Snowshoeing in the Selkirks

Hi Blog!

After yesterday's adventure along the shores of Kootenay Lake and the Purcell Mountains, we decided to get high in the Selkirk Mountains. On Friday, May 3, 2019, we drove up Kokanee Glacier Road in hopes of seeing at least one of the three glaciers in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park. However, snow stopped us about half way up the road. We were afraid that might happen, so we packed accordingly. With micro-spikes on our boots and snowshoes strapped to our packs, we began a two mile climb to the trailhead for the Old Growth Forest Trail. While we wouldn't see glaciers, at least we could look forward to hugging a few old trees.

Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park is one of the oldest provincial parks in British Columbia, established in 1922. The park has an area of 123.69 square miles and is located in the Selkirk Mountains in the West Kootenays region of BC. The park has three glaciers (Kokanee, Caribou, and Woodbury) that feed over 30 alpine lakes which are the headwaters of many creeks. It didn't take long to strip off our fleece jackets as temperatures reached into the 60's. The sunny parts of the road were mostly melted, but the shady parts were still covered.

Where the snow had melted, we could see glacier erratics dotting the forest floor surrounded by a sea of moss, lichen and fern. Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, lodgepole pine, hemlock and western red cedar tower above us. The air smelled of spruce and pine and loamy damp soil.

Numerous springs burble down the mountainside, crossing under the road through culverts. In one spot, a small bridge allowed us to cross over Sunset Creek.

To get a sense of the power of the water rushing from above, click on the link to this video of a roadside cascade near the Old Growth Forest Trail.

As we continued up the road, we could see a few older snowshoe tracks. We were not the first to venture forth this spring, but on this day, we had the mountain to ourselves. Here we are at the trailhead. It's lunch time!

The Old Growth Recreation Trail is an easy-to-moderate interpretive trail through an old cedar abd hemlock forest. Features of the trail include large stands of huge cedar tree, lush creek side habitat, an avalanche path, and historic remains of turn-of-the-century mining and logging. However, the trail description failed to mention the copious amounts of snow!  So, we would modify that trail description to "More challenging when postholing in the snow."

Kathy headed down the steps from the trailhead toward Kokanee Creek. While we could hear the creek, we only got quick glimpses as it rushed and gushed under the snowpack.

The trail was not blazed and, due to the deep snow, was difficult to follow. Lucky for us, one or two of the hikers that came before us left a faint trail. It wasn't always accurate, and we found ourselves wandering in the woods several times looking for the trail. We almost gave up each time, but, each time except for the last, we would suddenly see the next interpretive sign, which always marked the trail.

The trail led us out and across an avalanche chute. Lucky for us, most of the snow has melted. However, there was a bear warning, since these chutes usually green up before the rest of the forest. Grizzly bears like to eat a lot of green vegetation, such as skunk cabbage, when they first wake up. Since the slope hadn't greened up yet, we figured it would be safe to cross.  But we still sang and shouted with one hand on our bear spray canisters.  "You never know..."

As we ventured back into the forest, we entered into a grove of old growth trees. Evidence of prior logging was all around us.  This photo shows you how huge these old trees got after a few hundred years:

You can still see the springboard notches in this old cedar stump. The springboards were inserted into the notches above the thick flare of the tree. Fallers would perch atop springboards inserted into the notches. The two men would rhythmically pull the crosscut saw back and forth until the tree fell.  This old hollow stump is now nursing SEVERAL new trees:

Kathy met a number of trees that were "huggable," but this one was the largest and most huggable of them all. It's over 800 years old. The tree was injured in its youth and ended up growing two trunks. It is now protected and hopefully will never feel the bite of the faller's axe.

The trail was well marked near the big tree, but it didn't take long for us to lose it again in the deep snow. We couldn't find any more interpretive signs, so we just bushwacked our way back up to the road. As we made our way back down the road toward our Jeep, we spotted this stand of birch trees that have sprung up next to an avalanche chute.

By the time we made it back to the Jeep, we were knackered. We decided to treat ourselves to a visit to Ainsworth Hot Springs for a welcome soak to our weary feet and bones:

The hot springs were first visited by the Ktunaxa First Nations peoples who experienced the waters as a welcome respite after a long day of hunting, fishing, and gathering roots and berries. Located in the heart of the Kootenay Mountain Range, the hot springs consist of warm mineral waters in a natural cave and pool. The cave alone was worth the price of admission.

The warm mineral-rich water creates amazing patterns all along the roof and walls of the cave. We would have loved to stay in the cave longer to explore, but at 110 degrees, we could only stay in for a few minutes. The further back into the cave we went, the steamier it got. It felt more like a sauna than a hot tub. Here is a sample of the types of formations we saw that had built up on the walls of the caves:

After the steamy caves, we "cooled" off in the heated body-temperature mineral pool. We got to sit back and soak our tired tootsies while taking in the views of the Purcell Mountains and Kootenay Lake.

All that hiking and soaking builds up a powerful thirst. Lucky for us, Ainsworth Hotsprings has a resort hotel and restaurant. The dinner special was sturgeon. Neither of us had ever tried it before. The thick, white fillet had the consistency of swordfish, but with a very mild flavor. We would definitely have it again.

No dinner is complete with a toast to the day just finished:

This ends our adventures in Nelson, BC. Tomorrow is full of chores and logistics before we move on to Vernon, B.C.

Cheers!