AND THERE’S YODELLING, TOO
Discovering parts of British Columbia
Kimberley, B.C., may not be as attractive an Interior town as Fernie, but The Platzl area has excellent outdoors shops and patios for outside dining. My guide for the day pointed out a small tower with a cuckoo clock, with a little statue that comes out and does a short yodelling performance if you drop in a loonie.
“The voice is done by a guy who owns that shop,” my guide told me, pointing to a nearby gift store.
Ten seconds later I’m chatting with the voice behind the recording, a former Austrian yodelling champion named Adi Unterberger, who calls himself “The Yodelling Woodcarver.” He’s got old records in his shop with his photo on the front, which he shows me proudly. I’m touched by his enthusiasm and his smile.
“Wait a minute,” he says before ducking into a room behind the register. A few seconds later, he emerged wearing a Bavarian hat with a white feather. He has his accordion and played a full minute for me, stopping for a midsong yodel. He finished his tune and I gave him a well-deserved round of applause.
DISCOVERING THE KOOTENAY ROCKIES
Heading into my trip I have to say that I was aware of Fernie and Kimberley and Golden and Kicking Horse Mountain and Emerald Lake Lodge. I had a vague idea that Yoho National Park was near Banff and was reasonably attractive. But I didn’t know how gobsmackingly beautiful B.C.’s Kootenay Rockies really are.
Yoho might be the best Canadian national park most Canadians don’t know enough about. As I approached on the one-hour drive from Golden, I pulled over four or five times to admire imposing slabs of exposed rock and brilliant yellow wildflowers and ancient glaciers.
I had only a brief time to explore, but fell in love with Takakkaw Falls, the most striking waterfall I’ve seen in Canada. The water spills over in a series of spectacular drops and finally spills out into the sparkling Yoho river. The falls can be reached quite easily via a paved path and a short bridge, but there are no garish concession stands to be found.
The natural bridge blows me away. After admiring it from below, I walked upstream a few feet and stood on some flat stones that jut out from the river bank and watched the water thunder and roar through the stone chute. A fellow with an Australia T-shirt just looks at me and shakes his head. Neither of us felt the need to speak.
FALLING IN LOVE WITH FERNIE
I fell in love with Fernie, which has a handsome main street lined with low-rise brick buildings. Outside Fernie, I took a 6 a.m. drive to the Island Lake Lodge and discovered a smootherthan-glass lake in the shadow of a jagged mountain range. I was mesmerized by the enveloping, overwhelming quiet, the mountains and the ducks gliding over a still morning pond.
I also managed a ride on the gondola at Kicking Horse Resort, which features one of the largest vertical lifts in North America. I gobbled down a marvellous lunch at the top of the hill and watched brave cyclists zoom down a dirt track.
Ragged, towering mountains. Brilliant waterfalls. Emeraldgreen lakes and cool towns. Oh, and a Yodelling Woodcarver. I love this place.
Yoho might be the best Canadian national park most Canadians don’t know enough about.