Idaho Peak Van Shuttle

John Matthews from Silverton has stepped up to the plate to offer a shuttle service up Idaho Peak this summer. We are stoked. See his website at http://idahopeakshuttle.ca/

I am hoping to be on every single shuttle ride either hiking, taking photos, paragliding, mountain biking or getting some more history on the area.

Roseberry Regatta 2012

Billed as the highlight of the Slocan Lake summer social scene. Every Monday of the Labour day weekend in September the young and old get together as the Roseberry beach at attend to the serious matter of pirates and racing home-built boats on the Slocan Lake. There was fundraising, walking the plank, youth races, vegetable boat races, and assorted silliness. I attended although did not bring my camera and although I scoured the web for photos of high society you will have to see the Valley Voice for photos.

Kootenay Rockies - Bike Vacations

The latest Kootenay Rockies Bike Vacations guide is out and available as a PDF download. Here is what they have to say about New Denver.

"Enduro/Freeride
New Denver's Idaho Peak is an enduro/freeride paradise, affording some of the best views via mountain bike in the province. The iconic Wakefield trail, which drops right off from the Idaho Peak parking lot, and Sundown, which drops in just before the 9km mark on the Idaho Peak access road, are both incredibly long, smooth downhill tracks that can easily be shuttled or climbed and descended on smaller travel bikes. Both offer options as you descend, hooking up with Choices and Alamo, two New Denver classics. Contact Wilds of Canada Cycles for shuttle services or directions.

Cross-Country / All-Mountain

New Denver has over 64km (40mi) of trail maintained by local volunteers. In many cases, trail networks showcase the pioneer past of both villages. In once prosperous cities like Sandon, cycling routes follow old telegraph lines and wagon trails. Other cross-country tracks zip along old miners' routes and rawhike trails that are perfectly dished out, thanks to horses that used to drag rawhide sacks laden with ore. The New Denver/Roseberry/Sandon area is ripe with trails so make sure to pickup the latest edition of New Denver Mountain Bike Trails Map.

Road Touring

With vistas galore, challenging ascents and thrilling downhills, the roadways winding through Kootenay Lake and the Slocan Valley are becoming famous for their road riding routes. Highways cicumnavigate idyllic tracts of wilderness and boast beautiful rest stops, ample accommodation in the way of historic hotels, charming B&B's and well-kept camgrounds, as well as hot springs at Ainsowrth, Nakusp and Halcyon. Highlight include the 217km Silvery Slocan Loop..... and the adventurous paved and gravel 242km Trout Lake Loop.....

"

Cell Phone Tower Installed

After three years of debate and some international publicity for New Denver we will have cell phone coverage. There were Facebook pages created for and against, the Chamber of Commerce took a stand against cell phone coverage partly on a get-away from it all standpoint. The town of New Denver held a referendum and based on the results asked Telus for no cell phone tower however the feds stepped in and over ruled.

Storm at the Campground

We had a major storm rip through New Denver on Thursday. 10-15 trees in the campground area of New Denver were broken or roots pulled right out of the ground by the 100+ km winds. One family was lucky to run from their camper before it was crushed by a tree. Most of the trees on the beach at the south end of New Denver are gone. Power was out from about 2pm until 10:30pm and phone connection outside New Denver was out until the following afternoon. Many people were on hand to help out.

Idaho Peak - Road Open

Not yet. Probably a reasonable rule of thumb is to wait until there is absolutely no snow on Idaho Peak facing New Denver. I rode up today and there is still about a 20m section with 2ft of snow just as you approach the Blue Grouse Basin sign at Km 10(?). The rest of the road is clear of snow and so easy hiking or biking for the next 2km to the ridge and the hiking trail is all clear. Probably by July 12th or so the road will be open all the way.

Interactive Pictures of New Denver

Check out the beautiful interactive video pictures of New Denver by Horizon 2 Horizon Photography

http://www.horizon2horizon.com/gall-int/newden/antart.html

Destination Highways

Check out this Motorcycle website advertising guidebooks to "Destination Highways". This link takes you to the Kaslo-New Denver stretch which is rated 5/100. The road down the Slocan Valley is also included in their listing. Creston to Kootenay Bay Ferry is listed Number 1. Each page has a video of a 4 minute section of the ride. Other rides include: Nelson to Kaslo #60, Kaslo North to Meadow Creek #33, Road over Monashee Pass #56, and more.

Fire flared up again and Weather changed

Mid week the wind picked up again and the fire in Springer Creek and Enterprise Creek flared up again. By the weekend the weather has changed and some rain has probably slowed everything down. The summer is coming to an end. The Valhalla Music School and Suzuki Music School 's are over and soon it will be Labor Day and the end of the summer season.

Springer Creek Fire Settled Down

The last two days have been favoured by light winds. Yesterday we drove to Nelson through Kaslo - so we saw the smoke from the Meadow Creek fire, the Kemp Creek fire above Kaslo, and the smoke from the Sitkum Creek fire which was filling the West Arm. Apparantly the visibility in Slocan City is pretty poor but New Denver has been blessed with beautiful sunshine and people have been getting out and about on their bikes and boats. The picture once again has been taken from the New Denver Boat Launch with Bannock Point the first ridge coming down to the lake and the smoke filling in Enterprise Creek over to Bluffs above Slocan City.

Springer Creek fire into North Side of Enterprise Ck

Strong winds blew today and the Springer Creek fire doubled in size from 700 to 1500 hectares by mid afternoon. By 5 pm the fire had moved through Enterprise Creek and started up the North side of Enterprise Creek. Visually from these photos taken from the dock in New Denver it appears to have reached near the height of land on the North side of Enterprise Creek about 5-6 km up the creek. New Denver had a public meeting at the school this evening which was well attended and good information provided. Thanks was given to all of the fire fighters and other people assisting in the fire. More information at http://www.bcwildfire.ca/

We could see the Mars water bombers scooping water from Slocan Lake and lots of smaller aircraft in the air.

Colleen McCrory

Interview with Colleen McCrory. Colleen was part of the Valhalla Wilderness Society. Instrumental in the creation of the Valhalla Park and much more. A Tribute.