Reciprocal invitation and exchanges
ideas between Kaslo, British Columbia, Canada and La Bastide-Puylaurent, Lozere,
France.
Dayspring Lodge Bed & Breakfast Lake and mountain outlook
Reciprocal invitation and exchanges
ideas between Kaslo, British Columbia, Canada and La Bastide-Puylaurent, Lozere,
France.
Dayspring Lodge Bed & Breakfast Lake and mountain outlook
We
are leaving
Revelstoke and
the Columbia River in the direction of
Arrow Lake to
get to Kaslo. Again, to cross the Arrow Lake, we take the ferry heavily loaded
with logging trucks.
Every morning, we get up with an unforgetable blue and sunny sky; the colours of the
forests, mountains and rivers are gorgeous, and pure.
We took a tiny abandonned trail through woods, suddenly, higher on our left a
noise of rolling stones interrupts the silence , a few seconds
without moving and... about 50 metres ahead , two moose appear up on the side of the mountain . They look at each other before disappearing into the woods.
The
trail disappears and we find ourselves in the deep forest that nobody has
touched since the beginning of the century. Trees are falling down with age
just by themselves, and on the large and high stumps we can spot the marks of notches
having served as a support for the handloggers. There's nobody any more, the silence
is deep and complete and the atmosphere seems to be a bit of hell, with
green moss all around and the fallen trees we are stepping over as if it were
the trail. The real forest, the forest in which we get lost, the forest where
the cougar can set about you and the bear can attack from the back...
Around half-way is Trout Lake , a small and quiet village which has its own hotel in
spite of it's only one hundred inhabitants. We park our car in front of the
Windsor Hotel
build in 1892. It's 1pm and we find the "Back at 3pm" note on the front door. We
were ready to have a good lunch at this amazing place, well... it's going to be
for another time. 200 meters further lives Marlene Savage who runs the gas
station and the General Grocery Store. A small grocery store to shop in before
prospecting or cutting trees in the woods or to bail out the people like
us, hungry and not fussy about food. Now we are sure we won't die of starvation
before arriving in Kaslo, 111km of driving on
logging roads means we cannot go faster than 30 km/h.
The logging road runs almost 100 km in the Lardeau River valley, a guaranteed impression of real Canada. An eagle on a dead tree bent above the running river and eventually, as we were hoping for ,...a grizzly bear on the river bank. A bear of a good size, walking quietly on the other side of the river.
Kaslo,
900 souls living by the lake which is 150 km long. Lumberjacks, hippies,
artists, computer scientists and some natives liven up this small community.
People living up in the mountains drive down to shop here. The stores in
Kaslo are small but we can buy everything here and the retailers are very kind.
Don't miss Sunnyside Naturals, nature products or "organic food" store run
by 3 nice women, two of them are originally from the former Czechoslovakia. You
may taste their delicious fruit juice 'made by the chef'. Nelson is the 'big'
city of the area but 65 km from Kaslo.
A
big modern house facing the lake and built by a creative architect, Dayspring
Lodge B&B is located 12 km south of Kaslo. Mark and Jacqueline welcome us with
alot of 'know-how' in their big living room adjoining the kitchen with at
least a 5 meter high ceiling. Aperitifs are offered close to the fire place and
lively discussions; Mark is an anthropologist, originally from Victoria on
Vancouver Island. He loves books and owns hundreds of them.
Jacqueline is the one who is the businessman of the family, she runs several
businesses at the same time and among other things, she organizes and guides an
outdoor trip in Honduras and Guatemala. She also makes us delicious meals which
are prepared with much taste. It's now 5 years since they opened their B&B
and they are lucky here. The only think they regret is that they did not do it
long before. They are proud of their B&B and we have to admit there is much to
be proud of.
The
view of the lake and mountains from the deck is magnificent! The large balcony
allows the guests to have a rest in the sun and to breathe the pure air. The water we can drink directly from the creek.
At Dayspring Lodge B&B, Francine, born in Quebec, offers traditional Thai
massages; a combination of strecthing and acupressure.
Mark
takes us with his big off-road car to the Fry Creek Trail, a trail known only by
local people which leads us after 45 minutes walk to the Fry Creek canyon. The
water on the shaded riversides is already frozen in spite of the nice and
suuny weather. Tiny paths in woods, several telephone wires half buried in the
ground since the times of the gold rush.
Mark,
62 years old, is in very good shape, walks fast without any effort
and for us, it's not easy to follow him. We don't talk, we are breathing hard
and sweating. Mark knows the area very well; he has already been living here
for more than 30 years. His two dogs are our hiking fellows and amaze us with
their energy, climbing the cliffs on the left and on the right as if by magic,
considering the cliff in a fraction a second if and how is it possible
to climb...
Contrary to Europe, the Canadian atmosphere is a mixture of chinese music, the hot tub and big spaces. The fashion is different as well, more relaxed, without complexes. The contact is more direct and more thoughtful. We learnt a lot staying with them for a couple of days.
Dayspring Lodge Bed and Breakfast, Jacqueline & Mark Mailing, Kaslo, British Columbia, Canada
***
Old romantic Hotel with a beautiful park along the Allier River. L'Etoile Guest-House is located in La Bastide-Puylaurent between Lozere, Ardeche and Cevennes. Hiking trails GR7, GR70 Stevenson, GR72, GR700 Regordane (St Gilles), Cevenol, Roujanel, Margeride, Allier, Ardechoise and many hiking loops around. A mountain retreat in the South of France. The right place to relax.