Tour de Somewhere Out West!

Day 10, Tuesday Ainsworth Hot Springs to Rosebery (56 km / 35 mi) Our route passes through the Selkirk Mountains along the route of the old K&S Railway. Magnificently set on the delta of the Kaslo River, between the Selkirks and the Purcells, the Village of Kaslo presents a tranquil image overlooking Kootenay Lake. Victorian-era homes, commercial buildings and heritage sites give the town a fairy tale atmosphere. The SS Moyie, a dry-docked CPR sternwheeler that plied the waters of Kootenay lake until fewer than five decades ago, is a prominent landmark. The old firehall has been converted to a mining museum. The Langham Cultural Centre, formerly a hotel for miners and later an internment facility for Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War, now houses two art galleries, a theatre, studios, arts library, lounge and other facilities for artists. The cultural centre also hosts Kaslo-on-the-Lake Summer School of the Arts in July and August. Sandon, a ghost town east of New Denver, was once a glittering mining capital boasting 24 hotels, 23 saloons, opera house and red light district. The town had electric power even before Vancouver and Victoria. Exhausted mines and a devastating flood in the 1950s took their tolls, however, and Sandon has now gone the way of so many early towns dependent on mining. Today, only a handful of residents remain. A museum chronicles the history of the town. More information on: New Denver, New Denver, Silverton Slocan Kootenay, Arrow & Slocan Lakes Kaslo, New Denver Gunpowder Gertie, Pirate Queen of the Kootenays, Sternwheelers on Kootenay Lake, West Kootenay Power (download their very nice screensaver of Kootenay and Okanagan scenes) Ainsworth Hot Springs Village of Kaslo, SS Moyie photo album, K&S Railway, Kaslo Jazz Society, Langham Cultural Centre Back to Day 9 On to Day 11 Return to Tour main page

Borealis Outdoor Adventure Home Page