Nakusp – Kaslo Drive

Wildlife and nature are two of my favorite photo moments. Unfortunately wildlife never wants to stay still.  The Nakusp–Kaslo Hwy 31a is one of the most under rated tourism sightseeing drives in the Kootenays. It is full of scenery and opportunities to view wildlife  especially at dawn and dusk. It was dusk and I was ready with my camera and had my internal wildlife radar on.

Radar or not the scenery was distracting in a good way.  White water rapids on the river followed  me as I drove. The highway is surrounded by snow capped mountain peaks. In the spring the alpine melt created crashing waterfalls falling down cliff sides next to the highway.  You drive by wetlands where we once saw a moose. And you drive up to alpine lakes.

The drive is full of twists and turns and is a popular route for motorcycles and cyclists in the summer.

On this trip back I was driving by the partially iced over Bear Lake and on a grassy knoll on the cliff next to the highway was a brown bear.  He was beautiful. He scampered up the side of the cliff and turned around and posed for me. He was my highlight on this trip on Hwy #31a.