My first visit to a Ski Resort. Big White, BC, Canada.

 

''Do you ski or snowboard?'' I was asked this question as I struck up a conversation with a random stranger in front of a restaurant in the ski resort of Big White. I replied with ''neither''. And the guy gave me a look which said why are you here then? 

As has been the feature of most of my trips in the last year, this too was a work trip. Me and my colleague from office, Melanie were sent to the ski resort of Big White, which is around 60kms from Kelowna, to do some energy assessments for the businesses there. We had 2 days in hand. One day was for the assessments. Our boss gave us the other day to use as per our wish. It was sort of a gift from the company for a year of hard work. She booked us a quaint cottage in the village which was walking distance away from the main street. 

Big White Resort is located on the Big White mountain which is the highest summit in the Okanagan highland (which spreads over across the border into USA). Its the third largest ski resort in British Columbia after Whistler Blackcomb near Vancouver and Sun Peaks near Kamloops. The mountain summit is at 2310 m with a vertical drop of 777 m and is serviced by 16 lifts. It has around 2700 sq. km skiing area. The village is at an incredible 1700 m. 

This was my first time visiting a ski resort and I was super excited. We arrived at the the parking at the base of the resort around 10 am on a Wednesday. This area is called the Happy Valley Lodge. Today would be all work, so taking our gear, we made our way to the gondola which runs from the base to the village at the top. This is a short 5 min ride and the gondola system runs the entire day only stopping late in the night and resuming the next morning. The gondola dropped us into the village center which is a 2 level building which has shops, eateries and ticket booths for the various activities at the resort which include skiing, snowshoeing and other activities like ice climbing, depending on the conditions.  Exiting from this building we got to work. It was a clear day with temperature around -15 deg Celsius. Rest of the day was spent on working. Late afternoon we made our way back to the car at the parking in happy valley lodge and drove to our accommodation for the next 2 nights. This was a pretty cottage in the style of European chalets. We met the owner who was an interesting character. In between some witty and hilarious remarks he gave us a tour of the place. Meanwhile another colleague from work, Shay joined us. So it was going to be the three of us. The chalet was quirky with lots of trinkets adorning the walls everywhere. There was a sort of a fire grenade from the early 1900s if I am correct and many other interesting stuff like old motor nameplates. One room was entirely covered by used Jack Daniel's bottles. After the owner left, we settled down in the common area for a good conversation. Outside it was anywhere between -15 deg to -20 deg Celsius. 

Next day was for fun. Melanie and Shay both left for their skiing runs and I was left to myself. I got my camera and the recently bought go pro ready and went out to explore the village. As I soon found out there was not much to explore. The main area in the village is just a cluster of buildings. There are hotels, restaurants, a ski school and some skiing equipment shops. The areas beyond this core group has residential buildings and some hotels. The unique aspect of this village is that people can ski in between the buildings. There's no road here.  If you book a stay somewhere here you can directly exit your building and start skiing. I took a long stroll around the buildings, taking pics and videos. Meanwhile it started to snow quite heavily. I had never seen such heavy snowing so it was quite an experience for me. But there was nothing more for me to do. Originally I had planned to do ice climbing here but to my dismay I found out that it was closed for the season. With nothing else to do I made way to a cozy cafe and had lunch. Soon Shay and Melanie, taking a break from their skiing, joined me. After this I went back to the cottage and they want back to skiing. Later in the night I went out for dinner. I had decided on a restaurant but before that I strolled through the entire village taking a video with my camera. After that was done, as I was entering the said restaurant a guy came up to me and asked what number this restaurant was. I was perplexed and told him I didn't understand. Having seen me earlier strolling around the village he thought that I was pub hopping. For someone who doesn't drink alcohol this sounded preposterous. I laughed and told him no I was just here for dinner. We stuck up a conversation and the opening part of this post happened. He came all the way from Winnipeg with his friends just for skiing in BC. We parted ways soon and I got my dinner and trudged back to the cottage. Rest of the evening was spent in the room at work as I still had some work to do. 

