Cranbrook to Grand Forks - Jun 8, 2007 - Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada

Another cool and blustery day. We left Mt. Baker RV Park around 9:30am. Elaine was watching the toad to make sure everything looked alright. "The back wheels lock up sometimes" turned out to be the emergency brake was left on. Minor fix and we were on our way to Grand Forks.

Let me tell you about Grand Forks. It's 200 kilometers as the crow flies, 321 kilometers by road and has three of the biggest hills known to mankind. Not for the faint of heart. Kootenay Pass, between Creston and Salmo is the highest at 1774 meters and is basically 35 kilometers uphill, followed by 20 kilometers of 6-8% downhill. We burned more gas getting up the hill than we did getting from Calgary to Fernie yesterday! There's a reason this is called the Skyway.

We gassed up in Salmo. It took 117 litres to fill the tank, making the trip from Calgary in an average of 9.1 miles per gallon, mostly with the toad in tow. Better than I anticipated.

Between Salmo and Castlegar is Bombi Summit. A 'relatively minor' climb to 1265 meters over about 13 kilometers is followed by a drop at 6-7% into the town of Castlegar. Of course, going downhill into Castlegar I encountered a lovely old fellow driving a truck camper who was only doing 60. No choice but to gear down, ride the brakes and hope for the best.

There's a sign going into Castlegar announcing 'Tourist Information' in 2 kilometers. Good, likely a flat place to stop and we can cool the brakes and check on the upcoming highway. Well, between the old guy and his camper and the curves and twists in the road, we coasted right through Castlegar without even seeing the Tourist Information place. Naturally, as soon as we leave town, the road starts to go uphill again. Now we're into the Paulson Summit. About 30 kilometers uphill, summit at 1535 meters and then another 25 kilometers or so downhill to Christina Lake. We pulled over at Christina to let the long train of cars that we had accumulated go by. It's odd that people are given plenty of opportunity to pass and they don't take it. Get 2-3 vehicles like this in a line and then no one else can get past the group.

From Christina Lake, it's a relatively flat and uneventful drive to the Riviera RV Park, just outside of Grand Forks. Riviera turns out to be a small park right on the highway (a bit noisy), but is also right beside the Kettle River. We took pictures of deer and will go exploring tomorrow. In speaking to the owner (Brian) we find out that the park was flooded out last year and they're still doing some remediation work on the river bank. However, it is well treed and maintained. I decided to wash the car, since it got really dirty in the rainstorm between Fernie and Cranbrook yesterday. That likely means it will rain tomorrow.

We woke up on Saturday to the sound of owls in the trees. Cool! Later in the afternoon we decided to go for a drive in the Saturn, looking for Rock Candy Mountain and the Hummingbird Bridge. Also wanted to find the golf course and hit a bucket of balls. Drove all around, and didn't find any of the 'sights'.

We came back after gassing the Saturn and, true to form, it DID begin to rain. Spent the balance of Saturday afternoon watching movies and napping. Life is good.