Day 6, Vermilion Crossing to Fairmont Hot Springs, BC

We awoke from a great sleep in our little cabin.  The weather is cold with low-hanging clouds, but no rain.  Breakfast at 0800 is a bit later than we normally leave, but we decided to take some time and fill up before we ride.  Glad we did, as the breakfast was really good.  There was coffee and tea and all that stuff, plus oatmeal, egg dishes, quiches, fresh bread and fruit, pastries and home made chocolate chip muffins.  We ate our fill and enjoyed every bite.

But onward and again, today, upward.  We headed south on Hwy. 93, following the Kootenay River toward the Sinclair Pass.  The clouds looked threatening, but so far so good.

Leaving Vermilion Crossing

The road is gradually downhill for the first 45 km and there are many kms of wildlife fencing being built.

Keeping the bears off the highway

The weather called for increasing rain and thundershowers as the day wears on, and a headwind out of the southwest and gusting to 40 kph.  Ouch.  It was calm when we started, though, and a reasonable temperature.  Still, since the clouds were threatening we had full rain gear on.

The wind stayed calm until we hit the base of the pass, which pitched up at a hurtful but manageable angle.  The wind started to blow fairly hard, but at our slow pace it made little difference.  We topped out and took a sharp turn west through a cut through the high mountains.  

Approaching the top of Sinclair Pass

The wind happily backed us over the top, but the rain came in torrents.  I’m not sure that I’ve seen it rain harder – monsoon-like.  The temperature was still pretty reasonable and we were not cold, but the wind went right around onto our nose and blew with a vengeance.  The descent was steep and twisty and with the rain and wind it was quite an adventure!

We made quick time to the base of the west side of the Kootenay Range and a small resort village of Radium Hot Springs.  There are lots of hot springs in the area and this is one of the most popular.  We were absolutely as wet as we could be, so we stopped at the first coffee shop we saw to dry out a bit and see if the weather relents.  We ate poutine.  It is really kind of weird, but does the job when you're in a bad way.  

More poutine

Architectural oddity in Radium Hot Springs

The weather did clear a bit after about 30 minutes so we headed out, turning left to go south toward the day’s destination, Fairmont Hot Springs, one of the many springs in the area.  It was another 45 km away. 

This part of the road follows the Columbia River.  We were surprised by the change in vegetation – here the land was dotted with farms and pine trees that reminded us of central Oregon.  

That's the Columbia River down there...

But the rain came back in buckets and the road that we were on had a too-narrow shoulder under these conditions, which made the ride a little nervous.  Fortunately, the predicted southwest wind was a strong northeast wind that was at our back.  Wind aided and slightly downhill we covered 45 km in just over an hour.  Not bad.

Arriving at the village of Fairmont Hot Springs, we followed the signs to the “resort” that will be home for the night.  Argh!  It is up the steep hill toward the ski station.  Still the rain persisted but up we went, painfully.

The "hot pool" really is hot

The resort is pretty fancy, kind of Salishan-like, and even though they were apparently busy with multiple weddings, they were gracious and let us store Das Bike, dripping wet, in their offices.  We wasted no time getting into the “hot pool,” which has unfiltered and untreated water from the springs.  The water is about 40 degrees and sparkling clear without any sulfur smell.  It felt great.

There are some great views to the southwest when the clouds clear.  Again, the Columbia River:

Columbia River

Next, to the pub.  The prices here are much less than in the National Parks.  That’s because the vendors in the parks need to pay a percentage to the park system for maintenance of the parks.  That seems to be a pretty good justification for the higher prices. 

We are continuing to watch the fire in Glacier and are working on some alternative routes.  Nothing is decided yet and we have a few days to see what happens.