Start Planning Your Trip to Salmo

As school was ending, people would ask my kids the usual question, "What are you doing this summer?" When they answered, "We're going to Salmo," people would ask, "Where?"

Salmo is certainly not a popular tourist attraction, a well-known city or much more than a speck on a map to most people. In fact, I don't know if I'd even heard of Salmo before meeting my brother-in-law Ted, who lived there when he was little.

It so happens, though, that Salmo is in the B.C. Kootneys, very close to the town of Nelson, where I was born. My family moved to White Rock when I was still a baby, and I'd only been back to Nelson once, when I was 12.

My sister Tina, her husband, Ted, and their family went up to Salmo two years ago, and Ted had seen that his family home was up for sale. His dad then bought the house and renovated it, and Tina and Ted invited all of my family to join them there this summer.

Ted had also recently written a book (Teddy Hit Me), where he describes many adventures that took place in Salmo. My kids and I have read lots of these funny stories, and we were interested in visiting the small town. 

So, on Wednesday we set out for Salmo, B.C. The drive up was so beautiful, with mountains covered with evergreens, waterfalls, and the occasional deer by the side of the road.

Our first evening at the house was about what you'd expect: Ben and two of his boy cousins exterminated close to 30 wasp nests in a couple of sheds on the property while getting covered in mosquito bites. The girls set up their sleeping bags and air mattresses in a big room where they would have their three-night sleepover, and the little ones started setting up their toys and exploring the house. 

The next morning, we went to Nelson. We stopped first at my Uncle Raymond's grave 

and then went to visit the house he'd lived in and where we had visited him when my family went to Nelson.

The houses all had so much character, having been built many years ago, and Nelson seemed like such a nice little town. I'm kind of glad I was born there!

After stopping by my uncle's house, we continued on to hike at Fltchr Creek, where there was a waterfall. When we got there, it was raining a little bit, but we had our rain jackets and thought we'd be okay. During the short hike, though, it started to pour with rain, and we heard thunder and lightning.

We explored the beach just a little bit before heading back to our vans to eat our picnic there.

On the way out, the road was blocked by two different trees that had fallen during our short time at the falls, and we wondered if they had been struck by lightning.

Our next destination was Ainsworth Hot Springs. We actually have a home movie of my dad dipping me in the water there when I was a tiny baby, and I also remembered going there when I was 12 and had told my children about it many times.

We weren't sure if we'd be able to swim, because outdoor pools need to be evacuated during thunder and lightning storms, but by the time we got to Ainsworth the weather had cleared up.

This was the highlight of the trip for my kids. They loved swimming in the warm water, challenging each other to get into the cold water, and walking through the dripping caves.

The ice-cold pool

After swimming, we went to Lakeside Park for pizza and more fun in the water and sand.

When we got there, I thought I recognized the view of the "big orange bridge" (my Mom told me later that the locals call it BOB for short) from some pictures of me as a baby, where my dad was putting my feet in the water.

Eric and Summer loved the beach and didn't want to leave.

The next day we woke up to find two mice caught in the mouse traps Tina had set up in the kitchen (Summer and Mike discovered them, then Summer showed the other early risers, including Eric, Alaina and me.)

Our plan for the day was to see the Kokanee Old Growth Cedars on a West Kootney hiking trail. This was a hike that took us through a "bear salad bar," so we had to be noisy ... which wasn't too hard with this group.

We saw 800-year-old trees,

huge rocks that had been moved by glaciers,

and more beautiful scenery.

The hike back up to the cars was a bit steep, and Eric was pretty tired by the end.

After the hike, we went to A&W for lunch, then hurried back to Salmo so we could spend some time at the community pool. Even though it was just a rectangle with a diving board, most of the time we had the pool to ourselves, and the kids had a great time playing football and attempting flips off the diving board. 

That evening, we had a campfire where people could roast hot dogs and marshmallows.

The next afternoon we headed home, stopping for a few pictures and to buy some Okanagan fruit.

Overall, we'd say more people should choose Salmo as a vacation destination :)