THE LITTLE
FERRIES OF

THE KOOTENAYS

by Jean MacKenzie
- The best things in life are
free, And one of the best
things about a trip to British
Columbia’s uncluttered
Kootenay country is the free
‘boat rides provided by the
Department of Highways.
Boat trips are part of any
holiday in that land of green-
clad mountains and long,
lovely lakes. These lakes
form barriers up to 130
Miles (200 kilometres) long,
filling the steep valleys
'-Detween the peaks of

COMING TO

BLUE HORIZON
© owatawn io
@ 3) Floors ©
@ Roof Top Dining

trom your awn bafcony:
Singles from $24, Doubles: trom $29,”
EVERY ROOM ALMOST :TWICE THE
SIZE.OF AM ORDINARY HOTEL ROOM

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1225 .ROBSON ST: 688-1411
VAN. 8.C. TELEX 04507715
_ PHONE COLLECT

1, ENTERTAINMENT, THE HERALD, Wed. Mar. 2, 1977

ROAM AT HOME

A TRAVEL BRITISH COLUMBIA FEATURE

Monashee, the Slocan and
the Purcell ranges. Too wide
to bridge and too long to by-
pass, the Kootenay, Slocan
and Arrow lakes are knit
together by a network of fine
highways and a fleet of busy
— and free ? ferry boats.

Kootenay ferries come in |

several sizes, from the tiny
power-cable Glade ferry
(capacity five carts) that
takes local traffic.across the
Kootenay River, to the big
lake ferries carrying 35 or

more vehicles. The capacity -
of these boats actually.

varies with the skill of the
loading crews and the type
of vehicles coming aboard.
Many a tourist, resigned to
waiting for the next ferry,
has found _ himself
miraculously beckoned
aboard as the loading crew
tuck a car into an im-
possibly small corner or
with jocular grunts, heft a
light trailer to one side,
making room for “just one
more”.

Boat

travel on ‘the

; Kootenay Lakes goes back

to fur-trade days and to the
time when footsore
prospectors first arrived,
iltering up from Idaho,
Montana and Washington
Territory or slogging the 300
mountain miles (500
kilometres) from Hope
along the Dewdney Trail.
They found gold at Wild

‘Horse Creek and in the red

mountain of Rossland.

Following the miles of blue
water northward, they
discovered silver, lead and
zinc. By the 1890’s a Fleet of

sternwheelers plied the §

watery highways, carrying 3% oS

supplies and equipment for
the mines, passengers and
mail to lakeside settlements
and an occasional cow or
horse to an _ isolated
homesteader.

Most travellers of the
1970’s enter the Kootenays
to stake their claim to a
share of its natural beauty
— which is breathtaking.
Like the oldtimers, they can
come from the United States
through Creston, Rossland
and Grand Forks or they
can travel from Hope on

British Columbia Highway 3

which in many places
follows the
Dewdney : Trail. From

west and north, Highway 6 :

out of Vernon and Highway

23 from Revelstoke link up &

to the 10-minute crossing
aboard the Needles-
Fauquier ferry on the Lower
Arrow Lake and to the 30-
minute voyage between
Shelter Bay and Galena on
the Upper Lake.

At the south end of the
Arrow Lakes is Castlegar,
junction of the Columbia
and Kootenay Rivers. The’
cable ferries that crossed
the Columbia at Castlegar
once carried more vehicles
than any others in the
province but since a bridge.

ol

THANKS TO YOU, |
~ WEDIDIT.

Your support for this year's Variety Club
Telethon was heart warming.

Thanks to you, we not only made our goal.

We passed it.

And there's still time to help the handicapped
children of British Columbia.

Just make your cheque or money order.
payable to Variety Club Telethon then
mail it to the address below,

And please accept our wholehearted

thank you.

iit Loti Ir,

7400, VANCOUVER

long-ago
ef

was built in 1967, only one of
the hardworking little boats
remains in service. Today
carrying local traffic, the

ferry is handy (but not,

necessary ) for a visit to the
Keenlyside Dam or for

Oe

camping at Syringa Creek
Provincial Park. e

(This Roam at Home
article is one of a series
provided by Tourism British
Columbia.) . :

Airship adventure

The romance and ex-
citement of lighter-than-air

‘flight is recalled in The

Great Airship Adventure
alring Sunday, March 6 at 7
p.m. on Public TV 9. From
the first. free-floating
balloons to the Hindenburg
disaster, this documentary
explores the history of
dirigibles and examines
their possible use as a safe

- and economical means of

transportation.
The imaginative genius of
Count Frederick Von

Zeppelin produced the first
airships. Original films of

’. these zeppelins, which were

designed for passenger
service, are included in this.
program.

Authentic newsreel
footage also helps tell the
story of the spectacle of

1931, when the German-built

Graf Zeppelin and an
American submarine were
scheduled to meet at the
North Pole to chart the
unknown areas of the Arec-

c, ’

By 1933, with Hitler's rise
to power, the zeppelin
became a symbol of Ger-
man superiority. As part of
this propaganda effort, the
airship Hindenburg made

. its fateful trans-Atlantic

flight to America. The
dreadful moment at
Lakehurst New Jersey,
which marked the end of the
airship era, also has been
preserved on film which is

_ Included in the special.

The documentary does not
accept a_ dirigible-less
future. Rather, ‘it suggests
that the ships offer
reduced noise pollution,

APPROVED

)

GD] | ,
won fl ATL D

FOR RESERVATIONS TELEPHONE 564-6369

MARG AND JOHN RAHIER

+ ON HIGHWAY 16" 1737-20th AVENUE

FULLY MODERN.
ELECTRIC HEATING
KITCHEN FACILITIES
COLOUR TELEVISION
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1737 TWENTIETH AVENUE '
PRINCE GEORGE, B.C.

The place to stay while shopping. skiing,
holidaying, travelling through ‘or just visiting
friends, close to major shopping centres, etc.

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