Mount Revelstoke National Park, BC

We left our quiet little spot along a branch of the Columbia River in Spillimacheen and traveled northwest to Mount Revelstoke National Park, where we intended to let our hair down for a few nights at the Snowforest Campground within.

This campsite was notable for having recently banned tents or any "softsided" vehicles that are not fully covered with metal due to the bear activity in the region. But, just like Lake Louise, there would be no bears the three nights we stayed. The site was also notable for its facilities, which were by far the nicest of any campground we visited on the trip. The washrooms were reminiscent of a hotel.

In each bathroom stall they had an informative panel on one of the various creatures inhabiting the mountain. On one productive foray I learned that the region was known as "place of the chickadees" by the Ktunaxa people, and that four species of the little bird lived there. This was news to me, as I only ever knew the one kind that used to land on my finger looking for food as I waited for the bus to come before school in Nova Scotia.

We set up camp and did three nights of mostly light hiking because my wife was under the weather. The weather itself was spectacular throughout, as it has mostly been on the trip.

Each night the moon greeted us and our fellow campers above the mountains. We also saw the Starlink satellites being launched for the second night in a row on night one. It was still pretty cool knowing what it was, and equipped with this knowledge I was able to freak out a camper from the Netherlands before revealing the truth.

For me, the best part of the stay was the wood (unlimited use for a daily fee of $10), which lit up like it was soaked in lighter fluid. I'm not sure what type of tree we were dealing with (it had a slightly pinkish hue under the bark), but it burned like hellfire.

Our hiking was also limited during this stay because the upper part of the mountain with most of the headline trails was barred to dogs completely--even if left in vehicles. Apparently dogs sometimes agitate bears from inside parked cars, and this has led to vehicle damage. Fair enough; we weren’t feeling too adventurous anyway.

We did however check out the "Nels Nelson," which is a relatively short, but very steep trail up what used to be a world class ski jump hill. It is named after a certain Mr. Nelson, who set a world record there back in the the 1920s. At the top of the hill, you can actually get on his skies and experience a semblance of what the man felt the moment he lifted off, except that you're not moving at high speed and certain to plummet to a painful death if you don't know what you're doing (as he presumably did).

All in all, it was just a quiet three nights of camping in an excellent campsite.

We also made a few trips to the nearby town of Revelstoke, which is a centre of activity for the area. I wasn't moved to take any photos, which is probably an indication that it was neither horrible, nor spectacular. It seemed like a decent place to live though, with an escape route into nature nearby (itself a major plus).

After night three, we decamped and drove south to catch a ferry bound for the other side of Arrow Lake and a little town called Nakusp.