The wild life.


The Dark Queen’s throne room.


Hippies,


K O O T E N AY L A K E R E V E A L S T H E S E C R E T I N G R E D I E N T S O F A B A C K YA R D P A D D L I N G P A R A D I S E


S TOR Y AND P HOTOS : DAV E QU INN


Huckleberries and Beer


IN THE KOOTENAY REGION of southeast- ern British Columbia, the lithic ram- parts of the Rocky, Purcell and Selkirk mountains soak their feet in deep, cold lakes held fast by steeply treed slopes. Upper and Lower Arrow Lakes, Slocan Lake, Windermere Lake and dozens of smaller lakes and reservoirs fill nearly every valley. The greatest lake of all, the mother lake, is the Dark Queen her- self—Kootenay Lake—the largest natural lake in southern B.C. Nearly 150 kilo- metres long, this massive inland sea leaves a bow-and-arrow-shaped foot- print on the region even larger than her massive blue figure on maps. The Dark Queen of the Kootenays


has it all: superlative fishing (including the largest rainbow trout in the world), soul-soothing mountain views, water pure enough to lift straight to your lips, and a rainbow of colourful communi- ties where you can counterpose a day of paddling with an evening of live jazz or a night in a B&B.


ADVENTURE KAYAK |


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