Our next day was a four day stay in the resort area of Fairmont Hot Springs (not to be confused with the Montanan Fairmont Hot Springs; for more on that one, check out our post on Philipsburg). My mom was kind enough to use some of her timeshare points to get us a little condo as a wedding gift. With a cozy little suite and our own kitchen, it was a perfect jumping off point for our adventures at the source of the Columbia, White Swan Provincial Park, Invermere, and Kootenay National Park.
Ironically, we didn’t spend much time at Fairmont itself–since as I mentioned in my last post, we were doing our best to avoid too many people. We didn’t even go soak in the hot springs at the resort, though we did spend a Sunday at the bar watching football and sampling beers from local breweries we weren’t going to have a chance to visit. (Fernie Brewing Co. also makes a delicious Hazy IPA, our favorite beer for the trip that we discovered in Cranbrook.) We would have spent more time there if we had time, but as you will see, we were plenty busy anyway.
Source of the Columbia River
While we were staying in Fairmont, we spent a little time exploring the source of the Columbia River (we were never far from either the Columbia or the Kootenay Rivers at any point on our trip; they added a nice natural loop, as well as driving one). The Columbia Lake was absolutely beautiful, and we spent a very pleasant evening down in Canal Flats, doing a short walk through the wetlands that are the source of this mighty river.
The walk is about a mile, wide and flat and easily accessible to anyone. There are boardwalks through the wetter spots and several places with benches to sit and soak in the place, as well as periodic placards explaining where the river comes from, how wetlands work (they are essentially a giant sponge filtering stuff out of the water to help make the river clean), and the importance of protecting them. We pretty much had the place to ourselves, as it was evening and a storm was slowly rolling in, although at one point we crossed paths with a deer!
White Swan Provincial Park
The first thing we did in White Swan Provincial Park was hike along the north shores of White Swan and Alces Lakes. The campground where our hike started was quite a ways up a gravel logging road, which meant slower driving and a dusty car, but otherwise wasn’t too big a deal. (Besides, we saw a young bighorn sheep right beside the road.) The campground was large and included a dock and a boat ramp. There were a few campers and boaters around, but it wasn’t too busy (I think the time of year and the fact that it was a week day were on our side).
The two lakes were small but very deep, as they are essentially puddles caught between several steep and not-so-tiny mountains (as you look into the water, you can see that the hillside is just as steep underwater as it was above it). We hiked to the Cave Creek Campground, where we had a small snack on the beach before turning around–a total of 7.4 miles. The terrain was understandably a little steep and rocky, with lots of short but intense ups and downs. We were definitely feeling our workout by the end.
Lussier Hot Springs
On the way up to White Swan Lake, we passed the parking lot for Lussier Hot Springs, so first thing the next morning–while it was still cool–we headed back to check it out, this time in our swim suits!
Lussier Hot Springs is “undeveloped” in the sense that pools are built with rock walls at the river’s edge rather than piping the water into a concrete pool with adjoining buildings. That being said, we found that they were very well maintained. The wide gravel path from the road down to the springs had a rail and was well shored up by a rock wall; misadventures like the one I had at Weir are unlikely here. There was also a parks’ staff person there cleaning up garbage when we arrived at 6ish in the morning. We were impressed by how well cared for the place was.
The pools themselves ranged in temperature, the hottest being the highest and the coolest being the lowest one by the river. In some cases, the hot water stayed on top with cold water flowing through underneath, and at one point, we inadvertently cut off the neighbor pool’s hot water when we entered a pool. These are some of the risks you run at undeveloped hot springs. Happily for me, I am a cold-blooded creature, so I can hang out longer than most people in the really hot pools where you don’t have to worry about cooler water coming in.
Invermere
Kayaking the Columbia
Me being me, no trip is complete without at least one major water adventure (not that hiking along lakes and soaking in hot springs don’t also involve water). This we found up in Invermere (a little north of Fairmont), where we rented kayaks from the Columbia River Paddle Company and paddled approximately 10 miles down the Columbia to Radium, where we were picked up by the company’s shuttle bus and returned to our car.
The paddle started in a wetland area with little to no current–there was an option for inexperienced paddlers to just explore this area and then return to the rental place–and then headed out into the river proper where the current picked up a little. Even with the current, the river was wide and lazy and easy to navigate (as someone who kayaks primarily on a lake, rivers sometimes intimidate me a little, but there was nothing to worry about here).
Pete and I made good time–we opted for a tandem kayak so it would be easier to talk to each other as we went along. We were initially concerned about making it to the pick up spot on time (we were catching the last shuttle of the day) but when we past the “one hour paddle to take out” sign with two hours to spare, we pretty much stopped paddling and enjoyed the picnic lunch we had packed and all the views and wildlife we could see from the river. We ended up seeing 5 bald eagles, along with lots of ducks and fish and a large splash that may have been a beaver (it was right next to what we were told was an active beaver dam).
