Radium Hot Springs and Fort Steele

8/24

Off to Radium Hot Springs for a soak this morning. It rained during the night and snowed on the high peaks. Getting ready for winter.

new snow

We stopped for a short hike at a viewpoint for the HooDoos. Nice view of the surrounding peaks and a vista back to Banff.

HooDoos

Looking back to Banff

Just as we stopped at the hot springs it started to rain. A chilly walk under the highway. The hot pool is not too very hot and full of children. We finally find a couple of obscure hot water delivery pipes and spend time by them. We chatted with a couple from Edmonton. They had a relatively mild winter. After a nice soak we head off to find a place to camp for the night and have a picnic lunch.

Radium Hot Springs

Our first choice of campground for the night is full, so we head back into an edge of the Kootenay National Park for the night. We have a nice quiet spot, but they were almost full. We got a leftover “short” spot by virtue of our size.

8/25

After we get a camp site at the Fort Steele Resort we head over to the Historic Town of Fort Steele.

The Entrance

The entry building was a brewery and this was a beer vat. Mmmm beer.

William and the brewery beer delivery wagon

Wm freaks in the territorial jail

We saw a cute melodrama about the fight to keep the railroad coming to Fort Steele. In reality the wiley developer won and the railroad went to Cranbrook. Fort Steele became a ghost town. Drat that Col. Baker.

A wagon ride about town

A trip on the railroad. The tracks were built for the town restoration.

Blowing off the steam to clear the boiler.

A view down from the high train stop.

William and old 1077

Sweeping up in the enlisted mens quarters

Boiled Mutton is on the menu

William and the log hauler

William by an old waterwheel that is now home to doves. We heard them cooing.

The old outhouses are boarded up. Unlike in Fairbanks where they are still in use.

We had a fun afternoon in Fort Steele.