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Travel: Warming up to Christina Lake

Arguably B.C.’s warmest lake, Christina is a centre for all kinds of outdoor activities
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Dockside on the warm waters of Christina Lake

By Jack Christie

Snap quiz: which is the warmest lake in B.C., Osoyoos or Christina? In truth, this is a trick question. The right answer depends on whether you live in the Okanagan Valley, home to border-straddling Osoyoos, or in the Boundary region, site of Christina. Both lakeside towns claim bragging rights as the province’s aquatic hot spot. Until someone offers definitive proof one way or the other, this dispute remains a split decision.

For what it’s worth, Wikipedia credits Osoyoos Lake with an average summer temperature of 24 Celsius while the on-line encyclopedia’s entry for Christina Lake reads “in the 23 Celsius range.” The Canadian Encyclopedia weighs in on the side of Osoyoos, but gives short shrift to Christina Lake, which doesn’t even rate a mention. In the “splitting hairs” category, Christina comes out on top as the warmest tree-lined lake in Canada, a fine point no doubt intended by the local tourism office to trump its desert competition.

When you’re traversing the province in summer along Highway 3 — the Route of the Crow — and in need of a dip to cool off, all such comparisons are purely academic. You just want to get into either lake as quickly as possible. Fortunately, there’s a provincial park located on the shores of each for quick beach access. When it comes to overnighting, Haynes Point Park in Osoyoos features 41 vehicle campsites, whereas Christina Lake Park is day-use only. One difference abundantly clear on arrival at each is that Osoyoos is by far the more popular — and more populous — of the two communities.

By the very nature of its location, the Boundary region is much quieter than the Okanagan. Situated midway between Vancouver and the B.C.-Alberta border, Boundary features a serene, rolling beauty of open fields burnt golden by the sun with the town of Grand Forks at its hub. Christina Lake lies 14 kilometres further east where the Monashee Mountains begin to bunch up at the entrance to the Kootenays. Over a century ago, mining brought workers to settlements such as Phoenix, almost all of which played out their lodes long ago. When families needed a place to relax, they headed to one of five resorts which dotted Christina Lake. In the late 1800s, a steamboat made two trips a day along the shoreline.

An outfall from Christina Lake flows into the nearby Kettle River and from there south into Washington State. Mention of the Kettle River brings to mind the former CPR rail route that now draws cyclists to explore its main and spur lines, particularly between Hope and the Okanagan. Just as welcoming is the section that links Grand Forks with Christina Lake, featuring two trestle bridges that span the Kettle. In 2003, a group of British Royal Engineers, assisted by the 44th Field Engineer Squadron stationed in Trail, restored the bridges for recreational use by resurfacing them with planks and installing protective railings. This was part of a three-year program to assist communities along the Trans Canada Trail, of which the KVR is a major component.

The 157-metre Kettle River Bridge is as impressive as any of the KVR’s better-known spans, such as in the Okanagan’s Myra Canyon where 14 are gradually being rebuilt following forest fire damage in August, 2003. An ideal two-hour summer ride leads west along the KVR from Christina Lake towards Grand Forks with the added sideshow of Cascade Falls tossed in for good measure. As the Kettle River flows under the trestles and beside the trail, it momentarily bends out of sight and carves its way through a narrow gorge where it drops in spectacular fashion over the falls. To reach the Rainbow Rock viewpoint, tuck your bike in the underbrush and follow a well-marked trail into the canyon. On sunny mornings in the hours before noon, the prismatic effects of light passing through the mist kicked up by the falls produces a stunning display of rainbows. By mid-day the sun’s angle in the sky becomes too high to sustain this effect; get there between 9 and 11 a.m. to best appreciate the show.

On hot days, mist hanging in the air of the gorge provides momentary reprieve from the scorchingweather. The sight and sound of all that water pouring through a series of potholes is enough to break the trance induced by the river’s unrelenting flow. Time to mount up and head back to the lake. A shortcut along Highway 3 offers a downhill coast from the KVR back to Christina Lake Park where you’ll arrive primed for a refreshing splash. Don’t forget your thermometre.

Access: Christina Lake lies 543 kilometres east of Vancouver on Highway 3 in the Boundary region between the Okanagan Valley and the West Kootenay. For tourism information, visit www.christinalake.com or call 1-250-447-6161. July and August are the busiest months at Christina Lake as families from around B.C. and Alberta descend for their annual vacations. In the weeks following Labour Day, tranquility returns. That doesn’t mean the lake is any less inviting for swimming and paddling. Cooler weather offers more enjoyable hiking and mountain biking on surrounding trails, such as the TCT route which follows the 1865 Dewdney Trail between Hope and Fort Steele near Cranbrook. Bicycle and kayak rentals, guided tours, maps, as well as a skateboard park, are located at Wild Ways on Highway 3 in Christina Lake, two blocks from the lakeshore. For information, call 1-888-945-3929 or visit www.wildways.com. Details on Haynes Point and Christina Lake provincial parks are posted at www.bcparks.ca