Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Kootenay National Park

Today we decided to explore Kootenay National Park. We drove through the park yesterday to get to Lake Louise & Banff, but we didn't make any stops. So today we went back to look at what we missed and to do a little hiking.

Our first stop was Olive Lake, which was at the top of Kootenay Pass. It got it's name from the green color of the water. As you see from the picture it was a beautiful day with little wind so we got a good reflection. We walked around the lake and saw some very small brook trout which populate the lake. This lake is formed by springs in the lake and as you look at the bottom, you can see bubbles rising from where the springs are letting water into the lake.


We drove further into the park and stopped to hike along the Kootenay River. It's a blue-green color from the glacier flour in the water. The bottom is very stony. We never saw any fish in all of our stops along the rivers in the park, nor much plant life in the river. The water was very cold.



We stopped for lunch at the Kootenay Lodge, which consisted of a few cabins and a gift shop. The restaurant was only open for breakfast & dinner. Go figure. So we got some snacks and headed on to the paint pots.

The native americans (indians) used the dye from the paint pots as make up and to decorate their homes. It's an orange red color, and the natives would mix it with grease from animals, then bake it, then pound it into a powder. Then it was mixed with oil and used for decorations. It was an interesting walk with a lot of good historical information.


Our last stop was at Vermillion Falls. The stone here is black and very soft. Over the years the river has carved a canyon creating this falls. You can see where the water has carved away at the side walls making bowl shaped impressions. It was very pretty and sound of the water rushing over the falls was musical.


If you like to see all of the pictures from this day, just click on the link below:
Thanks for joining us on this trip.

2 comments:

Jeni said...

Beautiful pictures! How come there were trout in the Olive lake but not the others? What causes the olive color? What causes the paint pots...is it just clay?

Jeni said...

The pictures of Simpson River were great and I was so surprised at how opaque Olive Lake was...so pure and gorgeous! What is Ochure (or is it Ochere?)? Vermillon Falls were beautiful too!