Evenings in Panorama Mountain Resort and Fairmont Hot Springs, BC

A couple of months ago my work took me to the south east side of British Columbia, specifically to two beautiful resorts, Panorama Mountain Resort and Fairmont Hot Springs.  Both these resorts are located near the town of Invermere. This was a work trip so the days were spent at work while the evenings were spent in making the most of the trip. It was a 4 day trip not including the 2 days of driving. 

Me and my colleague drove down to Panorama Mountain Resort on a Sunday, starting at around 8 in the morning from Kelowna and reaching our destination by 3 pm. The drive was smooth and uneventful. Panorama Mountain Resort is a Ski and Gulf resort nestled in the Purcell mountains. It is situated at an altitude of 1500 m and has a top elevation of around 2400 m. It has 129 ski runs with the longest run being 6.5km. I don't much know about skiing so not going into too much detail about the ski side of things.  As far as I was concerned I had 3 evenings in Panorama to do some sightseeing and enjoy the idyllic setting of my temporary workplace. So first evening I started off with the thing I love most when I am in a new place. An aimless walk around the place. I started off from our hotel, the Pine Hill which is situated on a higher elevation just at the base of the start of the network of ski lifts. I had noticed a convenience store at the edge of the property and keeping that as my end point I started walking. I took a series of steps which took me down to the store. At one point I was directly under the cable car which starts from the base. These cable cars are some of the cutest I have ever seen. One set contained 3 small half open chairs where you can only stand. They reminded me of the video game Roller Coaster Tycoon. I stood here under the chairs as they went over me. I waved back to a kid who waved at me as it went past. With the chairs gone, I resumed my walk and wound my way down to the store. All of this area was all small lodgings and houses. Far beyond a huge mountain loomed over everything. Behind me, in the direction of where I descended was the mountain side covered by the ski slopes. The scenery was stunning. I made my way to the store, bought some stuff and made my way back to the hotel this time taking a different route. 

By next day evening I found out that having food here was going to be a problem for me. I eat only halal and in places where its not available, which is most of the places I go to, I just stick with veg options. But this place was expensive. I thought I would be leaking money if I continue having lunch and dinner at the restaurants at the resort so I decided to go to the town of Invermere and have something there. Fortunately, there is a shuttle bus which runs to and fro from the resort to the town. I was among a bunch of resort employees who boarded the bus and after a ride of 30 mins descending through the mountains, going past some stunning houses, it dropped me in the town just near my destination, a Chinese restaurant. I was the only one in the quiet restaurant and after having some nice fried rice I made my way outside to take a little walk before I board the bus back to the resort. Invermere is a town of around 4000 people. At that time of the day though, it looked like an abandoned town. There was no one in sight. I walked around a bit looking at the closed shop fronts. There were some pretty shops on the main road and not much. It was getting dark and at the back of mind I had this fear of missing the bus. So I did not stray too much from the stop that I was supposed to board the bus. I walked into one of the stores nearby to get something to eat and I spotted a few fellow Indians. I overheard them talking in Hindi so I knew they were Indians. I struck up a conversation with one of them and soon enough all 3 of them were engaged in conversation. One guy, Sandy was kind enough to assure me that in case I missed the bus he would drop me off to the resort. That reassured me a lot. Here was a random person with whom I spoke for just 5 mins who was ready to drive me almost 20 kms at 10pm in the night. Some times strangers are more helpful than friends. I walked to my stop almost 30 mins earlier than the scheduled time and waited there. A solitary figure on the road. There was no one else in sight. No one on my left till my eye could see and no one on the right till the end of the street. Luckily though there was a bar on the other side of the road and I could hear laughter now and then floating across the road. That kept me company in the cold night. The bus was 30 mins later than the scheduled time. Turns out the schedule I knew and the updated schedule were different. I made a mental note of this new schedule for my next 2 days. Anyway, I was safely tucked back in bed by 1030pm. 

Third day bought an unexpected surprise. Without going into the work details all I can say is that I got to ride pillion on a snowmobile. It was a short ride on the ski slopes but it was fun. Also, for the first time in my life I went on a ski lift. While coming back to the base on the ski lift, on my way down a couple of people shouted to me that I was going the wrong way to which I simply laughed. I am yet to learn the art of coming up with a witty reply in situations like this. The evening was uneventful. Once again I went to the same Chinese restaurant in Invermere and had the same dish. Third evening was again a repeat. 

Fourth evening we checked-in at Fairmont Hot Springs. Situated at a distance of around 25kms on Highway 93, this is a resort centered around a swimming pool fed by natural mineral hot springs. This day I was tired from the work so I did not do much but the next evening I again went out for a walk. The resort is bunch of buildings clustered around the central pools which have splendid views of the surroundings on one side.  I walked out the main building where we were staying and ventured away from the building. Directly opposite the approach road there is a small hill on which I spotted an old building. Curious I went near and spotted a signboard at the base of the hill which mentioned that the building was the site of the original natural hot spring water baths. Intrigued I followed the directions to the small building and looked inside. Its a small structure divided into 3 rooms each containing a small rectangular bath recessed into the ground. It was filled with water. In two of the rooms the water was overflowing. It was naturally flowing into these more than 100 year old baths. It was exciting to look at. From here I ventured further upwards where I spotted a white structure which looked like a view point. It turned out to be a place where weddings take place. It had a nice view. It was slowly getting dark and again I was the only person here. So I quickly made my way back to the hotel. It was a nice little excursion for an evening. Next day we packed up and left for Kelowna. Overall a nice trip considering I was actually there on work.