Canoeing the Kootenay

Young British soldiers preparing to canoe the Kootenay River (Photo by Larry Halverson)

While the Olympics were starting up in London about two dozen British soldiers were canoeing the Kootenay River. They started at the Kootenay River picnic site in the park and paddled for 3 days and 90 km to Canal Flats.

This section of the river contains some of the most scenic canoeing water as the river has downcut through soft shale and glacial outwash, creating beautiful steep-walled canyons. There are also lots of rapids, ranging in difficulty from class 1 to class 3, which make it an exciting paddle, especially in open canoes. Plus this year with all the rain and snow melt the water levels, which normally peak in mid June, remained high well into July, adding difficulty to individual rapids.