The Coal Discovery Trail : Sparwood to Fernie

After a night of torrential rain, we awoke to find the Elk Valley shrouded in a thick layer of fog.  The mountains were completely hidden, the trees slowly rising up their bases and disappearing into the white mist.  It was a relief that the dry, oily smoke of the past few days had been replaced, but it felt like the mountains were determined to keep their secrets, hidden behind a veil.

After a quick breakfast at Tim Hortons, we headed back to the trail, passing a large mural depicting the mining history of Sparwood on the way.  It was a fitting beginning to the day, as the stretch of the Trans Canada Trail between Sparwood and Fernie is known as the Coal Discovery Trail.

Sparwood is the primary hub for coal mining in the Elk Valley, with five active mines providing employment for people throughout the valley. Although mining is the driving force of its economy today, the community's name originated in the 1900s.  At that time the Canadian Pacific Railway Station was named Sparwood because the lumber that was harvested in the region was shipped by rail to the coast to be used as spars in ocean-going vessels.

From the world's biggest truck we crossed under the highway and headed up into the mature conifer forest at the edge of town.  A paved cycling path lead us around the local golf course, around an archery range, and past the campground. As the trail turned to a dirt footpath it was once again obvious that it had been designed specifically for mountain bikers.  At first we found the network of winding and bouncing trails confusing, being unsure of which way to go at each of the many forks, until we realized the forks all came back together and it really didn't matter.

As we headed out of town, one of the highlights was seeing a handmade wooden trail sign being held up by a dinosaur.  It had been created by the local high school, and was very well done.  We also noticed that there were handmade wooden kilometre markers along the trail, created from tree cookies with carved numbers. 

Essentially we spent the day walking parallel to Highway 3, heading southward toward Fernie.  While the drive between the two towns is about 30 km, the trail weaves up and down through the hills, adding nearly 7 km to the route.  The benefit however is that one gets to enjoy a beautiful walk along the forested slopes of the mountains.

Almost right away the Coal Discovery Trail headed straight up into the hills. The mist was still hanging thick above us, completely hiding the mountains from view, and giving the forest a mystical feel.  The fresh, clean smell of pine needles and the spicy scent of balsam fir filled the air, and water droplets clung to all the needles and leaves.  All around us we could hear the sounds of dripping, and when the breeze blew it sounded like it was raining.

One of the morning's highlights was coming to a lookout high up in the hills.  A wooden bench was placed on an open bluff with an expansive view down the valley.  We could see the highway down below curving off into the distance, following along beside the meandering Elk River.  There was also some kind of construction down below, reminding us that industry is very much present throughout the valley.  Somewhat unexpectedly, there was also a figurine of a strange troll-like creature carrying off two gnomes at the viewpoint.

As we stopped to admire the view we were joined by several small and rather bold chipmunks.  They were very cute, but we were somewhat dismayed to see they were covered in ticks.  A few days ago Sean discovered some of these critters climbing his legs, and we've been on the lookout for them ever since.

As we continued through the cool, wet morning we noticed further signs of fall.  Many of the thimbleberry leaves that lined the path were a bright yellow.  Most of their red berries were already gone, and the frequent piles of bear scat on the path attested to just where they went.  The trail was already covered in fallen leaves in some areas, and many of the trembling aspens we passed were partially leafless already.  Purple thistles bloomed among the tall grasses, as did delicate asters.

As we climbed up and down the wet hillsides, our shoes and pants soon soaked by the wet grasses, another highlight was spotting a tiny Western Terrestrial Garter Snake.  This was the first snake we've spotted since crossing into BC, which was kind of exciting!  The poor thing zoomed into an earthen hollow under the grasses and curled around itself, clearly trying to hide.  Every time we moved it would flick its tongue out, trying to taste in the air what was going on outside its hiding place. 

At some point we crossed into a forest preserve managed by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.  We began to see truly enormous cedar trees, cottonwood trees, and tamarack.  They were so tall it was impossible to see the whole tree at one time.  As we've headed westward the scale of the vegetation, wildlife, birds, and landscape has shifted, with everything becoming much larger.

Shortly after this truly impressive stand of trees we descended down off the ridge in a series of incredibly steep switch backs.  We found ourselves balanced precariously on an earth path that was only a few inches wide, clinging to the side of an extremely steep slope which was covered in nothing but grasses and small plants.  Not since walking the Fundy Footpath in New Brunswick have we encountered such steep and unnerving switch backs!

When we finally reached the safety of flat ground again we found ourselves following a flat and relatively level logging or ATV track.  For a few short kilometres we had a relatively easy trek along the base of the hills, under a corridor of trees.  We enjoyed the break, and took a few minutes to admire the yellows and reds of the aspens and blueberry bushes on the extremely steep slopes above us.

Sometime later in the morning we found ourselves walking around the edge of a large gravel quarry.  It was a very large pit with a single pickup truck and digger rearranging the gravel and earth near the middle, a dog keeping watch nearby.  We skirted around the edge of the pit, which in places had grown outwards to engulf the footpath. In these areas large piles of earth had been deposited over the trail.  It looked like some kind of fight was in progress, because the path was lined with signs saying 'Pit Boundary No Disturbance Past This Point' that were not facing the path, but rather the pit.  It was a bit difficult to know which way to go, and we got soaked pushing through the wet undergrowth, but a single set of horse hoof prints helped guide us through and over the muddy piles of earth.

