It was dark when we boarded the ferry back to Vancour. Its about a 90 min crossing and after the early start an onboard breakfast of coffee and a blueberry muffin was much needed.
As dawn broke we were treated to the most amazing skies, which only lasted a few minutes. The image was just how it looked. A dark sea, and dark clouds lifting to reveal a letterbox of orange sky with silhouetted mountains and islands and another ferry.
Evening light at Harrison lake.
We were heading to Harrison Hot Springs for two nights. The hotel gave us free passess to the pool which is fed by the hot springs but to be honest we just ran out of time and did not use them.
Cheam Lake and Wetlands is a popular birdwatching area. The lake was drained in 1949 to expedite mining for marl limestone which is a form of calcium carbonate mud, formerly done by slurry suckers. In 1990 the lake became a regional park, and efforts began (and continue today) to restore this area to its natural state. We spotted lots of woodland birds here but summer wildfowl had left and winter wildfowl was yet to arrive.
A Downy Woodpecker. This was very small and is similar to our Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.
A record shot of a Red Breasted Sapsucker, great name . Sapsuckers are part of the Woodpecker family. They probe the bark for small insects and drill rows of shallow holes in the bark from which they lick up the flowing sap.
Black Capped Chickadee, very numerous and everyone likes to see these.
A busy railway line crossed the Harrison River at the point where we were walking. This is the famous Rocky Mountaineer carrying passengers across Canada
Canadian Pacific goods train. Just the start. These trains can be up to 200 to 300 carriages long and have engines at the front, in the middle and at the end. They travel just a bit faster than a walking pace. Glad we didn’t have to wait at a crossing for these to pass.
A Western Grebe was hunting out on the river.
A juvenile Common Loon .
The main reason we stopped at the Harrison Hot Springs area was to try and find some Bald Eagles. In mid November they have a Bald eagle festival as thousands of Eagles visit the river for the salmon spawning season. Hard to imagine really. Anyway, we knew we were a bit early so we were’t expecting to see that many, but we hoped we might spot some of the resident Eagles. This one flew past us and onwards up the river.
The Sandpiper Golf and Country Club at Harrison Mills have a viewing area looking over the river where you can watch the Eagles. These two were close by up a tree and looking thoroughly fed up as the weather was very damp and misty. This was a great golf club, lots of trees and perfect greens. They welcomed visitoirs to view the Eagles and even have a dedicated marked nature trail down to the covered viewing area. We had lunch here in a warm welcoming dining area. Everyone was very friendly.
Would not like to be on the end of that beak, and those eyes……………. We can’t look at these birds without thinking of “The Muppets” TV show.
Just outside the town, on the way to Revelstoke is the Bridal Falls. Set in a deep forest area and a bit of an up hill walk, you could hear it long before you saw it.
This must be just a wall of water thundering down when the snow melts.
From the hotel balcony in Revelstoke.
The next part of our trip to Revelstoke was the longest and took about Five hours, with a stop in Kamloops for a delicious scrambled egg breakfast wrap. The car was easy to drive and by now we were getting used to being on “the other side of the road”. It was one road all the way, the Trans Canada Highway 1. We were glad it wasnt snowing, although snow was visible in many areas, as warnings to change to winter tyres and for trucks to carry chains on certain parts as we climbed high into the mountains made us a little wary. Especially as we were in a rental car and no idea if we had winter tyres or not.
This was a change to our original agenda, it was going to be a much longer drive. We were supposed to go up to Jasper with an overnight stay in Kamloops. However, serious wildfires in the late summer destroyed a lot of the areas in the national park and worse still about a third of the town of Jasper. We would still have gone but our hotel couldn’t guarantee to be open and in the end all trips to this area were cancelled. So difficult for the residents of Jasper who rely on tourism, so not only have they lost their homes but many lost their income for this year as well. We believe one firefighter also lost his life. It must have been a very frightening experience for all.
We were transfered to the Sutton Place Hotel, Revelstoke Mountain Village. This is primarily a skiing resort and has mountain biking etc in the summer, so it was very quiet this time of year, and we benefitted. They upgraded our room to a suite. Well, it was huge. Kitchen, living room with giant television, utility room with washer dryer and room for outdoor gear, a snug with a sofa bed and another giant television, two bathrooms, and a bedroom with the biggest and most comfortable bed we have ever seen, oh and another giant television, under floor heating, plus a balcony with mountain views. Car Parks were underground and led directly to the rooms. Luxury and an ideal place for us to rest up.
Large greenspaces have been put aside for wildlife along the the Colombia River at Revelstoke. These spaces can flood at times depending on the flow through the Revelstoke Hydro Dam. You can hike these areas but be aware of the change of the flow of the river. It was very low and slow when we were there but can imagine it in full flood after the spring melt.
Revelstoke National Park. The Illecillewaet River, which is a tributary of the Columbia River.
The Illecillewaet River. Look at the power of water that can pick up a tree and toss it to one side like a small branch. And this isn’t the main river.
We parked here and had lunch watching the river race by. This was also the parking area for the Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk Trail.
What is Skunk Cabbage we hear you ask. The Lysichiton americanus got its name as its supposed to have a skunk like smell. It likes marshy areas and in the Spring the area is full of its yellow flowers, which then give way to massive green cabbage like leaves. They were all dying back when we were there and were odour free. Only a small portion of the boardwalk remained open as the rest had started to rot down into the marsh. Work was ongoing to fix it, but it is going to take a while.
The area is supposed to be a fantastic bird watching spot, but as we discovered, this is the edge of the Rockies in October and most birds had migrated to warmer climates. So sadly not the amount of birds we were hoping for.
We did, however, get our first sighting of the Stellers Jay. This beautiful inquisitive blue bird came and greeted us as we walked the boardwalk.
One lone Yellow Butterfly was busy around the picnic area. Think this is a Clouded Sulphur.
The Giant Cedars Boardwalk Trail. These are the oldest Red Cedar trees in British Colombia,some over 500 years old and is part of the rare temperate rain forest. You could get dizzy and neck ache looking up to the tops of these trees as you walk round. The elevated boardwalk is protect the fragile forest floor. Its only a short walk but so worth it.
Mount Revelstoke is the tallest mountain in the park with a peak of 6,375 feet
Revelstoke National park. The higher part of the road was closed due to light snowfall but you could still access the summit by foot if you felt energetic, which we did not.
The Columbia River is vast, fast and powerful. It winds 2,000Km, 1243 miles, through British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon and empties into the Pacific Ocean. Apparently the rivers delta has an area the size of France. The things you find out when you travel.
We followed the road alongside the river to Shelter Bay, where a small car ferry crosses the lake. The Arrow Lakes are divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, and are widenings of the Columbia River made by the building of the hydro dam.
Picnic tables are dotted about and we sat quetly for a while and saw a host of birds. A Northern Flicker flew in briefly and we managed to grab a quick picture before it disappeared.
Redbreasted Nuthatches were busy finding food in the fir cones.
A shy White Throated Sparrow.
A White Crowned Sparrow.
One of our favourites. Quite a few Stellers Jays were collecting some kind of nut and were being very noisy about it. We watched these for ages.
With our stay in Revelstoke over, we set off on our next part of the journey, again on the Trans Canada Highway 1, to the town of Golden.