The next day Shay was to leave at 10 am for Kelowna and I gladly joined her. Thus ended a short trip to Big White. My first to a ski resort. 

A day in Peachland and Summerland.

Last summer, with the wildfires and Covid19 still raging in BC, I couldn't plan any trips. A little trip that me and my friends did manage to wriggle in a short interval of calm was a drive to the nearby towns of Peachland, Summerland and city of Penticton. It was not an epic trip nor was it a flop show. It was exactly what we needed at that time. A stress buster. A rejuvenating ride to some relaxing places. 

It was Divu, his wife Vani and I on that trip. Divu had booked a rental car and had set aside one day for a ride to someplace nearby. We had already been to the local favorite Myra Canyon before so we decided to check out the nearby towns with some pretty names, Peachland and Summerland. Our first stop was in Peachland which is a district municipality with a population of around 5000. Most of the town is situated on a steep hill very close to the Okanagan Lake. It is also home to Canada's very own Loch Ness, the Ogopogo. We stopped on the waterfront there. Its a pretty stretch of road running along the side of the lake. We walked around here for a while taking in the views. It was a pleasant day. Not too hot and not too cold. Just a normal jacket kind of day. As we were walking we stumbled upon a small museum. Unfortunately the actual museum which was on the first floor was closed for renovation and we had to settle for the smaller portion which was on the ground floor. They had lots of trinkets and stuff from the town. There were posters detailing the history of Peachland and many artifacts which belonged to the locals.  At the counter, they had some small railway wagon models for sale. I bought one for 2 dollars. Made for a nice souvenir. 

Next stop was Summerland. The name has such warm positive vibe to it. That's for everyone else though. For me it reminded me of the town of Summerisle from the 1973 horror classic 'The Wicker Man'. And those who have watched the movie will know what I am talking about. In Summerland our first stop was the Museum here. It had some nice exhibits related to the local history but for us the highlight was definitely the railway model town they had. There was model train which completed a loop at the press of a button. This was my first time looking at a miniature railway model and it was fun. We also some interesting exhibits related to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) for whom I have a special interest. I like in trains in general. Add history to it and I am hooked. This was the reason I did the 4 day trip from Toronto to Vancouver. The museum here has some nice costumes of those times which we tried out. 

Our final stop for the day was in Penticton. Here too we headed off to the Museum and spent a good amount of time wandering inside. Lots of interesting stuff but for me two stood out. One was about the ferries that used to run in the Okanagan lake before the advent of the rail and road transportation. Especially cool was a model of SS Naramata which was a steam tug commissioned by CPR. It used to run between 1914 to 1967.  The second was a Penny Farthing cycle. This was owned by a local resident who had it donated to the museum after his death. This was the first time I saw a Penny Farthing in person. After the museum we headed to the Skaha lake hoping to go for a walk around but there was a strong wind blowing at the time. The kind of wind which feels like its slowly percolating through your protective layers and skin and reaching your bones. We headed back home from here. A nice, short and rejuvenating trip.  

Bus journey from Kelowna, BC to Nelson, BC

I love long distance bus journeys. Back in India I used to do quite a lot. Apart from my regular overnight bus rides from Nellore to Hyderabad and back on the weekends, I used to take buses on many of my short weekend trips. A visit to a remote forest rest house in Andhra Pradesh and to an off beat hill station in Tamil Nadu comes to mind. Ever since moving to Canada I have been looking to go on some bus journeys. Unfortunately, just around my time of moving to Canada, the Greyhound bus service in Canada closed down. And then Covid19 happened shutting down all travel plans. In 2021, I moved to Kelowna and I got an opportunity for a bus journey when I was scheduled to do some site inspections in Nelson, a city almost 350km away. Due to reasons which are too long and private to describe here I decided to take a bus instead of going by car which is more popular in this country. 

