In other parts, one often has to travel several hours to find a place where sounds and scenes are mostly natural. But here, in this Kootenay River valley, and in most parts of the Kootenay mountains, one, in some instances, has only to walk for 20 minutes or drive for five minutes and the sounds of traffic, busyness of shopping and the smell of hot pavement seem far away. In the place of these, there may be soft breezes, evergreen scented air, and the sounds of birds and babbling brooks, where a lot of things we think necessary seem to lose their relevance. It can seem that one is far away, but really is quite close to home.

One of the most significant observations I hear from people out in a natural setting is, “It sure is quiet out here.” Actually, it isn’t usually that quiet; it is just that there is a change in sounds that we are not tuned in to because we have sounds of town buzzing in our ears most of the time.

A week before the fire on Mount Thompson, we got ourselves up to its top in the early morning sunshine. There was a steady cool breeze coming up over the top, making great gliding conditions for the several hang gliding enthusiasts. At first, it seemed so quiet there, but quickly we discovered it wasn’t quiet.

We took to the ridge trail, walking south to its end, passing over several humps. It was so quiet and yet far below we could see “crawling” vehicles following what looked like lines. Instead, we could hear the swish of the wind through the needles of an alpine fir and white bark pine trees. Occasionally, we hear the plaintive call of a hermit thrush coming form the ridge or up the slopes, carried on the wind. It was hard to remember that it was hot in the valley when it was so pleasantly cool on the ridge.

A few people who have lived here many years have told me they have never been on top of Mount Thompson, where, in times past, every day all summer, somebody from the fire lookout watched for signs of smoke. Admittedly, for some, it can be a bit of a challenge to get there without a suitable vehicle for that sort of climb. But perhaps that is where a friend could come to their aid. Now, for another spot close to home.

I don’t have to go away up north to experience the life and landscape of the Arctic. I can observe it on the Thompson range far above the community of Canyon or at another place even more typical of Arctic tundra. That is an 8,100-foot plateau, which is an extension eastward of Sphinx Mountain on the east side of Kootenay Lake. Let’s call is Campion Ridge for all the moss campion blooming on its windswept, barren flats. We drove a rough road and then hiked to reach this secluded place.

This flat ridge is a piece of Arctic landscape planted right in the Kootenay mountains. Most of the vegetation stays out of the more harsh winds by keeping below five or six inches from the terrain’s surface. Vegetation is often more lush in sheltered hollows and behind large boulders. The highest plant, a shrub, was a dwarf willow about 12 inches high loaded with pink catkins. The landscape has a patchy appearance with green vegetation interspersed with patches of bare soil and small rocks. Mountain dryas, yellow and white draba and arabis species, golden daisy, anemones, and white, rose and yellow heathers make thick carpets of green that cover most of the plateau. At a slightly lower elevation just down from the main plateau, we found small, gnarled evergreens. Because growth, in the summers that it does occur, is slow at this elevation, these miniature trees could be up to 200 years old or perhaps more.

Interestingly, I didn’t hear one bird or animal on this plateau, but, of course, that doesn’t mean there weren’t any there or would be there when the season progressed. An acquaintance recently told me that one has to visit this high country every two weeks, because the arctic summer mores so fast. I was pleased to make it up there once this summer and will never forget it. The plateau seemed so far away in time and place, but it was close to home.

Ed McMackin is a biologist by profession but a naturalist and hiker by nature. He can be reached at 250-866-5747.