TRANS CANADA TRAIL REPORT

The old Columbia and Western rail bed is now the official Trans Canada route from Christina Lake to Castlegar. Softwood lumber compensation money was used to hire contractors to do major improvements on the trail, with Leanne Johnson of Katim Enterprises, Kelowna, as the project manager. Leanne liaised extensively with Harry Killough of the Columbia and Western Trail Society and with Ernie Hennig of the Boundary Rails to Trails group.

Dave White of Castlegar was hired to work on the rail bed and to do major washout repairs. Rod Timm of Genelle was contracted to deck the 3 trestles along Lower Arrow Lake and did an excellent job. Unfortunately, there was a major fall of timber and rock in the 1km-long Bulldog tunnel during the summer. This was cleared so that people could still go through at their own risk. An engineer was hired to look at safety along the route and he recommended further work be done on the Bulldog tunnel and the tunnel just south of Paulson, which will hopefully be done this summer. Bollards restricting major motorized access were installed at three points.

Use of the route remains a somewhat contentious issue. ATV riders feel that they should have access, as they have been doing some of the maintenance work over the years. In the Boundary region, ATV riders are allowed subject to speed limits and other regulations.

BC Trails has a new Director for the West Kootenay Region in Sjeng Derkx from the Nelson area, who was very active in promoting the Kootenay Loop a few years ago. We are looking forward to resuming regional meetings with groups from Castlegar, Rossland, Nelson and Salmo to share trail information.

Once the rail bed was chosen as the official route, the Columbia River Trail along the east side of the Columbia River from Champion Creek to Sunningdale was designated as the trail to connect with the Dewdney route to Salmo. Friends of Parks and Trails were asked to choose a route connecting the railbed and the Columbia River Trail. Wendy Hurst and Lesley Killough worked on this and Wendy produced a brochure showing the route through Robson and Ootischenia, which highlights local attractions. We are grateful to Area J and Director Gordon Zaytsoff for financial support of this project. The route still needs to be registered with the Trans Canada Trail Foundation and to have official markers.

Trails BC held their AGM in Greenwood last May and the emphasis at the meeting was on the Trans Canada Trail route in the Boundary and West Kootenay regions, although Trails BC is involved with trails throughout BC and not just the TCT. There was also an official trail ride along the route from Castlegar to Hope in September.