On the scheduled day, I reached the starting point of bus which is at the Orchard Park Mall in Kelowna 30 mins before the scheduled departure time. I was alone when I reached but slowly a few more people joined in. The bus arrived 5 mins early and the driver, a friendly lady checked our IDs and went off for a quick refreshment break. The bus was a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Crew Van 2500. It had a seating capacity of  12 people. Soon the driver was back, she loaded our bags in the luggage compartment at the back and off we went on our 6 hour journey. Apart from me, there was two ladies travelling together and a guy who worked in the Canadian National Railways and was reporting back to work after taking a break in the weekend. 

The bus journey itself was comfortable. I settled down in the last row of the bus near the window. The views throughout the journey were beautiful. As it was winter, most of the surroundings were covered with snow. It was just white everywhere with some green trees jutting out of the white sheet here and there. Our first stop for a break was in Rock Creek, where we stopped near a gas station. The store nearby had, to my absolute surprise, hot samosas. I got 2 for myself and got some hot chocolate. The samosas were delicious. Reminded me of the dhaba stops in India. The next stop was in Grand Forks, a beautiful city near the US border. I had passed through these cities and towns 3 times before during my previous trips to the Kootenays. I visited Nelson, Castlegar and Trail in previous trips. That was with a colleague in a car. The bus journey had a different feel to it.

We reached Nelson around 4 30pm. I bid good bye to the driver and walked to my hotel. The overall journey was smooth, relaxed and fun. Though it was shorter than what I would have liked it was a good bus journey. My quest for a bus journey in Canada which is longer both in terms of time and distance, remains ongoing.  

Mt Boucherie, Kelowna, BC, Canada

Only the third hike I did all summer this year! This time I went with an acquaintance I made on one of the WhatsApp groups. Mt Boucherie is an easy hike in West Kelowna. Pretty straightforward. It is 5.6 km long and has a 300m elevation gain. 

Kanwal and I

Knox Mountain, Kelowna, BC, Canada

Knox Mountain, often called Kelowna's Grouse Mountain lies right at the heart of the city. Situated in downtown it is minutes away from the core of the city. One weekend I headed over the mountain to do a hike. I was still feeling disappointed by my effort on the Sea to Summit Trail a couple of months ago so I wanted to get back in the hiking rhythm. It was not much of an effort. I enjoyed the early morning calmness and peace that comes before the crowds come in. A refreshing Sunday morning hike. As good as it gets! 

Sea to Summit Hike, Squamish, BC, Canada

Very rarely do I go on a hike randomly but this was one such instance. I was in Vancouver for the weekend and having promised my friend Kimi that I would join him for a hike, I had to keep my word. So Kimi, Divu, Suyog and myself headed out in the direction of Whistler intending to do the Parkhurst hike mainly to see the abandoned town. But midway we changed plans and decided to do the Sea to Summit hike in Squamish instead. I did not realize what I was getting into at that time. It was months since my last hike and I was a bit out of rhythm. Nevertheless we did it in 4 hours which was not bad considering it was a 6 km 900m elevation gain hike. Not going into too much description here. Ill let the pics do the talking(and the videos too). The views were stunning and the Gondola ride back to the base was thrilling as well. 

 

A visit to the Railway Museum (CPR Station) in Castlegar, BC, Canada

On my third trip to the Kootenays, the previous ones being in Nelson and Trail, I found myself in the city of Castlegar. 

Castlegar is the second largest city in the Kootenays with a population of around 8000 people. An interesting feature of this city is that there is a large population of Doukhobors here. Doukhobors are a Christian religious group originally from Russia. Since they rejected the Russian Orthodox Church and faced persecution they emigrated from Russia in large numbers during the 20th century. Many of them settled down in British Columbia and in other places in Canada. 

Like my previous trips in the Kootenays I was scheduled to be in Castlegar for 3 days and 2 nights but this time I had only one evening for an exploration of the city. I found out there was a railway museum here and it automatically became a must visit for me. So, on the second evening after the day's work was complete I immediately made my way to the CPR Station Museum as its called.  Now, I have a fascination with railways, be it from any part of the world, and ever since I read a book about the history of the Transcontinental Railway route I became a fan of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Having done the Toronto to Vancouver rail journey abroad the iconic train 'The Canadian' my love for the history of the Canadian passenger railway increased.

