Hiking at Top of the World

 Last week, Dave and I did a backpacking trip into Top of the World Provincial Park in the East Kootenays.  This is one photo that does make it appear that we are at the "top of the world".  The hike into the campground is in excellent shape and is an easy hike.  The campground, located at Fish Lake, was lovely and clean and not very busy while we stayed (3 nights).  We enjoyed hikes to Sparkle Lake and to the top of Sugarloaf, where this picture was taken.  I also hiked to the Alpine View.  One thing I found to be a bit frustrating is that two trails were starred as "not maintained" so I expected to find a poor trail.  It was fine.  The hike to Sugarloaf, which is supposed to be maintained, had 64 things to climb over or go under.  It is also largely "in the woods" so the final destination is what got us to the top of the world.  We were surprised at how low in the alpine terrain we found ourselves most of the time.  It's a nice place but doesn't feel too much like the "top of the world".  A great place for a beginner backpacking trip.

Salmo to Nelson on the Great Northern

Yesterday, three of us biked from Salmo to Nelson on the Great Northern Rails to Trails.  I'd say that the first 4 km were not that interesting and a bit rough.  Our first "stop" was in Ymir where we were able to visit the General Store and purchase goodies.  The trail was in excellent shape, following the Salmo River for a good bit.  When we couldn't see the river, we could hear it.  The trail then passes through part of the Apex cross-country ski trails and it was lovely to ride through tall grass and goldenrod - very much like riding on the prairies!  The last piece of trail, from Cottonwood Lake to Nelson was lovely and fast.  We decided to travel all the way to mile 0, expecting to end up some place.  The trail simply ends as it meets up with the currently used Creston-Nelson railway track. I guess that is "some place" - but really the middle of nothing.   That meant a bit of a climb back to an exit point for the city of Nelson.  I'd recommend this trail to others but would probably do it as an out-and-back from Nelson to Cottonwood Lake.

Harvest One

 I did this over a week ago - managed to buy wonderful organic peaches from the Similkameen Valley and get them canned.  It worked wonderfully and I didn't peel them - we'll see how that turns out, but Dave and I tried it last year and didn't find it that distasteful.  It's not something we serve to company but we get all that extra goodness.  This was my first harvest job of the season involving the canner.  This weekend I plan to make the zesty zucchini relish and all I can say is bring it on!  I love harvest time!

Mt. Willett

 Here's the view from the top of Mt. Willett - a bit hazy yesterday, but generally perfect weather for hiking.  It's a fairly long day - we were 4.5 hours up and 4 hours down.  My knees and quads are feeling it today!  This is the third of the "big" peaks in our area that I have managed to climb and each gives a different perspective of the area.  This picture looks south down Kootenay Lake right above and across from Lardeau.  Four of us completed the hike yesterday and one of the party had brought his son's boots so ended up doing the hike in his sport sandals - pretty good for a 60 plus individual!  Meadows were lovely, air was clean and clear and we had a good time on this hike.  Enjoyed the "new" hiking trail put in by the young crew working for Kaslo Community Forest.  Thank you, young Trail Blazers!