TRAILS BC TrailNewsletter of the Trails Society Talk of British Columbia Vol. 8 No. 3 — November 2003 www.trailsbc.ca Contents Twelve Myra Canyon Trestles Destroyed, Work Underway to Rebuild... See page 2. The Phoenix will rise from the ashes... 2 Royal Engineers deck two trestles… 4 Rotary Club upgrades Shawnigan Lake section of Cowichan Valley Trail… 5 Trails BC AGM report… 6 Coquihalla Summit Challenge a success… 7 Victoria Trans Canada Trail Pavilion Panel Unveiling…7 Adopt a trail… 8 Trails BC 2003-2004 Board… 8 The Trails BC Board of Directors and the Editorial Committee wish you happy holiday season and a crisis-free winter. ISSN 1705-4559 Fire ravaged the historic Myra Canyon Kettle Valley Railway trestles in the first week of Published quarterly by: September, 2003. Work is underway to assess the damage, begin rehabilitation and raise Trails BC funds to rebuild or replace the trestles and open up Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park and the 315 – 1367 W. Broadway Trans Canada Trail early in 2004. See the “ Phoenix will rise” article on page 2 for details. Vancouver BC V6H 4A9 Photo courtesy of the Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society. Editorial Committee Ava Caldwell, Sue Burnham & Murphy Shewchuk Engineers pay a surprise visit to the Boundary… Forty-seven men and three women from the 7 Headquarters Squadron, part of 21 Engineer Regiment of the British Royal Engineers, based in Osnabruck, Germany, decked two Kettle River trestles. See page 4 for the details. No summer holiday… While we did miss sending out a July Trail Talk and the October issue has turned into a November issue, it isn’t because we spent a lot of time at the beach. Instead, the surprise arrival of the Royal Engineers and the devastation of the Okanagan Mountain Park fire has meant that “news” never slowed down enough to take a written snapshot. Now that BC is in that transition between hiking and skiing, we bring you up-to-date on a few key stories. 1 The Phoenix will rise from the ashes... Trail Talk: Vol. 8 No. 3 — November 2003 The Phoenix will rise from the ashes... Article and photos by Murphy Shewchuk The Myra Canyon section of the Kettle Valley On September 3, 2003, the Okanagan Mountain Park Railway, besides being recently declared a National forest fire destroyed 12 of the 18 original Myra Historic Site, was a magnificent tourist attraction, Canyon Kettle Valley Railway trestles. Despite the drawing people to British Columbia from all over the unstinting water bombers and ground crews, the globe. It had become the focal point of travellers on shifting winds turned the chimney-like steep-walled British Columbia’s Trans Canada Trail as well as a canyon into an inferno. Three months without must-see destination for those who would never significant precipitation, coupled with nearly a century consider crossing the province by bicycle or foot. worth of wood debris, created ideal burning Donations from around the world… conditions for the creosote-treated wooden trestles. An outpouring of support to rebuild the trestles Smouldering ruins… started immediately upon their destruction and When crews were continues to gain finally able to sift momentum. through the Donations have smouldering ruins, come in to Trails they found four BC and other wooden trestles groups, such as the intact and two Myra Canyon steel bridges Trestle Restoration damaged, but Society, from as far intact. The intense away as Hawaii. heat had In order to get completely the groundwork obliterated 12 done before snow wooden trestles, blanketed the destroying mountainside, the foundations and Myra Canyon leaving little more Trestle Restoration than ash behind. In Steering what seemed like Committee was the luck of the established soon draw, but may Members of the Myra Canyon Trestle Ken Campbell, of the Myra Canyon after the fire died have been more Restoration Society view the remains Trestle Restoration Society, views the down. The of Trestle 18. fire-damaged canyon from Trestle 16. the result of committee physical location included and the efforts of the fire fighters, the surviving representatives from the federal and provincial trestles were not grouped. governments plus the Regional District of Central Using a numbering system established by the Myra Okanagan and Tourism BC. Non-profit groups Canyon Trestle Restoration Society as they installed including Friends of the South Slopes Society, Myra decking and safety railings in the late 1990s, wooden Canyon Trestle Restoration Society and Trails BC and trestles number 1, 12, 16 and 17 survived. While the other volunteers were also at the table. winter rains may wash away the fire retardant, in The Province of British Columbia, the Government of October they still had a distinct red look to them. Canada, and the Canadian Pacific Railway provided One of the steel trestles, 220-metre-long number 6, initial funding for the site assessment. suffered severe damage to the decking while the The engineers and soil specialists have prepared an shorter 111-metre trestle number 9 appears to have extensive report of the damage as well as detailed only been damaged at one end. options to be considered by the BC Premier’s Task For more information on the Myra Canyon Trestles, visit http://www.trailsbc.ca/okanagan_region/myra-canyon.html . 