Columbia River Valley (British Columbia), Canada

Our daughter moved to Montana last year to pursue her wildland firefighting career. When she decided to stay another year, we knew we'd be taking a trip north in 2023 to visit.

Unfortunately, as a member of a Hotshot Crew, she only gets 3 days off every two weeks, so we knew our time with her would be short.

With flexibility in our schedule, we decided to head up to Canada when she left for her next fire, and then catch another 3 days with her when she returned two weeks later! We didn't plan much in advance, because we weren't sure of her exact dates. Fortunately, we came in September, past the peak season rush, so we had no trouble finding accommodations and campsites (we brought all of our tent camping gear).

We crossed the border in Roosville, British Columbia, on our way to our first AirBNB in Brisco, BC. Just north of Radium Hot Springs and west of Banff, Brisco is on the east shore of the Columbia River, in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. While tourism is certainly an industry here, it's far less touristy than the Banff/Jasper corridor.

Brisco lies along the Columbia National Wildlife Area, which stretches through the valley from Golden down to Radium Hot Springs, providing important wetland habitat for migrating waterfowl. It is one of the most stunning valleys we've ever seen!

Our AirBNB was a cute little cabin at Addison's Bungalows. While we had planned to camp when needed, this rustic cabin was a perfect and affordable option, and we stayed here for 4 nights.

We spent two days exploring the Columbia Valley area, and loved it! Our first day, we hiked the 5.8 mile Welsh Lakes Trail, with a 1,768 elevation gain in 2.9 miles. The first 1.2 miles were a slow, steady grade, but boy those last 1.7 miles before we reached the lake were a workout! Lots of scrambling up boulder fields, and we were often climbing grades in excess of 50%!

But the reward was worth it! A beautiful glacier lake, and we never saw another person on the trail! Scout was able to be off-leash, and she loved the hike too!

Another bonus of this hike was that we saw three moose on the drive up to the trailhead!! Our first Canadian moose (and, as it turned out, the only moose we saw on our trip)...I was pretty excited!

After the hike, we ended up in Radium Hot Springs and asked a local for a recommendation on a place we could get a good burger. Horsethief Creek Pub and Eatery was it, and we had a great meal. We asked the waitress there for a recommendation on things to do and see in the area, and she tipped us off that the Kokanee salmon were spawning in a nearby creek, and also to the locations of a couple of waterfall hikes close by. With that, our plan for Day 2 was set!

On return to the Bungalow, we really enjoyed the private hot tub at our cabin! It was so relaxing after a very hard hike!

Day 2 took us to Lower Bugaboo Trail, which was an easy 2-mile round trip to an impressive waterfall near Spillamachee, British Columbia. From there, we drove to Brisco Falls, which was about a 1/4 mile hike off the road...and this is the stream where the salmon were spawning!

We'd never seen a salmon run, and it was pretty cool! The Kokanee we saw were born in this stream and migrated downstream to a lake where they spent their adult lives. According to our research, Kokanee typically live for four years in a lake before heading back to spawn and die in the stream where they were hatched. During spawning, the males turn bright red and females don a dark red hue. They were certainly easy to see against the streambed where we saw them!

On return to Addison's Bungalows, I walked the dog up the surrounding country roads that led to the nearby ranches. It is such a peaceful, rural setting, and we enjoyed these walks each morning and evening. Everywhere we travelled, we saw hay being baled and put up in barns for winter feed. It was such a pastoral sight!

We thoroughly enjoyed our time exploring the Columbia Valley! Next up is full-day road trip through Banff National Park.