Old Nurses Residence Bed and Breakfast Fernie

... the herds of deer that strolled unabashed amongst the deserted shops and the residential streets. We leapt out of the car for a matter of seconds to take some photos of some of the beautiful surrounds that we could see through the pounding rain.

So we did not stay as long as we had hoped in Waterton, instead we decided to get to Fernie well ahead of Adam & Laura who were working in Lethbridge and heading off late afternoon to meet us there. Well ...

... trout.
This little town ranks right up there with our favourites. We looked at buying property here two years ago, but since the folks fron Calgary have discovered it , prices have gone thru the roof. what used to be $15000 ten years ago is more like $500000 now, crazy.

... irrigation boxes, digging drains, building steps, repairing stuff, chasing cattle up the mountain and driving the TRACTOR...Oh Are..
On one of my free days i climbed the mountain directly behind the farm house which was called Mt Iron, it was awesome it took 3 hours to get up and 3 and a half to come down, there was no path or route you had to sort of scramble your way up and down but when you got to the top ...

Crossed the Rockies, left Jasper National Park behind as we travel through the Kootenay region, past Fort Steele and stop at Cranbrook. Hope the truck is ready as promised tomorrow, we will drive to Kalispell once more and re-visit Eureka MT on the way. What gorgeous weather we have been granted!

Am Morgen haben wir einen Abstecher nach Nelson gemacht. Es hiess in unserem Reiseführer, dass dies ein lohnenswerter Stopp sei, da zahlreiche Gebäude vom Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts noch in bestem Zustand sind.

Unsere Überfahrt von Balfur nach Kootenay Bay erfolgte mit der längsten Gratisfähre (35 Min.) in Nordamerika.

Über Creston, dort ist die Kokanee Brauerei zu Hause, sind wir in Fort Steele angekommen.

... 46 year's ago and at that time there were a couple of people still living here but that it was a ghost time and a time warp with the local buildings still standing. Now it is a cultural sight and the local people rather than let it go to ruin
had somehow kept it exactly in the style from its heyday and turned it into a
very tasteful local tourist attraction where tourists walk round and visit all
the locals attractions of a western town from bar room saloon to ...

... hippies, had stopped. They were looking for a cabin but couldn't find it, but guess who did! It was like my dream come true. Especially as a hail storm came through just minutes after and continued to rain all night. It was an awesome log cabin (Pic attached) and provided peace of mind against the bears. Earlier that day there was sightings of a grizzly on the train but we never saw it.

The bear factor is taken very seriously, dinner away ...

... in the mud, I came across a set of large, freshly made paw-prints. A man wearing a cowboy hat arrived as I was setting up my stove. There was no need to boil the water, he told me - the water was fine and he drank it every day. The signs were there because a bunch of people got sick at a campground over east and sued the government. After relieving me of my lucky twenty-dollar bill he continued on his rounds. I decided to boil the water, just in case. The highway climbed away ...

... a trip to Banff for Tom's 30th birthday which was a blast - I particularly loved his T-shirt for the night: S o H appy I 'm T hirty We had some awesome skiing at Sunshine Village and Lake Louise with the fortuitous 20cm of snow that fell just before we arrived. Nothing beats flying down a steep double black diamond with powder over your knees. With our impeccable timing we also were in Lake Louise for the ice ...

... 4) The trails along the river around town - Perfect for soaking in the mountain views on a quiet morning walk 5) The staff at Ski/Bike Base - Totally unpretentious and super helpful (unlike some other shops in town. A certain spot with the initials EOW comes to mind) Things we found quirky/annoying 1) The unpredictable weather - without a doubt we chose the worst season in three decades. But when it did snow there was ...