Day 14: Going back in time

Fort Steele - from the water tower

July 19:  After some errands such as changing the oil in the car (told you I wouldn’t forget, Garry!), we made ourselves a picnic lunch and headed up to Fort Steele, about 17 km out of Cranbrook.  It began life as a town/ferry crossing and became “Fort Steele” when Superintendent Sam Steele and members of the Northwest Mounted Police established a post there and resolved problems with the native Ktunaxa.  It boomed in the 1890s when silver, lead and coal were discovered nearby but by 1910 it was in sharp decline.  It was turned into a heritage site in the early 1960s.  As you can see, the barracks and shops gave a really good feel for the historic town -- and the heat and dust felt pretty old-west-ish too!  Ice cream was definitely called for.  It was 38 degrees in Fort Steele...which dropped to about 29 when we left.  Lovely setting for it, surrounded by the hills and mountains of the East Kootenay.

The General Store

Kimberley

We did a loop around from there, dipping our feet in Lake Wasa (very appreciated after the heat!) and into Kimberley, which is a nice little town of about 7500 with a distinctive Germanic flavour and pedestrian downtown.  A mother elk strolled across the road and nimbly hopped over the fence to join her young on the other side.  More wildlife!  Another swim after supper.

If you look at a map of the clouds of smoke, you will see that Cranbrook is virtually in the middle of one of the few clear areas in the southern part of the province.  Kootenay Park, of which they’ve now closed parts, is only about 130 km away.  It is with a mixture of disappointment and relief that we’ll leave B.C. tomorrow.  We’d planned to make it to Victoria and Vancouver Island but that’s just not an option this year.  At least we can get out safely on open roads at this point.

Heritage Inn. Back to Mr. Mike’s!