 18 trestles.


The ride will take your breath away. Thankfully it is the only reasonably flat section of the trip.

In 2003, a wild fire, started by a lightening strike, raged through the canyon destroying 14 of the 18 trestles. It took out a bit of Kelowna as well.

The trestles have all been rebuilt so the ride is still glorious.

We overnighted at Chute Lake resort and the last day for was a fast and furious downhill ride into Penticton.

Along the way we passed the 489 metre long Adra Tunnel that  carves a curve within the mountain. Sadly a weak spot in the roof near the mid-point is slowly caving in and it has been barricaded.

One last tunnel before we arrive in Penticton. Just a little one.

It comes with a great view. One that I continue to enjoy at least once a week when the weather is fine and I ride the KVR

RIDE-2     2006
Penticton to Princeton    120 Kilometres

In  2006, eleven years after our first ride, we were able to get some of the old gang back together and along with some new faces were ready to tackle the climb to Osprey Lake on Day 2. Day 1 had us meeting some of the group in Princeton where they left their cars and we ferried them back to Penticton to overnight.

It was an early start to Day 2

as we had a train to catch.

With 60 kilometres of up, it seemed silly not to take advantage of the 10 K train ride.

There were no complaints. There was still plenty of ride once we got off the train.

With a smile on her face, Nonie prepares to take on the next 40 K to Osprey Lake and our accommodations at Tellier's Fisherman's Cove.

The Tellier's were kind enough to turn over all their cabin's and there own home so we would all have comfortable beds for the night and with access to their kitchen, great meals.

Despite the respite of the train, the hot weather and uppy took its toll. But all the riders made it to Osprey Lake.

A lovely night at Tellier's. A steak barbecue, campfire, songs and a visit from the whistle blowing, phantom ghost train making its way along the old rail line in the dark of night. Very spooky.














Day 3 had more trestles,

and tunnels.

and a successful, road rash free arrival in Hope.











RIDE-3   2016
Hope to Penticton to Brookmere    90 Kilometres

It was another decade for the Cornell's to take another bite out of the KVR. Our son, planned to bike from his home in Victoria to our home Penticton staying with friends and camping along the way. It seem opportune for us to join him for two days and bike some sections of the KVR. with him. We only had two days as were flying out to Toronto and spend some time with our grandchildren.

We drove to Hope, checked into a motel then headed to Chilliwack where we met our son and drove him back to Hope where we would access the KVR trail the next day.

My goal for day one was to bike to Romeo Station before we broke for the night. Nonie was driving the SAG and would meet us at several spots along the way then take me back to Hope. At 64, sleeping on the ground is not an option.

The route would take us through the Coquihalla Canyon










and the construction wonder of the Othello Tunnels.

There are five tunnels lined up perfectly with two spans joined by bridges. Pretty impressive engineering for the day. The cliffs are solid granite. Had to share them with Nonie so we visited them again on our return to Hope.

Our first day was not with a few setbacks.










At about 25 K along the trail, we arrived at the Coquihalla River near Portia only to find the trestle bridge no longer existed. My bad. The map clearly showed it was no longer there.

This meant we had to retrace our steps about 5 K. leave the KVR and use the Coquihalla Highway to reach Romeo. You may have noticed many of the way stops along the trail have names of characters from Shakespeare's' plays.  B.C. Parks says it was CP Rail's engineer, Andrew McColluch (1864-1945) who named the route's stations - Lear, Portia, Iago, Romeo and Juliet - because he was an avid reader of Shakespeare.

The KVR trail becomes a little blurry from this point as it crisscross's the Coquihalla Highway and in some cases the highway uses the old rail bed. Crossing from one side of the highway to access the little bits of trail that still exist is a little like Russian roulette so the highway was our only choice to get to Romeo.  It wasn't the climb but the large trucks ripping along at 120 KPH beside me that kept my heart rate up.

As we arrived at Romeo, our son had a flat. A clear sign that the ride was over for the day and it was time to get back to Hope.

On Day 2 we decided to avoid cycling more of the Coquihalla Highway so decided to drive up to the Coquihalla Lakes off ramp where we could access the KVR again and complete my cycle to Brookmere. Here we would leave our son and return to Penticton.  We had not gotten more than a few hundred metres, we found several spokes had broken our sons bike.



Next stop, the Bike Barn in Penticton. The ride was over and we all drove back to Penticton.

We'll be back, we are not done yet.