Sunday, August 23, 2009 – Day 42
As we headed Northwest from Waterton National Park we drove through the small town of Pincher Creek. Along the horizon this town is dotted with dozens and dozens of strategically placed modern windmills. It is obvious that these windmills are taking over agriculture as the regions’ bread and butter. I have been told that the windmills are having a direct impact on the farming and ranching as a rancher can earn $5000 per month by having a windmill on their property without having to do any work at all. Farming and ranching however require a great deal of work and don’t include a guaranteed income.
The windmills however are mesmorizing and certainly did attract my attention. I had to make a conscious effort to keep my eyes on the road and avoid staring at them too long as they were a definite distraction. Its great to see windmills being used to create clean energy where there is plenty of wind to spare.
We said goodbye to Alberta for the second time on our Cross Canada Adventure as we passed into British Columbia. We crossed over the lowest pass of the Rocky Mountain Range at Crowsnest pass on the number 6 highway. Here we also had a look at the Frank Rock Slide where on April 29, 1903 a rock slide chopped off the side of Turtle mountain and buried a mining village at the base of the mountain. It left us in awe to see the massive boulders that had slid down the mountain and still stand tall to the sides of the highway as monuments to nature’s strength and power. It would have been an awful sight to see this mountainside crumbling into the base of the valley. Boulders the size of large houses still remain, scattered across the valley.
Due to having little sleep the night before I was a bit exhausted. We looked around for a school playground close to the main highway but settled for a Nature Sanctuary that bordered a Tourist Information Centre in Cranbrook. The signs posted at the edge of the parking lot talked about BC’s only turtles which inhabited the bordering lake. This was enough to get the attention of the kids who wanted to see if they could spot the Western Painted Turtles. They explored the lake shore while I enjoyed a short afternoon siesta.
By the time my siesta was over and the kids had finished exploring it was dinner time. We were perfectly situated next to a picnic table and the weather was beautiful so we decided that we would enjoy our meal outdoors. After being cooped up in an RV for too long it is nice to get outside to eat. Although it sometimes seems like a chore to pull everything out and drag it back inside again, the bees and the fresh air are always welcome… most of the time. Mosquitoes on the other hand we can always do without.
Rather than head directly west we decided that we were going to take a slight detour to Ainsworth Hot Springs. This meant that we needed to head North along the East side of Kootenay Lake. It did not look like a long drive on the map but with the windy road that hugged along the edge of the lake it did take a bit longer than I had expected. It was a beautiful drive however but my family passengers had to make a conscious effort to keep their eyes on the road to avoid the carsick effects that a windy road can produce. Along the road we saw an old 1800’s store that I was surprised to see still was in operation. Apart from a few beach resorts and a glass castle there was not much else that I noticed along this shore to see. We were too late in the day however to enjoy any more stops. We pulled into the lakeside ferry terminal at dusk.
To get to Ainsworth Hot-springs we needed to traverse the lake. Fortunately the world’s longest free ferry is located right here. Yes, envision that, a free vehicle ferry. While lingering an hour for the next crossing, I enjoyed exploring the neighboring beach with my wife and kids. We clamored over logs, tossed rocks into the lake and hopped between stones on the lakeside. I had to employ the low light settings on my camera as nightfall descended on us while the ferry slid into its boarding position.
We descended the ferry ramp which was tipping at an angle that made me cringe. I descended onto the ferry deck cautiously but as I peered into my rear-view mirror, I witnessed my septic pipe dragging on the ground. The lid popped off as I surveyed three gallons of effluent spilling out behind me. Humiliated, I slammed my RV into park and clamored out to replace the cap on the flowing septic pipe just in time to hear one of the ferry workers holler for a fire-hose. Embarrassed, I screwed the cap back on my pipe and ran back into the RV to hide from the dozens of eyes that by now were turned to examine where the smell was coming from. The lake crossing only took about 20 minutes and we were relieved to exit the ferry and be on our way again.
Ten minutes down the road we looked for a place to park our RV near Ainsworth Hot Springs. Without any luck we parked at a turnoff which had a dirt logging road leading to some caves that are part of the provincial park system. The road however said no RV’s were allowed up the 7 km logging road to the caves. Too bad, we really did want to go cave exploring the next morning. We decided to just park here on the side of the road for the night as it was late, I didn’t figure out why it said “No Parking” until the next morning.