Jodie Ponto Photography

Once upon last week Miss Quincy, The Showdown, and I did something unprecedentedly sporty — we woke up at the buttcrack of dawn and went hiking in the Kootenays.  After our attempt to hike up Idaho Peak and frolic amongst the legendary wild mountain flowers was thwarted by a washed out road we decided to re-route our hike along the K & S (Kaslo & Slocan) Rail Trail, an old mining railway that was used from 1895-1955.

The trail begins at Sandon, a ghost town that during a late 1800′s mining boom boasted 5,000 residents, saloons & brothels galore, and was the first town in BC to be fully electrified.  It also served as a Japanese Canadian interment camp during WWII.

Buttcrack of dawn.

Miss Quincy & The Showdown go tour bus shopping amongst Sandon’s collection of vintage Vancouver trolley buses.

Why go hiking in hiking boots & fancy sweat-wicking clothing when you can go hiking shirtless & in flip flops?

Hitching a ride in a construction truck instead of making the grueling 2 hour uphill climb back to the trail-head.

Would you pick this girl up if you saw her hitchhiking?

Nothing cools you off after a long hot hike quite like 4 litres of Vag Watre.

Shari shaves her legs while Miss Q goes in to wash her hair during a post-hike Kootenay Lake bath. Shortly after this photo was taken a crusty old lady threatened to call the cops on us for indecent exposure.

Ruby aboard the Osprey 2000 headed from Kootenay Bay to Balfour.

Miss Quincy writes a new song, Shari picks her bass blisters, and Holly contemplates the view.

Beeeyoootiful Kootenay Lake.

Mistaking the Kootenay Lake Ferry for the Titanic, Shari and Miss Quincy belt out My Heart Will Go On from the bow.

I’ve spent the past few days holed up in my former home sweet mountain bubble (Nelson BC, that is).   Here are a few self-portraits of the end of a beeeyoootiful end of winter beach day.

Yesterday I mentioned how much I love the music venue the Ymir Schoolhouse.  If you’re curious about the town of Ymir itself I happen to have a few facts & snowy winter photos for you.

Ymir is an old BC mining town founded in the late 1800′s and is currently home to approximately 200-300 residents.  It’s located in the West Kootenays between Nelson & Salmo (where Shambhala is held).

And now that you know the hard Wikipedia facts you should also know there’s going to be a killer one day music and arts festival there on June 16, 2012 (featuring Maria in the Shower, Steve Brockley Band, E.S.L, and more).  Check out the Tiny Lights Festival here.

Ymir’s main street.

The Goods – Ymir’s general store & cafe – almost completely buried in snow.

Hotel Ymir – Built in 1896 & rumoured to be a former brothel.

Most of you probably don’t know Ymir or the Ymir Schoolhouse, but I kind of like it that way.

Ymir is a tiny, tiny once upon a mining town deep in the mountains of the West Kootenays and the Ymir Schoolhouse is one of my favorite music venues in the entire world.  I don’t know any bands who have played there who don’t feel the same way.  Sometimes it’s intimate, sometimes it’s rowdy, but no matter what it’s always damn good fun.  As one musician put it to me, “I’ve never played a show in Ymir where I haven’t ended up in a tutu by the end of the night”.

Here a couple photos of Miss Quincy & The Showdown getting a down & dirty dance party started at the Ymir Schoolhouse a couple nights ago:

Hummingbirds inside the house, sunshowers & rainbows outside, oh my!

I present these photos as evidence why it often pays to pay no heed to signs that say things like: “Private Dock – Keep Off“.