kettle valley

[swandog]

this week i took a trip to the okanagon to walk the trestles of the old kettle valley railway , then home on the worlds longest free ferry ride in nelson , the hot springs in aisworth were great , you enter a cave that goes into the hillside and is horseshoe shaped returning next to were you enter , very hot

[Trailace]

this week i took a trip to the okanagon to walk the trestles of the old kettle valley railway , then home on the worlds longest free ferry ride in nelson , the hot springs in aisworth were great , you enter a cave that goes into the hillside and is horseshoe shaped returning next to were you enter , very hotNext time I'm up that way I will have to check out that trestles it really looks cool. P^

[swandog]

i think there are two tunnels and 14 trestles on a 6 klm section of the old railway . turned into a cycling , hikeing trail . alot of the rail route is open too motorbikes , but not that more popular area

[BCST]

As a birthday gift to myself today I ordered new tires for my ST and a Exped Down Mat 9. Consumed by guilt at spending so much on myself all at once I decided I had better go for a birthday ride. I picked the north end of the old KVR rail bed for my ride. The mix of tunnels, trestles and lake views make this one of my favorites. Sorry no pics of the trestles or lake but I had a great day.

Pete

[Mellow]

Okay... I see the dog in the 1st pic... where does it ride?

[swandog]

right where you see him , its a small black and decker toolbox with big holes drilled in it with a 2" hole saw . i close the lid an he has room to turn around in there and look out . if im not going hyway speeds he sits in the tank bag if its not full of stuff .

[swandog]

As a birthday gift to myself today I ordered new tires for my ST and a Exped Down Mat 9. Consumed by guilt at spending so much on myself all at once I decided I had better go for a birthday ride. I picked the north end of the old KVR rail bed for my ride. The mix of tunnels, trestles and lake views make this one of my favorites. Sorry no pics of the trestles or lake but I had a great day.

Pete

where is that ? how do i get there ? . where i was its walk or pedal bike only

[BCST]

where is that ? how do i get there ? . where i was its walk or pedal bike only

You can enter the trail at the gate on the Lower Arrow Lake or on Bulldog road a few klm's north east of the Paulson bridge. There are some other entry points too but are hard to explain because they are FS roads and there are so many spurs it can be confusing for someone who is already familiar with them. The path around the gate on the Lower Arrow is pretty chewed up too so I don't know how you would make out on it with a Strom.

There is a battle currently going on between the mountain bikers and the ATV clubs. Just about all the money and volunteer work in our area came from the ATV clubs and the mountain bikers want to close the trail to anyone but them.

One of the tunnels on our end is almost a kilometer long and can be quite an experience on a motorcycle. Apparently it's a whole nother ball game when your using a flash light and pushing a bike! :eek:

swandog if you go over to the Sport-Touring.net Canada section there is a thread on the 09 Kootenay Borscht, Burn and BBQ. This year they are having a dual sport ride which includes the part of the rail bed I am talking about. I think there is someone from your neck of the woods who is a part of it too.

I spent some more time on part of the trail today when I was checking out some of the FS roads so I took a couple more pics for you.

Pete

[swandog]

so in the christina lake and castlegar area , is the lake in the photo christina lake? i was there a few weeks ago . very deep and crystal clear

[BCST]

so in the christina lake and castlegar area , is the lake in the photo christina lake? i was there a few weeks ago . very deep and crystal clear

The pics are of the Lower Arrow, the rail bed follows along the lake for quite a few klm's before turning in through the mountains to come out above Christina.

One of the pictures in my first post is of the Paulson highway bridge where it passes over the trail. Almost directly below the bridge is one of the short tunnels.

[swandog]

i worked with a guy who wrote a book on the history of the kettle valley railway . joe schmune . his father ran a locomotive on the line . it must have been quite a sight when the steam engines were in operation