I couldn't wait to check out this museum which is a housed in a 100 year old actual station and is believed to be one of the best preserved ones in the province. The station is made up of two floors. The upper floor used to be the station agent's residence and the entire floor is recreated the way it used to be in the 1900s. It was fascinating to see the different equipment in the home and the type of home furniture and accessories. But for me the ground floor was much more interesting. It housed a number of exhibits and a lot of books on railways in Canada. I could have spent a couple of hours easily just browsing through the books. But I was pressed for time and could only manage a cursory glance at the titles. There were also a huge archive of newspapers. Again I could only take a casual look at the newspapers. Some of the other interesting exhibits include a 1929 Harley Davidson, a 1924 Brown Radio and most interestingly for me a 1923 time table of the Canadian Pacific Railway which included the Transcontinental Railway.  Having done that trip just last year it was fascinating to look at. 

Outside the station is a Caboose parked on the railway track. I checked out the inside and it was standard caboose with no interesting features. The railway museum I visited in Prince George had far more models including some locomotives. Going back inside the station I met the caretaker there and chatted with her for a while. A spirited lady, she regaled me with stories about the station she had heard from the long time residents of Castlegar. One anecdote that quite stuck in my head was about an old lady who used to work at the station as a telegraph operator. She used to transmit all the status of the trains to the neighboring stations. After that wonderful conversation with her I bid her adieu and left for one more stop for the day, the Zuckerberg bridge where I just casually strolled for a while before heading back to the hotel. It was a satisfying evening overall. 

Evenings in Trail, BC, Canada

Continuing from my previous trip to Nelson, BC, within a few days I found myself once again in the Kootenays, this time in the city of Trail, BC. 

Trail is a curious name for a city and lot of people who hear it for the first time get confused. It is actually named after the Dewdney Trail which passed through the town. Apart from the curious name, Trail has a very interesting history. It is the site of the World's largest Zinc and Lead smelter in the world! The existing plant has its origins in 1896 when the a person names Fritz Augustus Heinze opened the British Columbia Smelting and Refining Company smelter here. It kept on expanding and went through multiple ownerships including Canadian Pacific Railway(CPR) at one point. Nowadays the company is owned by Teck Resources. Most interesting of all, this plant had a part to play in the Manhattan Project. There used to be a heavy water plant here which supplied heavy water to the Manhattan Project's P-9 project. 

I was going to spend 3 days and 2 nights here in the city. Since I would be working in the day time I had 2 evenings to explore the place. On the first day I simply went on an exploratory stroll through the streets with no set target. Much of the city scape is dominated by the smelter. It is visible from all directions. In many ways it reminded me of the town of my first job back in India. Raigarh, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh too is dominated by the presence of a steel company. Trail is similar. I was in this city before during a field trip during my Master's program from UBC. I went to some of the places we visited last time including to the banks of the River Columbia. Trail's downtown is set on a plain but much of the residential area is set in the a hilly terrain. To avoid the long winding roads Trail has these series of stairs all over the place. Made the walks all the more fun. 

The next evening, I had two goals. One was to visit the Museum I saw the day before. So immediately after the day's work I made my way to the Museum. This was a combined visitor center and museum. The museum was spread over two floors. The bottom floor was mostly about the sports team of Trail. Having not much interest in sports I just walked briskly through the exhibits just casually taking a look. On the second floor, the display was arranged very systematically detailing the history of the place right from the indigenous people here then through the settlement and to the present. There were lots of cool exhibits like an underwater suit that divers wore while exploring the Columbia river and there were posters from the world war era, detailing what to do in case of an air attack. I spent a couple of hours here taking a good look here. My second goal was to get a good shot of the city with the plant in the background. I was trying to get to higher ground to get that shot and for this I had to use many of the stairs that I mentioned before. This was super fun. I always like to go to the 'normal' area of any new place I visit to get a feel for the place. Finally after getting some nice pics I made my way back to my Hotel room. The next day after work we departed from Trail and thus ended a nice short trip. 

The Museum 

The Stairs