My son and I were on a beautiful trail leading up to an ice covered mountain.
We met a group of university students, all girls, diligently working on the soil for biological inventory. We stopped to chat with them.
Soon, we saw a sign posted about the Grizzly bears’ activity in the area.
My son and I moved on with a feeling of what I call “sweet fear”.
It was surely not like that intense feeling of fear of panic, of overwhelming terror, or of a sense of impending doom. It wasn’t a moderate level of fear of increased anxiety, of apprehension, or of a sense of dread. It wasn’t even a mild level of fear of slight discomfort, of nervousness, or of worry.
It was a feeling of fear that cannot be defined. It was a feeling that something may go wrong, but we are safe as hundreds of solo backpackers have hiked through the trail and those students are working in that area without any protection.
We noticed that the trees and plants were charred due to a fire, either natural or controlled by humans for whatever reason.
We were hiking on the Simpson River Trail in Kootenay National Park in the first week of June. The Park was living up to its reputation of the land of ice, at least it had snow covered mountaintops and surely several glaciers up there, and of fire.
the park
Kootenay National Park is located in southeast British Columbia and protects 1,406 km² (543 sq. miles) of the Main and Western Ranges of the Rocky Mountains Natural Region. We found Kootenay to be a land of extreme wilderness comprising mountains, grasslands, canyons, towering waterfalls, meandering rivers, and forests that blanket the area.
Highway 93 passes through the park and we decided to explore the park from its southernmost point to the northernmost. Highway 93 ultimately meets Highway 1 in the northeast that takes one either to the Banff National Park in the east or to the Yoho National Park in the west.
1st stop – sinclair canyon
Sinclair Canyon is the first attraction at the very beginning of Highway 93 and comes on the west side. From the Highway, we could see the river flowing at the bottom of the canyon.
Reddish cliffs towered above us leading to the ridge line high up.
2nd stop – the olive lake
We hiked around Olive Lake, which is a small lake right beside the highway on its east side. Olive coloured waters of the lake probably give the name.
In the picture below, the highway can be seen on the other side of the lake.
3rd stop – view of hector gorge and then a grizzly bear
Hector Gorge Viewpoint comes on the east side of the Highway and offers stunning views of the gorge created by the Kootenay River.
However, the thrill came when, reentering the Highway from the parking lot, we saw a grizzly bear on the other side of the Highway. A Park Ranger was monitoring its presence. The picture below is of a much bigger grizzly bear that we saw in Jasper National Park a few days earlier.
4th stop – hiking at simpson river trail
Simpson River and the trail came on the west side of the Highway. We started the hike after crossing the Simpson River.
The views from the bridge itself was jaw dropping.
As we hiked on the trail, my son and I noticed the surrounding forest was burnt from recent wildfires while snow covered peaks hovered in the distance.
There were interpretive signs on the first 1-1/2 kilometres of the trail with information on the process of wildfire, regeneration, and succession.
Then there were signs of caution because of the grizzly bears’ activity in the area. However, we continued our hike for a considerable distance till our feeling of ‘sweet fear’ started turning into a mild level of fear and then a moderate level of fear as we started noticing our loneliness.
5th stop – numa creek
Numa creek came on the west side of the Highway. While a 13.8 km moderately difficult out-and-back trail starts from here, we only stopped here to have our brunch. The creek and the surroundings offered ineffable scenery.
A lady and her dog were sitting on a rock by the side of the creek. While the lady, oblivious of our presence, was taking in the scenery, her dog noticed us and kept looking at us.
6th stop – the historical paint pots
As the photo below shows, the Paint Pots trail is a favourite of many and we enjoyed it as well.
It comes on the west side of the Highway after crossing a bridge offering spectacular views of the river and the snow-capped peaks and a glacier in the background.
The natural mineral rich ochre beds were used by the indigenous people for ceremonial purposes.
We hiked from the parking spot on an easy trail that consisted of a boardwalk for most of the part to protect the delicate ecosystem.
We hiked through a few pine trees, an open meadow with small ponds, on a gradual ascent with the constant views of snow capped Vermillion Peak, Tumbling NE5 and Numa NW3.
Wildflowers growing in the ochre beds provided a contrast and looked appealing to the eyes.
7th stop – marble canyon
Banff National Park has Johnston Canyon and Mistaya Canyon. Jasper National Park has Maligne Canyon. Kootenay National Park has Marble Canon.
For Marble Canyon, we crossed the bridge over Vermillion River.
At the start of the trail, we saw these two artists capturing the beauty of Vermillion River and the Canyon.
It turned out to be a short, easy trail featuring a deep limestone gorge and turquoise waters, offering scenic views of the canyon with Tokumm Creek flowing through it before its confluence with the Vermilion River downstream.
The young girl offered to stand on the natural rock bridge for me to take a picture of.
The trail offers ethereal views of the mountain named Chimney Rock.
We saw this well camouflaged yellow-rumped warbler flying from rock to rock and perhaps catching insects during the flight.
A Western Kingbird gave us company for a few minutes.
8th stop – a view of the vista lake
The outlook came on the west side of the Highway.
A young couple was preparing to hike this 2.7-km out-and-back trail, generally considered a moderately challenging route, it takes an average of 1 hour to complete.
However, having hiked a lot already and getting intimidated by a steep descent, we decided to have our tea and snacks here while taking in the scenery.
Final words
Until our next blog, au revoir! Be outdoorsy, embrace diversity, and support causes for the conservation of nature!
K2, the Kuvasz, and me 