Kootenay and Cowboy Country

August 9, 2010
Ainsworth Hot Springs was lovely, but no place to park overnight, and the smoke from forest fires in the area was very noticeable, so we decided to head on to Creston taking the BC free ferry at Balfour to Kootenay Bay. After checking a couple of gas stations, who were out of diesel , we motored on to Yahk. (Have you been to Yahk and back?) that is on a semi famous t-shirt sold in a small store here.
There was diesel there and a pleasant young fellow directed us to the parking lot at Yahk community center, where we could park free overnight. (Again the train on one side) but a nice treed area we had to ourselves.
The next morning, it was on to Kimberley, where Bruno Marti operates the City Bakery. Bruno is an old friend from the 70’s and the Swiss buns and coffee were a perfect breakfast while we caught up on news of friends from the skiing days.
From Kimberley we headed to Fort Steele, a town and fort that died when it was passed by the railroad in favour of Cranbrook, and came back to life as a living museum. There is an ice cream parlour, black smith shop, hotel, opera house, cafe, livery stable etc all operating with workers in period costumes. A theatre troupe adds to the overall “historical feel” of the town with vignettes and friendly greetings.
We took advantage of “Saturday Night on the Town” which takes place 4 times during the summer. (We hadn’t planned it, but arrived there on one of the Saturdays) The program began with a roast beef dinner at the International Hotel, then off to the Wild Horse Theatre for a live performance of “Fisherville the Musical” (Fisherville was the original name of the town before Sam Steele of the North West Mounted Police arrived to quell an Indian uprising) After the theatre we got on the steam train for a “Sunset Train Ride” stopping at a meadow where cordial and dessert was served. Another vignette was performed by the theatre troupe and then it was back on the train and on to Fort Steele again. A very enjoyable day and well worth the charge of $40.
That night we stayed at a Walmart parking lot in Cranbrook.
Early next morning headed out Hwy 3 (Crowsnest Pass Route) following the Kootenay River to Alberta.
We stopped at the Frank Slide interpretive centre. At 4:10 in the morning on April 29, 1903, 82 million tonnes of rock from Turtle Mountain buried part of the coal mining town of Frank Alberta. 70 – 90 people lost their lives. In less than 100 seconds, the slide covered three square kilometres of the Crowsnest valley under a layer of rock up to 30 metres deep. (That is about 120 ft to the US folk reading this) The site is much the same as it was in 1903, except for the highway going through the middle of it. Very impressive.
Our next stop was Fort McLeod, Alberta where very nice Alberta SKP’s make their home. Doug and Jean Poile invited us to stay in their driveway for the night.
(Do you get the idea that we are not paying a cent for parking so far?)
Doug and Jean were in Edmonton, and would be returning in the evening, so we headed out to “Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump” just west of here. There is a very good interpretive centre which leads you though a buffalo drive (Hunt) The legend says that a young brave wanted to watch the buffalo tumbling over the cliff, so he hid under a ledge and watched the buffalo fall. The hunt was very successful and as the bodies piled up he became trapped between the animals and the cliffs. When he was found his skull had been crushed by the weight of the buffalo carcasses. Hence the name.
Then back to Fort Macleod and coffee and good conversation with Doug and Jean. Slept like a log but just now heard the inevitable train.
We will visit the “fort” at Fort Macleod today and see the RCMP musical ride, then on to Drumheller and dinosaur country.