Pepper, the Calgary bunny, visits Fernie | Budget Adventure Travel

| Traveling with a bunny rabbit |

It can be risky traveling with a pet at times.

For Example. This is Pepper, our Canada trotting lionshead bunny.

“If I wait here long enough, someone will come up to say hi”

This is NOT Pepper.

Black Bear lounging on Kootenay National Park. Trust me! I was FAR away when taking this photo

The key to a fun road trip with a pet in tow is being able to properly identify your pet before loading him/her in the vehicle.

Source: brisbanetimes.com.au

After concluding our sojourn through Chinook Country, we were now on our last quadrant of our circular trip (details on that out next week). This was our first visit to Fernie and Pepper’s first time in the Province.

Things we saw on the way in to Fernie (from Alberta).

The Canada Pacific Railway

Frank Slide Interpretive Centre. Great stop for Kids

The World’s Biggest Truck is an old mining truck, now retired and on display in Sparwood, just east of Fernie

In Fernie, start with a tour of the Downtown. It is only a few blocks and very pleasant to walk.

See a miner’s face here, right.

And now you don’t!

To capture to essence of Fernie and its heritage, I recommend a stop at the Fernie Museum.

Source: Fernie Museum

The museum offers a number of services including – historical walking tours (phone for appointment). I recommend doing the walking tour as you get to listen to some incredible stories from the city’s early mining days (it is still a mining town).

Fernie Museum showcasing its mining heritage and industry

Fernie Museum showcasing its skiing heritage

Artifacts in Fernie Museum

Artifacts in Fernie Museum

In fact, as you walk along Downtown, you will notice unique ‘Saloon’ style heritage buildings that still stand today. Along this strip are local cafe and artisan bakeries to serve up some incredibly tasty local fare. Pepper was quite intrigued by the architecture.

“Check for vehicles to my right before crossing”

“Check for vehicles to my left before crossing”

“Nah, think Ill just chill on this bench”

A definite stop while here, no matter how short or long the stay, is the Clawhammer Letterpress and Gallery.

A confession first. My childhood family house had one of these printing presses that was operated by a local press company. I never paid attention to it much then, but I recall the constant clanging noise that would come from the main floor. So seeing the old letterhead press held a deeper emotional connection to me than it might to the typical visitor.

~1916 Chandler & Price 18 x 12 inch ‘New Style’ Platen press

Mike’s Story

I asked Mike, the founder of the Clawhammer press, how he ended up getting in to the letterhead press business and develop this art over the years. It is indeed the unique vocation. In response, Mike narrated the story of his life up to this point. Mike’s life is the perfect example of what I call ‘chanced connections’. It is a subject I am currently researching for a future post, so I won’t get in to too much detail here on it, except, briefly mention that finding happiness and success in life may have more to do with serendipity than deliberate attempts to find your “passion”.

I would like to tell you what Mike told me but that would be too easy. It’s Mike’s life and his story so why don’t you just ask him when you are there (or even when you are not there).

Mike gave us a demonstration of the typical cycle involved in preparing a print on the press. Click through the slide show below to see it.

The only other comparable place to this that I have come across (i.e. art gallery with retail business) in my travels so far is the Yvette Moore Gallery in Moose Jaw.

Next stop – the Fernie Brewery. I always make it a point to stop at local breweries. And in BC, practically every city has one.

We stayed at the Red Tree Lodge in Fernie, which is a very pet friendly hotel. They knew we were traveling with a bunny. So ->

“Ice cubes, tray, and carrots! Who called this party?”

Next day, during checkout, I noticed wall magnets in the hotel that were hand painted by a local artist. I bought several of those for my readers and in support for local art. I’ll be raffling these away to my readers, so stay tuned and check back on this post in a few hours when I set it up.

Our final trip back to Calgary was through the highway headed west from Fernie towards Cranbook and then north bound through the incredibly scenic Kootenay National Park.

Oh, by the way, Fernie also has some decent ski slopes during winter and golf courses during summer. Just saying.

Things to see and do on this route.

Ancient Cottonwood Trees outside Fernie

Kootenay Trout Hatchery

Sinclair Canyon, Kootenay National Park

Big Horn Sheep

For more information or planning your trip to Fernie visit the official Tourism Fernie site.

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Tags: canada, Clawhammer press, Cottonwood trees, East Kootenay national park, Fernie, Fernie Brewing Company, Travel Alberta, Traveling with a bunny rabbit

Category: Budget Adventure Travel, Travels in British Columbia