Windrose Ramblings: Going off in all directions - Part 3 West

And we’re off again – this time heading west.

We joined together with our good friends, Bob and Donna, for about ten days of camping and fishing in B.C. We had a great time together. The fishing, on the other hand, wasn’t as dramatic as others would have you believe. Bob was feeling that there weren’t any fish in B.C. Period.

Our first night was Boondocking at the elevators in Nanton, booked through Harvest Host. We met a passerby who was visiting from the Lake district in the United Kingdom. He wanted a photo of our rig just to show the folks back home that these things would not fit on their local roadways!

We camped in Creston at Scottie's RV and Campground for a few days. While the men took the boat out to fish on Kootenay Lake, Donna and I explored the town.

Always time for a coffee

The elevator has been restored as an art gallery and gift shop.

Time for some wine tasting at Baillie-Grohman Winery.

We also took time together with the guys to walk around the Wildlife Management Area, and play some mini-golf.

At the Creston Museum we learned something about the history of the area and about some eccentric pioneers. Creston has a varied and unique history: from taming the river for agricultural development, to forestry and mining, all in the same area.

After the three days of fishing, and only one pikeminnow to show for it, we went to the popular Tim's Fish and Chips for lunch and had cod fish.

Moving on - over the mountains to Nakusp Hot Springs campground. Enroute we stopped at this lovely cabin for a picnic lunch at the top of the Kootenay Pass.

We had a wonderful time relaxing in the hot springs, camped right alongside the river, listening to the rushing water all night long. That is the way to holiday and relax!

The next day we went on a beautiful hike to find the source of the hot springs and the original hot pools before rewarding ourselves with another soak in the hot springs pool.

Rested and refreshed, it was on to Kinbasket Lake RV Resort near Golden. To get there from Nakusp involved a ferry ride across Arrow Lakes. The last bit was a 4 km steep gravel switchback forestry road down to the campground at the lake which took almost half an hour to negotiate! The camp spot view was worth the effort. The guys got the boat wet and us girls enjoyed relaxing on shore!

Kinbasket Lake is a reservoir on the Columbia River created by the Mica Dam. It's huge, reaching almost from Valemount to Golden! At this time of year the water levels were quite low and the campground didn't have the dock in yet.