Picture Postcards on the way to Rossland by Ernie Hawks
for the River Journal, 6 December 2006
Linda and I had just celebrated our birthdays, and a quick road trip seemed like it would be a good present to ourselves.
At the suggestion of a friend we decided on Rossland, British Columbia. I hadn’t been there for years and Linda had never been.
We traveled north up the Purcell Trench for Salmo pass. This isn’t the quickest route, but quickest wasn’t part of the plan.
At Creston we headed west through the marshland that makes up the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area. The 17,000-acre, internationally accredited wetland is home to 370 bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian and fish species. We didn’t stop to walk any of the miles of trails since all the tall grass was winter yellow and some had started to lie down.
Starting up the pass we drove through spruce, golden tamaracks, and more and more into winter. It wasn’t long before we had our first real winter driving of the year. The clouds created a ceiling but the top of the peaks around us were generally clear. At the summit is Stag Leap Provincial Park, which is over 5,200 ft. Here, next to a quiet, frozen mountain lake, is a post card perfect log cabin used as a warming hut for cross country skiers and snow boarders. I waded into the knee-deep snow, camera in hand, to get my own “post card” of the cabin.
On the west side of the pass Linda drove down the six to eight percent grades. I, with camera ready, searched for perfect pictures. The road was slick with slush, and a truck was following us when I saw several Bighorn Sheep on a talus slope above the road. As I was putting a telephoto lens on the camera, Linda maneuvered us down the hill to a turnout. After the truck passed she took us back up to the base of the slope and pulled off.
Resting the camera on the top of the car, I started shooting at rams as they butted each other, discussing who was alpha. Two stood in conflict as another blocked my view. He was checking out the guy with a camera. Just then Linda shouted, “Look, they’re about to do it.” All of a sudden all the rams in my viewfinder left and headed for a ewe who seemed to enjoy the attention. For the rams she turned out to be a tease, this time, but she still kept their focus, and ours, for an hour or so.
We gave up trying to get some “big horn porn” and started on down the hill. Ahead of us the valley was a perfect glacial trench with extremely steep slopes on both sides and a round valley floor. High up on each side were hanging valleys where smaller glaciers had once lived. I wondered how many of them held small lakes.
Leaving the valley near the town of Salmo, we headed west toward Trail. Driving through the lowlands of the Kootenays, passing small communities along the way, we came to the Columbia River. A few miles upstream we were in Trail. A huge smelter on a bench above the river dominates city center. It is the largest employer in the area; it may be keeping Trail and Rossland from becoming ghost towns. Just below the smelter we started up the hill to our destination of the day. The road between the two towns is about six miles, and the elevation gain is nearly two thousand feet.
Rossland is a quaint old mining town hanging on steep slopes just below Red Mountain Ski Resort. This small village is dotted with turn-of-the-century architecture on inclines that would thrill a skate boarder. During the tourist season a real old mine can be toured along with a mining museum.
We found a fun restaurant and pub for a meal, then wandered some of the shops before a long soak in the hot tub at our motel. We had had a good day just the way we wanted it: a three-hour drive that took eight, lots of views and time for just us.
In the morning we headed home down the Columbia River into Washington. There were many fall sights and I photographed some. While shooting a country lane lined with trees of every fall color, I needed some falling leaves. It was cold and Linda sat patiently in the car. I enlisted her to stand out of camera view and shake tree branches to encourage falling leaves. She helped Mother Nature, and I got a few shots.
A trip past Old Fort Spokane, a short shopping stop in the Spokane Valley and we were home late that afternoon.
We were relaxed by the outing and agreed we needed to get away from our home projects more. Plus, we live in a great place for a quick relaxing road trip.
for the River Journal, 6 December 2006
Linda and I had just celebrated our birthdays, and a quick road trip seemed like it would be a good present to ourselves.
At the suggestion of a friend we decided on Rossland, British Columbia. I hadn’t been there for years and Linda had never been.
We traveled north up the Purcell Trench for Salmo pass. This isn’t the quickest route, but quickest wasn’t part of the plan.
At Creston we headed west through the marshland that makes up the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area. The 17,000-acre, internationally accredited wetland is home to 370 bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian and fish species. We didn’t stop to walk any of the miles of trails since all the tall grass was winter yellow and some had started to lie down.
Starting up the pass we drove through spruce, golden tamaracks, and more and more into winter. It wasn’t long before we had our first real winter driving of the year. The clouds created a ceiling but the top of the peaks around us were generally clear. At the summit is Stag Leap Provincial Park, which is over 5,200 ft. Here, next to a quiet, frozen mountain lake, is a post card perfect log cabin used as a warming hut for cross country skiers and snow boarders. I waded into the knee-deep snow, camera in hand, to get my own “post card” of the cabin.
On the west side of the pass Linda drove down the six to eight percent grades. I, with camera ready, searched for perfect pictures. The road was slick with slush, and a truck was following us when I saw several Bighorn Sheep on a talus slope above the road. As I was putting a telephoto lens on the camera, Linda maneuvered us down the hill to a turnout. After the truck passed she took us back up to the base of the slope and pulled off.
Resting the camera on the top of the car, I started shooting at rams as they butted each other, discussing who was alpha. Two stood in conflict as another blocked my view. He was checking out the guy with a camera. Just then Linda shouted, “Look, they’re about to do it.” All of a sudden all the rams in my viewfinder left and headed for a ewe who seemed to enjoy the attention. For the rams she turned out to be a tease, this time, but she still kept their focus, and ours, for an hour or so.
We gave up trying to get some “big horn porn” and started on down the hill. Ahead of us the valley was a perfect glacial trench with extremely steep slopes on both sides and a round valley floor. High up on each side were hanging valleys where smaller glaciers had once lived. I wondered how many of them held small lakes.
Leaving the valley near the town of Salmo, we headed west toward Trail. Driving through the lowlands of the Kootenays, passing small communities along the way, we came to the Columbia River. A few miles upstream we were in Trail. A huge smelter on a bench above the river dominates city center. It is the largest employer in the area; it may be keeping Trail and Rossland from becoming ghost towns. Just below the smelter we started up the hill to our destination of the day. The road between the two towns is about six miles, and the elevation gain is nearly two thousand feet.
Rossland is a quaint old mining town hanging on steep slopes just below Red Mountain Ski Resort. This small village is dotted with turn-of-the-century architecture on inclines that would thrill a skate boarder. During the tourist season a real old mine can be toured along with a mining museum.
We found a fun restaurant and pub for a meal, then wandered some of the shops before a long soak in the hot tub at our motel. We had had a good day just the way we wanted it: a three-hour drive that took eight, lots of views and time for just us.
In the morning we headed home down the Columbia River into Washington. There were many fall sights and I photographed some. While shooting a country lane lined with trees of every fall color, I needed some falling leaves. It was cold and Linda sat patiently in the car. I enlisted her to stand out of camera view and shake tree branches to encourage falling leaves. She helped Mother Nature, and I got a few shots.
A trip past Old Fort Spokane, a short shopping stop in the Spokane Valley and we were home late that afternoon.
We were relaxed by the outing and agreed we needed to get away from our home projects more. Plus, we live in a great place for a quick relaxing road trip.
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