Noteworthy Getaway
I’m still thinking about last weekends getaway with Marsh, my adventuresome partner and favorite playmate.
Our destination (sparked by an article in AAA’s Via Magazine) was the Columbia River Valley, in Canada. Our goal was to skate out of Inverness, BC on a maintained ice path called the White Way. 30 km of skating is nestled between the Canadian Rockies and the Purcell Mountains.
Our 5 day getaway over Canada’s Family Weekend and the US’s Presidents Day weekend, started with a flight to Calgary. We left Redmond about 10 am and landed in Calagary after a short layover in Seattle, at about 4 pm. We rented an all wheel drive car and got on the highway and headed toward Lake Louise in Banff National Park. We stayed in a castle on a frozen lake with a view of ice sculptures and incredible mountains and ate duck cassoulet and drank delicious red wine before we crashed for the night.
We had brought our Nordic skate skis, and in the morning after eating pastries and drinking coffee with cream we skate skied across the lake to the edge of a glacier.
By 2:00 on Saturday, after another skate tour on groomed trails in Lake Louise, we were on the road to Inverness, 2 hours south. In Inverness we found a shop that rented “Nordic skates”. Nordic skates are simple blades about 19 inches long that clip on to Nordic ski boots. Most people on the White Way were wearing more traditional ice skates and hockey skates. Marsh and I found the “blades” to be fast and fun and comfortable!
Our Bed and Breakfast was in Radium Hotsprings, a small town near two mountain passes, and a warm and inviting soaking pool that we made our way to after checking in.
For the next two days we strapped on blades and blissfully skated on the frozen Columbia River!
Yes, we were tired. Yes, we were a bit sore. Yes, we did magically connect with another Bend couple who happened to be in the area to share a day of skating and a soak with!
On Monday afternoon, we drove another 10 miles south and soaked at Fairmont Hot Springs, to complete our experience.
Our trip back to Calgary was snowy and cold, but we departed on schedule at 5 pm, back home by 9 pm. “Rode hard, and put away wet.” 😂
