Preparation and Logistics
Sometimes it's good to do a trip close to home. I've been wanting to ride what I'll call the Galena Loop in southern BC for several years, but it's not worked out, for one reason or another. But along with four friends, we were determined to make it happen in 2023. Since I'm writing this up in September, it'll be no surprise that it all worked out.
Who's Biking?
Our five person group had a great three-day trip in 2022, so we knew compatibility was no issue. I've been friends with Sue the longest - we met the first day of frosh week at university. Then I've known Rick as long as they've been married - they live in Canmore and we're frequent visitors to each others home bases. Steve and Adele live about a block from me in Revelstoke, and I've known Steve for about 25 years (or more?) going back to our Calgary days, and Adele since they met. Steve and Adele are both global bike travellers. Sue, Rick, and I are later to the game.
Rick and Sue arrived in their spiffy van, and we gathered at my house for dinner of grilled wild BC salmon caught by either Sue or Rick, grilled veg, and rhubarb ginger parfaits. Yum. We all love to cook and eat.
During dinner, we confirmed group gear, admired Steve’s new mountain bike that he rode to my place (but didn't take on the trip), and had a lot of laughs.
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The lay of the land
The Kootenays is a region of southeast BC - that name I suppose is more socio-politically based than defined by any particular mountain range - it includes bits of the Rockies and the Columbia Mountains, extending almost as far west as the Okanagan Valley. We spent the whole trip in the Selkirk Mountains, which are a major subdivision of the Columbia Mountains. Not the Rockies, not the Coast Mountains, but the beautiful bit in between.
Galena mining started in this area in the late 1800's. Galena is a lead ore, and also a source of silver. Although the mining in this area never amounted to much, it brought settlers and railways, and left a legacy in the place name Galena Bay at the head of Upper Arrow Lake, where we started our journey. New Denver on Slocan Lake also was named in hopes of mining glory, which never quite arrived. People call the Nelson/Kaslo/New Denver route the 'Silver Triangle' to recall the former silver mines nearby, and it seems appropriate to call this more northerly route the 'Galena Loop' since we're starting at Galena Bay, cycling over Galena Pass on day 1, and cycling the Galena Rail Trail on Day 3.
The late 19th and 20th century history of the Kootenays involves people who came to the area looking for mining riches, people working in the forestry sector, and much later, more than a few who came to dodge the Vietnam draft and/or grow pot (now legal, of course!). But the land on which we biked, walked, and camped, and where I live, is the traditional territories of the Interior Salish peoples, particularly the Sinixt, and the Ktunaxa peoples.
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1 year ago
Today, the railways in the areas we visited have been decommissioned and in some cases turned into nice rail trails that we took advantage of. Our route included both paved and unpaved sections.
We were along watercourses and water bodies pretty much the whole route - Trout Lake, the Lardeau River, Kootenay Lake, Kaslo River, Fish Lake, Carpenter Creek, Slocan Lake, Summit Lake, and Upper Arrow Lake. Phew. All of the communities along our route had bigger populations in earlier days. At 1,500 people, Nakusp was the biggest town en route. Kaslo has about 1,000 people, and New Denver about 500. Each of them is big enough to have a grocery store, so we didn't need to carry a whole lot of food.
Gear
Gear-wise, I used the same bike that I took to Spain in 2022, but this time since we were camping I needed to haul a bit more gear, so it was also equipped with Ortlieb front fork bags and a bar extender gizmo that let me strap my tent between my handlebars and still provide me with a place for my hands. I was also carrying bear spray because there are loads of black bears in the area.
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