Tuesday, August 9, 2011 (Mt. Fernie Provincial Park, Fernie, BC)

After a leisurely start to the day, we got our exercises over with, had breakfast and were ready to head into Fernie...it was close to noon by this time.

Fernie is a beautiful little town set in an absolutely stunning backdrop of mountains.  We found our way to Overwaitea Foods...we needed more groceries again!  After I was finished with that chore, we went for a drive around the downtown historic district...some lovely old buildings refurbished and now housing shops and restaurants.  We continued our drive over on the other side of the highway...a residential area. 

We needed to fill one of the trailer’s propane tanks but we couldn’t find a station with propane so after stopping at one, Steve got directions to Fernie Rentals where they fill propane tanks.  We found the place and after getting the tank filled, we decided to stop at the Visitors Centre that was close by.

We picked up some pamphlets and Steve talked to the fellow there about fly fishing spots.  We also want to go white-water rafting and on a day-long excursion horseback riding into the mountains (guess which one of us wants which the most?...yeah...Steve really wants to go white-water rafting and I really want to go horseback riding).

We got home at around 2:00 and after putting the groceries away, decided to check out one of the trails and go for a hike.  So with the binoculars, bug spray, a couple of bottles of water and bear-spray in the backpack, we were on our way.  One thing that is very unfortunate is that they do not have small maps that show all of the trails that you can take with you.  Nor do the trailheads have a map showing the various trails...nor do the trails have any signs.  So off we went on a trail...with my bear-bell ringing away (there are lots of signs saying there are bears in the area)...

Our intension was to walk for 30 minutes or so and then turn around...but as we walked along, we thought that maybe the trail looped back around back to the campground.  Just as Steve was thinking we should probably turn back, we heard some people ahead of us and Steve asked them (well...had to yell to get their attention) if this trail went back to the campground.  The fellow said that it went up to the road that leads back to the campground.  Oh good...we don’t have to turn around!

Following are pictures taken on our hike through the park...

 A tree growing out of an old stump...

Lizard Creek...

 ...and a rather rickety bridge over it...

 

We arrived back at our campsite just shy of an hour after we left. After shedding our backpacks, we relaxed with our bottles of water outside in the shade. There had been distant rumbling of thunder all afternoon and it seemed to be getting closer and closer. But it really didn’t develop into a full-blown storm...it got a little windy but that was about it. Later on in the evening there was a bit of rain, but that was it.

After dinner, we spoke to Rob. Sounds like he and Angie had a great vacation...and are now bummed out about being back at work...typical after a great vacation.  But all sounds fine back home.

We watched TV as I sat at the table working on our blog.  I managed to get the last 2 days posted...yay...I’m up-to-date again!  After responding to a couple of emails (that were long overdue), I headed to bed.  Steve was already there, relaxing in bed while watching TV.