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INTERVAL WORLD
■
Fall 2015
he sign is easy
to miss. “Kootenay National Park”
i t reads, about halfway between
Banff and Lake Louise on Highway 1
in Banff National Park. I wonder, as
I slow to turn west, howmany people
traveling in Canada’s oldest national
park don’t gi ve thi s Kootenay
business a second thought. (Their
first thought, if they have one, is a
given: “How do you pronounce that
name?”) But Kootenay (coot-knee)
deserves some respect
.
Just one-fifth the size of Banff, the 543-square-mile park features
several canyons and valleys, innumerable spectacular vistas, and
some of the West’s finest European-style mineral pools. Located
on the southwestern corner of the park, the little town of Radium
Hot Springs serves as an ideal base from which to explore the
entire Kootenay Rockies playground, with downhill and Nordic ski
areas, hundreds of miles of trails, and numerous snowy alcoves
just calling for a family or romantic escape.
My trip begins in Calgary, home to the closest major airport. I’m
excited to dip my toes in the steamy thermal baths, but there’s plenty
of shutter-worthy scenery long before I arrive at Radium Hot Springs.
In the summer, ease of access clogs parking lots and bloats the trails
that surround landmarks. Not so during the cold-weather months,
when often I stand alone observing nature that I’ll argue is even more
beautiful in subfreezing temperatures and limited sunlight.
For example, winter remains my favorite time to contemplate
waterfalls. Their song carries the melody of a Verdi opera, the high
frigid tenor harmonizing against the booming bass that emanates
from behind the ice-walled enclosures. And the 58-mile Highway
93 connector that runs right into Radium features two excellent
examples, beginning with Marble Canyon.
This spot exhibits spectacular interplay between water and
limestone, crafting sharp, protractor-precise walls and gouging
several collection pools that appear chillingly inviting — even in the
dead of winter. Tokumm Creek wills itself through this slot canyon,
darting beneath ice floes, then abruptly dashing back into view, as
if it knows full well the picture you’re about to take is destined to
be your next screensaver.
Numa Falls is also right off Highway 93, channeling the Vermilion
River through a narrow passage of its own carving. More spillway
than cascade, sheets of ice, two feet thick in places, bracket the
river as it narrows to 15 feet in width. Icicles hang below angled
slabs of the sedimentary rock — until the river’s constant forward
motion knocks them loose from their moorings.
Warm Up
While gazing down upon the frozen Kootenay River Valley, I decide
I’m more than ready for a soak in the famous hot springs.
Encompassed by snow-blanketed rock walls, the expansive pools
provide a perfect antidote to the three-hour drive from Calgary that
was punctuated with short, chilly hikes and the occasional frigid
cascade spray.
Radium Hot Springs’ two pools, naturally mineral rich and
typically maintained at about 84 and 103 degrees, have soothed
the bones and, I assume, calmed the thoughts of no less a world
figure than Winston Churchill, who relaxed here for a week in 1929.
Although he was rumored to prefer his baths in a champagne-filled
tub, I’m confident he enjoyed these percolating steam bubbles, too.
Once warmed up, not to mention fully unwound, I turned my
For some adventurous
visitors, simply admiring
Marble Canyon’s
stunning frozen scenery
isn’t quite enough.