Day 32: To Kokanee Creek Provincial Park

July 31, 2007

I'm not sure why but I got up early at 6:45 and was on the road at 8:20 heading north on Highway 3A to Kootenay lake.

Approaching Kootenay Lake. For a short time I travel north with the sun behind me.

Highway 3A has much less traffic than highway 3. No trucks, but also no paved shoulder. It's a relief compared to the loud truck traffic of the last couple days. Unfortunately, there appears to be a forest fire to my north.

The road stays near the lake but had few views of the water. The southernmost part of the lake is mostly private homes on large lots. Then small resorts appear starting in the village of Boswell.

Lovely traffic-free lakeside touring along Kootenay lake.

The afternoon was very warm. It was nice to have a cool lake to jump into.

I got much closer to the smoke cloud as I approached the Kootenay lake ferry terminal.

The Crawford Bay broom company seems to be a big tourist attraction.

The road today is seldom level. Mostly rolling hills but there is a larger steeper climb between Crawford Bay and the ferry terminal. I waited 30 minutes for the ferry. Fortunately there is an excellent place to wait. The 4:30PM ferry was 30 minutes late, running on one engine.

This beach is conveniently located next to the Kootenay lake ferry. A great place to hang out while waiting for the ferry.

Bikes and pedestrians load and unload first.

Killing time on the Kootenay lake ferry.

The ride across Kootenay lake takes 40 minutes - the world's longest FREE ferry ride.

I got back on the road at 5:30 PM, then promptly stopped for groceries at the Balfour "Superette". It was only 10 level km from the Balfour ferry dock to Kokanee Creek provincial park.

It's a huge park with a very large campground. The campground was full and I was directed to the hiker/biker shelter 500 m away from the main campground in a shady secluded area very close to Kokanee creek. Best of all it was free and the campground has free showers 1 km away.

Camping is FREE at the hiker/biker shelter at Kokanee Creek Provincial Park. Good thing because the main campground was full.

The air was very smoky when I arrived at the park. Visibility was only about 3 km. Helicopters flew over constantly. Every 1 to 2 minutes a helicopter would scoop water out of the lake less than 1 km away. Fortunately the helicopters stopped flying when it got dark. I shared the shelter area with a solo female cyclist.

Today had great weather. High of 30C (87F), low of 13C (55F). Sunshine, low humidity, and a cooling breeze. Perfect weather for bike touring. It was a treat to escape the high traffic on the Crowsnest highway and travel north with the sun behind me.

Distance: 96 km / 60 mi

Climbing: 600 m / 1980 ft

Today's ride: 96 km (60 miles)
Total: 2,593 km (1,610 miles)

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