Beautiful BC

 A week has already passed.  Speedier travellers might envy or disdain our progress of under 1000 km in 7 days.  But we aren't complaining, as all but one day has been sunny and great for exploring.

Some highlights along our way, include a hike at Bridal Veil Falls.  Climb up a steady incline for about 300 metres to the base of a broad waterfall.

  Camp the first night in Manning Park.  There is an amazing ski resort there complete with a log lodge where we check our WIFI before locating our campsite.  

Days 2 & 3:   Moving on we discover a historic site.  An internment camp for Japanese who were forced out of their homes during WWII.  Tashme, built on a former sheep ranch, housed 2,966 Japanese in extreme conditions.  The houses, often erected by the Japanese with materials provided, were made of tar paper or inferior wood with no insulation.  Inside, walls were not allowed, only curtains.  One pot bellied stove provided the heat and cooking for 8 people living in 160 square feet.  Winter mornings the people had to chip ice off of their blankets.  A former sheep barn was converted into 28 apartments where single men where bunkhoused.  No running water, no electricity, only kerosene lanterns.  The locals rallied and eventually the BC government built a school and hospital on site.  Not a happy moment in Canadian history. 

Osoyoos, NKMip Camp.  This First Nations enterprise is well run with the bonus of an indoor pool and hot tub, which we take advantage of when their aren't too many children splashing about.  The campsite has 400 spaces, most of them filled for the May weekend.  We visit the NKMip Cultural Centre.  After viewing a variety of artifacts, art and bead work, we saunter up the dessert walk.  This area is arid with easy rolling hills, and lots of sage brush.  The NKMip Nation lived here 6000 years, theirs was a simple life of living off the land.  Their winter housing is similar to Arizona tribes, a pit house structure with branches laid as a roof.  Inside a ladder leads up to the only source of light, a hole in the roof which also serves as a chimney.  By the end of winter everyone and everything must have smelt very smokey.  Summer lodges were made of woven reeds and shaped like teepees. There are metal sculptures along the trail depicting everyday activities of the tribe.

The NKMip also have a large resort complete with luxury accommodations, spas and restaurants as well as a successful winery.  They say the local tribe consists of 400 people, and I venture to say many of them are employed by one of the tribe's enterprises.  We are happy at their success, beating Colonists at their own game.

At Penticton we visit Wayne's dying sister, Charlene.  She has deteriorated quickly from her lung and liver cancer, each day weakening her more.  She can't eat or drink, hardly is able to speak and each breath is a struggle.  We both get our private time to say good bye and tell her how much we love her.  She tells me she wants to go, so when we get the news today that she passed away in her own bed, we are relieved for her.  No more suffering.  A good person dies, and we grieve her departure.

As we move East, the road leads along picturesque Lake Kalamalka, and the pine forest returns.  West of Penticton there is a lot of evidence of the Pine Beetle infestation and early forest fire burns.  Around Revelstoke, the pine forest is rich green, and inside Revelstoke National Park the undergrowth and dead fall have been cleared for fire prevention.

Today we hike at Inspiration Trail. New to us, this trail meanders through an interior rainforest. Nothing like the old growth on the Island, but the hundred years old lodgepole pines and fir trees silently border the creeks, as we climb over roots and across small wooden bridges.

This is our third night in Revelstoke, an alpine town with a splendid mountain backdrop. 

 Originally built because of the railway and mining, now a major ski resort.  Tomorrow we're on to Radium.  Hot springs, here we come.