Our Trip West - Radium

Day 7 - We travelled from Banff to Radium through the Kootenay Mountains. It was another beautiful drive. We stopped along the way for a hike to the Paint Pots - bottom left picture. This is an area which is fed by ground water and contains ochre which produces a paint like substance. When we arrived in Radium, we noticed that our camper slide needed some minor repairs, so after that was taken care of we headed to the Radium Hot Springs for the evening to enjoy both the cool and hot pools. The kids had a blast doing tricks off of the diving board into the cool pool and I loved being able to sit and relax in the hot pool. The kids were very excited to see Mountain Sheep by the pool.

Day 8 - White Water Rafting on the Kootenay River!! The kids were super excited about this day! Our rafting adventure began at 9:00 am where we boarded an old school bus and traveled for about 45 minutes down to the river. The kids were geared up with wet suits, rain jackets and river shoes and we were provided with rain gear and river shoes. After a few basic lessons in rafting we were on our way. The day began as a beautiful sunny day, but by the time coffee break rolled around the clouds also rolled in. We had around 10 people in our raft and the kids sat in a safe spot in the middle. The scenery was amazing and we even saw a small black bear climbing the side of the river bank. We traveled through Class 1, Class 2 and some Class 3 rapids where we all got a good splash and had to paddle hard and then hold on as we went through them. Just before we stopped for lunch, it began to drizzle. After lunch, it continued to rain for a while and then cleared up for a while. Right after we passed the waterfall (picture bottom left), dark clouds rolled in and it began to rain once again and then HAIL and thunder!!! After paddling through this for about 10 minutes it finally cleared up and we once again were paddling in sun, but by this point we were all soaking wet, except for the kids who were wearing wet suits. Despite all of the adverse weather condition, we loved every minute of our rafting adventure. We traveled 40 kilometres down the river and saw some amazing scenery and wildlife. For the kids, it was one of their highlights of the trip! We boarded the bus for a hour and a half bumpy ride back to our campsite. We arrived back around 6:30, made some supper, popped in a movie and relaxed!!