Arrowhead Brewing Company
To warm up from our paddle (for the first few days of our trip, we were lucky enough to get beautiful sunny weather, but things were beginning to take a turn towards cool and rainy), we stopped in for a few flights–and an extra beer or two–at Arrowhead Brewing Company.
Arrowhead is a local operation; its motto is “From the valley, for the valley.” It also had one of the best brewery atmospheres of all the breweries we visited, perfecting combining lots of character with a laid back feel. The building itself was blue–always a sign that things are going to be interesting–and the interior was decorated with an old gas pump and other vintage odds and ends, as well as a series of humorous (and somewhat old school) posters advertising their beers. A mix of classic rock and reggae played softly in the background.
They also served snacks made from various local businesses like pretzels, baked goods, and jerky/sausages. Pete discovered, and promptly fell in love with, their bacon wrapped cheese bread! As for their beers, our favorites were the I’m So Freaking Hoppy and the Black Jack Stout, although they also had a Fancy Footwork India Pale Lager that was very intriguing.
Kootenay National Park
Kootenay was the first of several Canadian National Parks we would visit on our trip, and one of our favorites (of course, that could be because we had more time to enjoy it than we did a lot of the others). While less internationally renown that its neighbor Banff, Kootenay has lots to offer from the impressive rock canyon drive at the entrance in Radium to glacial hikes to hot springs!
Stanley Glacier
The Stanley Glacier hike was one of our two favorite hikes from the entire trip (the other being Bow Falls, which we will cover in the next installment). The hike was 6.8 miles round trip and climbs 2,000 vertical feet, a third of which is scrambling over loose scree. Definitely not for the feint of heart, but oh so beautiful!
The trail starts at a large parking lot complete with outhouse, and then gently switchbacks up a wooded hillside with a couple of creek crossings. Then it levels out for a while as the trail crosses a saddle moving toward the glacier, which you can see up on the mountain ahead of you, along with a large waterfall. The officially maintained trail ends shortly after you come out of the trees, but other hikers have made a loop that gets you up just under the glacier. This is where it gets intense–steep uphills and loose rocks–but the rewards are amazing. We were treated to stunning vistas, multiple waterfalls from the glacial melt, and some small caves in the cliff face. We also saw some wildlife, including several pika and a lone badger!
The loop reaches a bench just under the glacier. A few people scrambled the rest of the way up the the glacier itself, but we had had our fill of scree by then. Instead we spent a little time basking in the sun and enjoying the views, as well as talking with some of the other hikers (we got some excellent tips for later on in our trip). And then we slowly–and carefully!–made our way back down.
Painted Pots
The other hike we did in Kootenay National Park was Painted Pots, a popular 2 mile loop (which is also a jumping off point for a longer hike through Marble Canyon; alas, we just had time for the loop). Painted Pots’s claim to fame are their many ochre pools, acidic springs laden with minerals which turn the water and mud a rich array of orange, brown, and red. Historically, these clays have been collected, first by local Indians and later by paint manufacturers, to be used as pigments and dyes.
Unfortunately, many of the people we were hiking with were disappointed in the pots. I think they were expecting something more akin to Yellowstone’s bacteria colored hot springs. But if you do your research (even if that is just reading the posted signs) and keep your expectations reasonable, I think you will find these little orange streams and pools both pretty and interesting. Plus it’s a fairly accessible walk through a dense and beautiful British Columbian forest. It’s hard to go wrong with that.
Radium Hot Springs
Just inside the southern entrance to the park, you will find Radium Hot Springs, which was a lovely place to catch a soak–particularly if you just spent all day scrambling to and from a glacier. Radium is a fully developed hot springs. To get there, you have to park in the large parking lot across the street, and walk through a tunnel under the highway (where you can learn about the increasingly popular animal bridges in Canada’s parks!). The prices are reasonable-just $7.50 Canadian for adults, which includes a token for a one-time locker use–and the locker rooms are spacious.
Radium has two pools, a cooler one and a hot one. The cooler one more geared toward family activity, with two small slides and a diving board, but we took our aching muscles straight to the hot one. Our pool had a bench all the way around the edge, as well as a smaller one out in the middle of the pool. There was also a cold plunge, for those people who are into that sort of thing, and a particularly excellent lifeguard staff (as someone who works at a pool, you notice those kinds of things).
Conclusion
And so we spent an excellent several days exploring the beginnings of the Columbia River and Kootenay National Park. It is a beautiful corner of the world–even if it is a little on the touristy end (although our next stop was Banff and Canmore, so touristy is definitely a relative term)–and there was so much water to be enjoyed. Next time I come, I plan to bring a kayak of my own, so I can get more properly acquainted with the region’s many lakes and streams.
