Hiking in Pilot Bay Provincial Park

We're camping in Nelson, BC, just south of Kootenay Lake, one of a series of finger lakes stretching between the Cascade Mountains to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east.  All of these lakes were carved by glaciers from river valleys formed when north-south mountain rangers were formed by the crumpling of our continent.

The dominant range in the Nelson area is the Selkirk Mountains, which stretch north from the states of Washington and Idaho, past Nelson, all the way up to Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks which we visited in 2017.  Kootenay Lake sits east of the Selkirk Range and west of the Purcell Range.  People who want to drive east-west must cross Kootenay Lake by ferry.  The BC ferries are free and regular all day, year-long.

When we stopped in the Nelson Visitor Center to inquire about possible activities in the area, our hostess suggested we hike the Lakeshore Trail in Pilot Bay Provincial Park, which sits north of Nelson near the town of Crawford Bay; but it is accessible from Nelson only by ferry.

So we drove north from Nelson to the Balfour Ferry Terminal on the West Arm of Kootenay Lake, drove onto the ferry with a number of other travelers, and started across the lake:

Our main goal was the hike, but our hostess at the Nelson Visitor Center urged us to visit the artisans who have shops in Crawford Bay, on the Kootenay Bay side of the ferry run.  The first one we ran into was the North Woven Broom Co., where we perused traditional, hand-made brooms.  Our visitor center hostess told us that, in 2003 and 2007, the company produced 300 full sized brooms and 500 miniature brooms for marketing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  This intrigued us.

As you can see, we were taken with the brooms.  Below, Kathy practices her method of sweeping cats off the floor of our RV:

There were other very skilled, genuine artisans in Crawford Bay, but we had miles to go before we sleep, so we passed by the other artisans and headed straight for Red's Bakery to pick up sandwiches for our hike lunch.  Red's Bakery is a funky little trailer shop sitting at the front of a rustic campground in Crawford Bay.  We asked for Veggie Baguettes (which were, ultimately, utterly delicious) and headed down to Pilot Peninsula for our hike.

Our first stop was the Pilot Bay Lighthouse (we can't resist lighthouses, you know).  A short uphill hike led us to this gorgeous little lighthouse facing out onto Kootenay Lake opposite the West Arm:

The lighthouse is "self service," in that, while the doors were securely closed, we were allowed to enter and climb the steep stairs to the top of the light.

The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1993 and donated to the Province of British Columbia two years later. The historic structure is now part of Pilot Bay Provincial Marine Park and is maintained through a cooperative agreement between BC Parks and volunteers from the Friends of West Kootenay Parks.

The interior is immaculately maintained, including the steep stairs:

Kathy took a stroll around the light, and we caught this photo of the two of them enjoying the lake and the afternoon:

Now, it was on to the main feature of the day:  our hike along the lakeshore in Pilot Bay Provincial Park:

This was our first view along the lakeshore.  The lighthouse is perched on the opposite side of the peninsula in the foreground, with the Selkirk Mountains in the background across Kootenay Lake:

Along the trail, there are a few bridges crossing drainages, which burbled with spring freshets that mesmerized David:

All along our hike, the mountain slopes were covered with moss as lushly as most hillsides are covered with grass.  The moss glowed in the sunshine alongside the trail:

At last, we reached our destination, Boomer's Landing Beach, which was utterly dramatic:

Boomer’s Landing is named for the fact that it was once a log boom—a point of contact for cut timber to be tugged across Kootenay Lake to mills.  We saw no evidence of logging or log booms, but we did find an enormous number and variety of rocks.  Here's one Kathy found that contains large deposits of a highly reflective silver-colored metal:

This beach was littered with exceptional rocks.  Kathy was so overwhelmed, she simply sat down and all the rocks came running and jumped on her lap!

The bedrock on this lakeshore was an incredibly old, apparently park volcanic, part metamorphic rock that looked like it was so hard it couldn't erode:

After enjoying our geological feast, we started the return trip.  On the way back, we stopped at two beaches we bypassed on the hike out because we hadn't been sure how much time we would have to take the side hikes down to the beaches.  One was this unnamed beach, which presented a gorgeous, crescent-shaped cornucopia of rocks, pebbles and sand:

More unusual, we next took the side hike down to Sawmill Bay, which we had noted and admired on our hike out:

We expected what looked like a brown sandy beach, but were surprised to find that the ENTIRE beach was built up from sawdust and wood shavings, apparently the residue from a sawmill which had been located here.  The sawdust was spongy under our feet.  It filled the entire beach, save only for one stream that drained through it into the lake:

We walked the sawdust beach until we found piling-like posts which we assume were part of the foundation for the old sawmill.  They were buttressed by large boulders which presumably helped stabilize the sawmill that was perched out on the lakeshore:

After enjoying these three beaches, we returned to our trailhead just in time to drive back to catch the 3:40 pm ferry on its return to Balfour.  It was only a short, half-hour drive back to our campground south of Nelson.

Now, here we sit, with luscious crab cakes from a Nelson fish market, and coleslaw made with Greek Krema and a feta-dill dressing.  Oh my gosh, this simple meal tasted to good after a long hike!

We're scheming our outing for tomorrow, but we haven't made a final decision.  You'll have to read that blog entry to find out what we decided to do.  Guaranteed it will be an outdoor adventure.