You have to appreciate the story of the Kootenay National
Park's origin. In 1910, a local businessman convinced the
Canadian government and railroad industry a route through
the Rocky Mountains from Banff to western seaports was
an excellent idea. Twenty-two kilometers were constructed
before the funding ran out. Eight kilometers on each side of
the route were offered in exchange to the federal
government for funding to complete the project. The offer
was accept and the railroad went through. Then, in 1920,
1406 square kilometers, including the ribbon of exchanged
land, was established as the Kootenay National Park.
Today, the exchanged land can be seen along Route 93, a
delightful 16-kilometer wide ribbon of roadway winding through the Park.

We should be forever grateful for the bit of negotiation that gave us
Route 93 (called the Banff-Windermere Highway) and an opportunity to
enjoy the magnificent beauty of the towering Canadian Rocky
Mountains and excellent wildlife viewing. The Route begins (or ends) at
the boundary of Banff and Kootenay national parks on the Continental
Divide. From here it runs southwest over thin-air passes, around
massive mountains, through a spacious valley into a narrow canyon and
the resort community Raduim Hot Springs where it turns south to end
(or begin) in Windermere, British Columbia, Canada.

While enjoying the Park's features is great from an automobile (or bicycle), its many hiking trails are probably the best way to explore the Park. A massive wildfire in 2003 closed some of the trails, such as to Marble Canyon, but those trails still available provide a good idea of what makes the Kootenay National Park special.

The 2003 wildfire and our early arrival (first week in June) did limit our selection of hiking trails but not our delight and pleasure in what we did get to see. Our first hike was
the short but historically significant, the Paint Pots Trail. Early Native People,
from as far away as Great Plains, came to this spot to harvest the iron-rich red
clay called ochre. The clay was kneaded, shaped into "flat cakes" and baked.
It would have been ground, mixed with fish oil or animal fat and used. By the
early 1900s, Europeans started mining the clay as a pigment for paints and such.
The establishment of the Kootenay National Park ended that venture. Miners
left some of their equipment behind for us to admire. So much for the history,
now to the actual trail. From the parking lot, head into a moss and fir tree woods a short ways on a paved trail. A little ways in, the trail will fork. No problem - either way leads to a suspension bridge across the Vermilion River (a fairly typical chalky blue-green glacier feed waterway). Across the bridge, the trail winds its way to a field dotted with various shades of red earth, all deposits of ochre.

Our next trail was selected for its name - Cobb Lake (Cobb is Fred's middle name). It has always been my philosophy the quality of a hiking trail is directly related to its
reward. By that I mean, if I'm going to do all that walking, there had
better be something special at the end. According to that criteria, Cobb
Lake trail was a great hike. The trail is maintained and easy to follow
but is all switchbacks going and coming. After 2.8 km of huffing and
puffing, the crystal clear Cobb Lake appeared. The surrounding
evergreens and sapphire blue sky are mirrored by the lake's surface.
The water below is as clear as the air above. Magnificent!

The Kootenay National Park is not the popular or best known of the
Canada's national parks. But it is an excellent place to begin your adventures in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. For more pictures of our Kootenay adventures click here.