Thursday, June 7th

We left Salmo at 8:45am after  our friends treated us to a hearty breakfast.   We made our way down to the Slocan Valley and up it through Slocan, New Denver and finally Nakusp.  The route through the valley is nothing less than stunning and right now it is green and lush with new growth.

At Slocan, we visited the site where we had the most wonderful swim a couple of summers ago after a bikeride along the River.  Then, it was like paradise, calm and warm and sunny.  Today its warm and sunny but not calm and is high and moving fast like so many rivers in the interior now.

We were playing my Canadiana playlist on the Ipod but turned it off out of respect for the Valhallas when  we came around the corner and they were  boldly and beautifully taking over the viewscape with the steely grey of the Slocan Lake below.

This valley is a constant mindblower with its beauty.  You can see why people are drawn to it and seek to hide in its nooks and crannies near the river and lake.

Most of the way up the valley we were alone on the highway.  The summer nuttiness on the roads has not yet begun.   It’ll be a different story in a couple of weeks.

We made our way to Nakusp and enjoyed a walk along its shoreline on the Arrow Lakes.  It is a lovely lakeside path with flowers and gardens along the way.    The lake was as still as a mirror and mezmerizing with the mountains in behind.  We walked back up to the main drag and had a coffee and snack at a little bakery.  Then we hit the road for Galenas to get the Arrow Lakes ferry over to the Revelstoke side to meet our friends Bill and Joka at Blanket Provincial Park.  On the way to the ferry, we treated ourselves to a soak at Helcyon Hotsprings.  We floated around in the healing pools for one and a half hours in the most glorious setting.  The pictures say it all.