Revelstoke

Lynne Young and I spent four days in Revelstoke this past week. Other than going on the Eva Lake hike near Revelstoke with the Vernon Outdoors Club a few years ago, I had never spent any time in the area nor had I seen the town that Terry Keough comes from; although I had seen his painting of it. I was impressed with the town itself and the recent improvements made to the mountain area, which I had heard a lot about. It has always been known as a CPR hub and an area where really good skiers go for the snow and steep runs, but increasingly it is becoming a four season tourist area with facilities for all levels of skiers, mountain bikers, climbers and hikers. Lynne and I visited the CPR Railway Museum before registering in our hotel on Tuesday afternoon. We were impressed by the exhibits showing the monumental labour involved in getting the tracks through the Rogers Pass and across the mountains in general. The Rogers Pass route through the Selkirk Mountains which was used between approximately 1885 and 1916 was difficult to build and dangerous to operate, largely because of avalanches. 

Our hike on Thursday was the Great Glacier hike which starts near the site of Glacier House, a luxurious CPR Hotel that attracted tourists from all over the world to climb, hike and site see from 1887 until soon after the CPR line ceased to use the Rogers Pass. It was finally torn down in 1925 but parts of the heavy stone foundation remain near the trailhead. The glacier that guests at Glacier House could have walked to has receded to such an extent that we could only glimpse it in the distance. Aside from the views, one of the best parts of the hike was the fact that it followed one of the many small meltwater rivers flowing from the glaciers, so we were always within the sound of running water. 

Our hike on Wednesday was the Stoke Climb Trail which starts at the top of the second gondola. It also was a moderate hike with wonderful views. 

We drove home on Friday, stopping to walk to two waterfalls before continuing on highway 23 and on to highway 6. I was glad that Lynne had suggested this route because I had never driven it and it included two short ferries. 

Melt water pouring off the glacier

The group that went on the Stoke Trail hike

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. "

That commandment came to my mind as I finished writing to Tracey Van de Vyvere, Bert's daughter, this morning. Her son, Ian, was diagnosed with melanoma about a year ago, but I didn't hear about it until her sister Lisa emailed me this week to say that the original cancer had metastasized to such an extent that Ian was in great pain and had recently been going back and forth between the hospital and hospice. She told me about a parade of special cars that had been organized to drive past the hospital especially for him. Cars have been his passion since he was very young. He still is far too young to be enduring so much pain. I watched a video of the parade and forwarded it to Jay. We were both moved by the way Ian and Tracey spoke on the video. I wrote to Tracey to let her know that we were thinking of them and hoping for the best. But I have since heard back from her that they have been told there is no hope of Ian's survival. The medical staff is doing its best to ease his pain and the family is with him giving him all the love they can to help him in his passage out of this life and into the unknown. 

It is Sunday as I write this. I don't know why that commandment came into my mind unless it is because as I sit here I realize that we do need to take time now and then to do nothing and let what is inside out. I often end up writing in such moments. When I begin I don't know what I'll write about, if anything. I discover by writing it down that it is meaningful me. At times, as now, the process makes me cry and gives me a momentary headache. But once it's down in words I feel a bit relieved. Even I, whose life has been comparatively easy, need some means of lightening the weight of living: rewarding work, time spent with family and friends, getting outside in nature or just taking moments to rest and write and let whatever's inside out. 

When the agony of this time slowly diminishes, I hope that Tracey and her family will have moments of rest and somehow find peace.

We had a wonderful early spring and a wet late spring and early summer. Now it's Okanagan summer with all that that entails in the way of sun and fun. The locals are happy. The Albertans are back. Many locals are not happy about that. This is the summer long weekend. The beaches are crowded with people lazing on towels or just offshore on enormous bright coloured floaties. Water levels are down now, so motor boats are roaring around the lakes again. Strangely, the price of gas is also down to $105.9 a litre. That's lower than it was last week. Usually prices go up during the summer holidays. Maybe the gas companies are giving people a break in this time of Covid 19; although, that's uncharacteristic of them. Or are they desperate to keep their gas guzzling, big boat and vehicle supporters on side in these days of less travel and increasing concern about the environment? Whatever the explanation is, the heat is on in the Okanagan to such an extent that Kelowna has had a spike in Covid cases in the last while. It now has a newly hired and trained Covid brigade patrolling its streets and beaches reminding people to remember Dr. Bonnie Henry's words: Be calm. Be polite. Maintain physical distance. Wash your hands, etc., etc. I wish them well. It's not going to be easy to keep high powered, skimpily dressed, drinking, drugging summer funsters calm and apart. 

I of course am not numbered among the funsters. But I do enjoy the shoulder hours of the day: walking, biking and kayaking before noon;  weeding and watering the yard in the evening. I open every window at night and close them all in the morning. In the heat of the day I close the blinds and sit or lie down in front of a fan to read or refresh (snooze). 😂Ah, the quiet joys of old age. I continue to try not to use the air conditioning. I have many justifications for that, ranging from believing that the artificial coolness  followed by excessive heat is bad for the health to saying that we have a short season of real heat and I want to fully experience it. Increasingly I can add concern for the environment to the list. And there is also the fact that I have more trouble than most parting with 💰. 

Lusia and I on a morning walk along the BX Creek to the falls, one of the shadiest places in Vernon. 

Mo in her new kayak on our first breakfast paddle on Swan Lake