Fort Steele, British Columbia
My kind of paradise
It doesn’t get any better than this
Living at the base of the Rocky Mountains has its advantages. Within minutes, I can access some of the region’s most beautiful and rugged terrain. So on July 23, 2008, my friends and I decided to do some exploring out my back door.
Alpine ATVing: The towering peaks of the Rocky Mountains can make a person feel somewhat insignificant. —photo by Kirsten Armleder
It was hot that day so we made sure to pack lots of water. After fueling up the quads, we left around noon and headed up the Wildhorse River Forest Service Road. We passed several vehicles but the traffic lessened when the road got more narrow. The temperature also cooled down as we rode higher into the alpine but that didn’t stop us from dunking our heads in the creek that ran alongside the road.
Eventually, we turned onto a quad trail and followed it through thick timber and across terrain that was fairly rough and rocky. After going down a steep hill, it brought us into a valley where trails branched off in many directions. The one that we took had large ditches that were hard to see and I nearly lost my passenger on a couple of them. About 20 minutes later, we arrived at a cabin and stopped to have a snack and enjoy the scenery. There were other trails we wanted to check out but since we didn’t bring extra fuel and it was getting late, we had to cut our ride short and head home.
On the way back, my passenger and I traded spots so I could capture as many “Kodak moments” as possible. To my surprise, I got the opportunity to photograph a ruffed grouse chick—which can be difficult considering how protective the hens usually are.
After a ride like this one, I feel even more priviledged to call the Kootenay Rockies my home.