Kootenay Road Trip 2020 Scenes: An Oasis at Bridal Lake

Standard highway rest stops offer a parking lot and one or two grungy bathrooms. Some, if they’re really trying, throw in a picnic table or two, a dog walk area and maybe a concession stand. The rest stop at the top of Kootenay Pass, the summit of Highway 3 between Salmo and Creston, has all of them beaten — it has Bridal Lake.

Bridal Lake isn’t big and it isn’t deep. What it is is calm and beautiful, with a lovely trail wending through the woods beside its quiet waters. And for travellers tired of the wildfire smoke filling the valleys below, it has wonderfully clean air and blue skies.

We came upon this wonder as we drove between Slocan and Creston in mid-September. It was our first time driving up Kootenay Pass and, pulling our small travel trailer, we were keenly aware how steep and high the highway was. It only seemed natural to stop at the top to take a look around.

We walked the path around Bridal Lake, taking in the foliage that was just one step closer to fall colours than we had seen below. No wildlife menaced us, just the usual outraged squirrels loudly chattering demands that we leave their territory. The walk didn’t take long — perhaps 30 minutes from one end to the other and back — but it refreshed and reinvigorated us for the plunging highway ahead that would carry us to our next campsite in Creston.

Researching later we discovered the lake and rest stop are in Stagleap Provincial Park and there are many more trails to explore should we ever return. I can’t say we won’t!

(See below for a couple more views of Bridal Lake and its surroundings.)

Kootenay Road Trip 2020 Scenes: The Smooth Waters of Slocan Lake

Rarely, if ever, have I seen a lake so clear, so calm and so beautiful as Slocan Lake. And when I got up the courage to take a short swim, rarely have I encountered a lake as chilly as Slocan Lake. But it was nearly mid-September so what should I have expected?

Slocan Lake is the source of the Slocan River, which flows south to join the Kootenay River and then the Columbia River. The lake is 30 kilometres long and nearly three kilometres across at its widest point. Depth? Well, we didn’t verify it, but the lake is supposedly nearly 1,000 feet deep in some places.

Why is the water so clear? I suspect it’s because the lake is fed by mountain creeks and streams and there is little to no industrial development on its shores to muddy the waters. One source claims 93 per cent of the lake’s 83-kilometre shoreline is unaltered — amazing in this day and age.

We knew none of this when we visited the lake, but canoeing up the southwest shoreline we marvelled at the tranquility of the lake, the beautiful evening light, the crystal-clear waters beneath our canoe and — more than anything — the peaceful quiet so hard to find anywhere else.

If you happen to be in Slocan, do go for a paddle. You’ll be glad you did.

(See below for a few lake photos, including one of the Silver Belle, a paddlewheel boat for tourists and events.)

Kootenay Road Trip 2020 Scenes: Sandon’s Ghost Town Buses

Imagine our surprise when we visited one of BC’s genuine ghost towns and discovered…a fleet of trolley buses?

That ghost town was Sandon, BC. It’s located in the mountains a few kilometres off the highway between Kaslo and New Denver. In silver-rush days, Sandon was a going concern: at its peak it had more than 5,000 residents, two railways, brothels and a booming economy. Like other settlements in the area, the town faded when the silver rush ended. Sandon found use as an internment camp for Japanese-Canadians during and after the Second World War (as detailed in my New Denver post a few days ago), but was all but destroyed in 1955 when the creek that cuts through the town flooded. (An even-larger flood in early 2020 threatened to remove what was left of Sandon, but through heroic efforts most historical items were saved.)

Today Sandon is a ghost town, drawing tourists curious to visit its museum, single store and small hydroelectric generating station. A steam locomotive and some train cars remain, but the tracks they rode upon have been torn up and the roadbed is used for hiking.

So how did the buses get there? It’s a long story; the short version is that transit history buffs are storing the collection of Canadian Car Brill Electric Trolley buses in Sandon in hopes they will one day be restored and returned to revenue service. The collection, drawn from several Canadian cities, consists of three trolley models built between 1946 and 1954 and identified by the Transit Museum Society of Vancouver as most historically important for restoration.

It takes a little effort to get to Sandon, including a drive on a rutted gravel road, but if you have the time it’s a worthwhile detour, if only to see the old trains and trolley buses parked there. Be sure to check out all the photos!