The darkness in the tunnel was total—absolutely solid. It was like being wrapped in black velvet and there was simply no escape. Put your hand in front of your face to no avail. Thank goodness we had only stopped and turned off our lights just to experience what total, absolute darkness was. Where were we? In Bulldog Tunnel on the Columbia and Western Rail Trail near Castlegar.
The day before, we had left the Columbia River behind in Revelstoke only to pick it up again 4 ½ hours later just behind the Hugh Keenleyside Dam in Castlegar where it is now the Lower Arrow Lake. We had come here to ride the historic Kettle Valley Railway roadbed on the Columbia and Western Rail Trail. We were four ATVs and Ed and I in our side-by-side. The trip leader was Tom from Revelstoke who has ridden this trail several times and always enthused about the experience.
Setting off on an adventure
Saturday morning was bright and sunny, a very pleasant change from all the rainy weather. The trail started right where we were camping. The first kilometre still has the rails in place and after that it turns into a hard packed surface with some gravel. The trail started at the lake level and slowly climbed its way up the side of the mountain in round, wide sweeping curves and straight stretches with tantalizing views of the lake below. We soon came to our first bridge spanning a very deep gorge.
The bridge is the old steel truss railway bridge with new decking, side rails and viewing platforms. This would the
first of three such bridges we travelled. The bridge structures of each were inspiring and emphasized the skill of the “old” bridge builders. Soon we came to our first tunnel, the first of four that we would encounter. This was a short one but an exciting taste of what was to come. We stopped to clear a windfall completely blocking the trail at one point and wasn’t it lucky that we had saws with us on the ATVs?
All the way we were climbing at an average grade of 2 per cent, which is fairly steep for the railway. At one of
our viewing stops we met a group of cyclists who had driven on the highway to an access point further up and were biking back down the trail. We found out that this was the most popular way to bike this trail as we only met one group going up the trail.
Built on history
The original KVR was constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway to a high standard with an immense amount of quarried stone culverts, retaining walls and bridge abutments. These were all constructed by Italian stone masons brought in for this job. They are still in good condition today and in many places secure the old rail bed to the precipitous terrain. In several sections, railings have been added to make the trail safer as it is straight down to the lake.
Along the way, there are name plates at the site of the old KVR stations and an old speeder is at the old Shields site. It was nice to see some of the history preserved and there is certainly room for much more.
Approximately 30 kilometres along we came to the impressive Bulldog Tunnel. It is 912 metres long, starts straight with a curve at the end which means total darkness with no glimpse of the exit portal until the last 100 metres when travelling west. We entered with headlights running but they did not make a great impression on the darkness. The tunnel trail is fairly rough and damp with running water from the ceiling in many places. Bikers and hikers with only headlamps or flashlights must find it eerie and maybe for some just a little scary. Definitely not a place for the claustrophobic! The tunnel is immense with the top of the arch at least 15 metres high. The walls are coated in soot from the old steam engines which only increases the darkness. On driving through the tunnel, it was not hard to imagine the old puffers groaning and belching smoke as they made their way up the grade. Entering the tunnel, all the smoke and noise is contained and it must have been hard on the eardrums and also to breathe as the train went deeper and deeper into the tunnel. Finally it’s the portal and with a roar the old steam engine bursts out of the tunnel into the fresh air. What a sight that would have been.
Before the construction of the tunnel, the rail bed went over the top by means of six switchbacks up and six switchbacks down, all at a grade of six per cent. Only very short trains negotiated this grade and they did it by travelling up the rails until they came to a switchback where they drove the train into a tail track. Then they lined the switch and backed the train up to the next switchback and tail track and repeated the process. These switchbacks are being reclaimed after many years of deterioration and will offer an exciting trip up and over the top.
Rich in heritage
On we went passing the site of the monument to Peter Verigin, leader of the Doukobors who died here in 1924 when a bomb exploded on a passenger train. Then it was under the impressive Paulson highway bridge several hundred metres above us. A little way further and our trip came to a frustrating end. The roadbed and culvert had washed out only to be replaced with an impressive bridge which was built just wide enough to accommodate some standard ATVs but definitely not a side-by-side. So it was back to camp for us while the others managed to get across with literally millimetres to spare.
The next day we went to Renata on the Lower Arrow Lake. After the easy riding on the rail trail, this was now a true ATV trail—rocky, steep and narrow in places and definitely a workout. The trail is maintained in that windfalls have been cut out the full width of the trail which was nice to see. Fruit growing was the original reason for Renata. It was located on a creek delta of rich soil and shielded from cold winds by the surrounding mountains thus forming a micro climate very suitable for fruit growing.
This was a fun ride both days and one that is in peril of being closed to motorized travel. That’s getting into politics which I won’t do here but if you haven’t been on the C & W Rail Trail, do so soon and let your MLA know what you think about access being denied.
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