2 The Phoenix will rise from the ashes... Trail Talk: Vol. 8 No. 3 — November 2003 Force comprised of Senator Ross Fitzpatrick, Minister While this 25-km-long route uses well-travelled forest of Competition, Science and Enterprise Rick Thorpe, roads to provide access to the amenities of the city and Mayor of Kelowna Walter Gray and Ken Campbell, a welcome break for those who have spent a week or past-president of the Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration two camping, it does have a disadvantage of an Society. While the Steering Committee’s elevation difference of 760 metres. recommendations are technically complex, the task The second choice involves a series of lesser-used force faces an even more difficult job of balancing the forest roads and trails that loop south and above the heritage and tourism values of the Myra Canyon canyon. While slightly shorter at 22.3 km, this route trestles with the potential for funding from private and has an elevation difference of only 340 metres. The public sources. main disadvantages are a 1.5-km steep section near the Temporary bypass routes… apex of the loop and a total lack of amenities. While the engineers carried out an assessment of the Closed for the winter… trestle damage, several members of the Myra Canyon The Myra Canyon section of Myra-Bellevue Provincial Restoration Society and Trails BC were exploring the Park is closed for the winter while crews work on slope mountains for a temporary bypass route. stabilisation and plans for a spring opening that will Two routes allow access from either end to view several of the have been remaining trestles and the fire damage. The winter will identified to take also be a time to launch a carefully planned Trans Canada fundraising campaign to raise the estimated $8 to $12 Trail traffic million that will be required to complete the safety around the work and rebuild or replace the trestles. now-impassable At the time of writing, the Premier’s Task Force had canyon. Although not announced a decision. However, one thing is the direct certain – the reconstruction effort will be a large one “line-of-sight” involving many levels of government, the private distance between sector and the community. Millions of dollars of where the Myra support will be required. Forest Road Trestle and Trail Building Fund… crosses the KVR near the former Trails BC has established a “Trestle and Trail Building Myra Station and Fund” to assist with rebuilding the trestles and the Little White accompanying infrastructure. At press time, the fund Forest Road, west had received over $10,000 in donations. of Ruth Station, The Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society and the is slightly under Friends of the South Slopes Society are also accepting five kilometres, donations to help finance the much-needed work at Crews rehabilitate a fire guard that could the KVR took and near the trestles. become part of a Myra Canyon bypass 13.5 km to do the Acromedia has established a website for on-line route. convoluted donations at http://kvr.acromedia.ca/. The City of journey along the Kelowna has set up the Kelowna and Area Okanagan canyon walls. The Fire Recovery Trust Fund on their website at bypass routes are even more circuitous and have a far http://www.city.kelowna.bc.ca/ for online donations greater elevation change than the 20-metre difference and cheques are also accepted. More information will between these two points. be posted on the Trails BC website as it comes On an east-to-west journey, the more obvious bypass available. route uses Myra Forest Service Road to descend to McCulloch Road in the outskirts of Kelowna. Then, after following McCulloch Road west for about 5 km, the traveller can return to the rail grade via June Springs Road and Little White Forest Service Road. For more information on the Myra Canyon Trestles, visit http://www.trailsbc.ca/okanagan_region/myra-canyon.html . 3 Boundary Region Trail Talk: Vol. 8 No. 3 — November 2003 Royal Engineers deck two trestles… A special ribbon cutting ceremony took place Sunday This project is valued morning, July 20th at the Kettle River Trestle, a few at $400,000 with the minutes south of Christina Lake. The ceremony marked British government the end of a month of intensive work by the 21 contributing the lion’s Engineer Regiment of the British Royal Engineers on share through the this and the Nursery Trestle just east of Grand Forks.