When we got to the far end of the quarry we came to two small artificial ponds.  In one of them a pair of Common Mergansers was swimming.  At this point the sun made a valiant effort and began to burn off the mist.  It seemed like a curtain was being drawn back, and suddenly we could see the mountains and hills surrounding us.

After this point we embarked on a section of the trail that wove back and forth across a series of gravel roads and a hydro corridor.  The winding footpath was beautiful, taking us through lovely stands of conifers and more open meadows and grassy fields.  At one point we spotted a mule deer posed on the footpath ahead.  Although it was very picturesque, for reasons we didn't quite understand, we were failing to make any headway.

We had been hoping to reach the community of Hosmer around noon, but we didn't actually get there until nearly 3:30 pm.  Hosmer is a very small community whose heyday occurred in 1906, when the Canadian Pacific Railway established the Pacific Coal Company to manage the coal mine at Hosmer.  Most of the town is now gone, but as we walked the road past the few homes that are left, we came to an interesting heritage site.  Hidden in the trees and shrubbery at the side of the paved road were 46 of the original coke ovens and kilns that were used to create industrial grade coal.  The brick ovens looked like Hobbit homes, partially hidden in the hill and overgrown by grasses.

We continued down the paved road until a Trans Canada Trail sign indicated we should turn up a steep drive leading to the Hosmer Mine.  The gravel road lead to another historic site, which turned out to be the ghostly remains of the old mine site.  The walls of a two story concrete building with an A-frame roof were hidden in the trees, the empty windows providing glimpses into the interior.  Local graffiti artists had decorated some of the walls with very impressive artwork.  When we went to explore, we realized the building extended quite far back along the forested hillside, but we didn't venture along its entire length.

From the heritage site we had a long steep climb up into the hills once again.  In this section a lot of very heavy logging had recently been done.  At first we were able to follow our footpath up and down the slopes, winding through the maze of logging roads. However, as the afternoon progressed we began to encounter more and more detours, which became increasingly more difficult to follow.

This section was relatively well signed, but there were several forks and turns that weren't marked.  Perhaps the route had been moved and we didn't realize it, or we just missed the signs, but eventually we lost the trail.  We had been using the Back Roads Map App to help us stay on course through the clear cut.  However, as afternoon turned to evening we found ourselves standing in a clear cut area, looking down at the app, which was saying we were on the trail.  We had about 2 hours of daylight left and nearly 10 km to cover to reach the historic town of Fernie.  Adding to the frustration we found signs for the Coal Discovery Trail and the TCT seemingly all over the place pointing in a myriad of different directions.  As such, we decided to give up and follow the hydro corridor into town – only to find more signs for both pathways along it!   

Unfortunately, although the hydro corridor was straight as an arrow, it went up and down like a roller coaster.  We climbed steeply up and then steeply back down without benefit of the meanders and switchbacks that the Elk Valley Trail provided.  On the high parts we enjoyed panoramic views down the valley, and in the dips we were surrounded by trees.

Finally, around 6:30 pm we came out at the trailhead at the edge of Fernie.  We heard a train whistle blow, and before we were able to cross the tracks into the town we had to wait for a very long CPR train loaded with coal to pass through.  It felt like a very appropriate way to end a day walking on the Coal Discovery Trail.

We made our way to the Raging Elk Hostel, which turned out to be a fantastic hostel with extremely friendly and helpful staff, very clean private rooms, a huge kitchen and large common area, and laundry facilities!  What more could you ask for?

Fernie has a beautiful historic downtown which had a really nice vibe.  It featured a mix of cafés and restaurants, art galleries, and outdoor adventure stores.  The main street was lined with flower boxes, many of the alleyways and buildings featured large murals depicting various aspects of life in Fernie, and all the dumpsters had been painted in creative and highly colourful ways. Underneath the trendy veneer, there is still the mining community upon which Fernie was founded.

Fernie was established in 1898, and it owes its beginnings to the prospector William Fernie, who founded the coal industry that still exists today.  Fernie founded the Crows Nest Pass Coal Company in 1897, and set up a temporary encampment near Coal Creek.  The Canadian Pacific Railway arrived in the valley the following year, and the town site was begun. 

As we walked around the historic downtown we stopped outside the town hall, which had a coal miners walk set up outside.  Interpretive signs told the story of the coal mine explosion that occurred in May 1902, killing 109 miners in the Crow's Nest Coal Mining Company mine.  This was one of the worst mining disasters in Canadian history, caused by unusually high concentrations and buildup of gases in the underground tunnels of the mine. 

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Fernie.  A hot meal, a warm shower and bed after so many nights in a cold, damp, tent have done much to boost our morale.  We were also very blessed to be able to pick up a supply box from my father here which has our warmer jackets, Sean's warmer sleeping bag, and of course, a few treats from my very kind parents. 

See you on the trail!

Remember to follow our entire adventure here : www.comewalkwithus.online