CONFLUENCE
From its source in the Rockies, the Kootenay River heads south into more arid regions before reversing direction and crossing the international boundary a second time. It rambles through the fertile Creston flatlands and enters vast Kootenay Lake. Here it feels its way to a gentle exit via the West Arm, before plunging headlong towards the Columbia in - what once was - a channel punctuated by rapids and cascades. Tamed now by hydroelectric development, it meets the Columbia drained of its glacial load, its energy spent in turning multiple turbines. It exits from the Brilliant canyon as a proud, still free-flowing river, which attracts whitewater adventurers and fishermen.
The Columbia heads north and is continually rejuvenated by inflows from numerous ice-fields of the Rockies, Selkirks, and Monashees. Thus, in spite of several dams in its path, it still courses past our location as a jade green, free-spirited river, proud of its glacial heritage. The two Arrow lakes have been supplemented by additional storage reservoirs which have dramatically changed much of the upper Columbia. Alluvial and kame terraces bear witness to glacial action which left locally a wide, open valley. The magnificence of the river is here still largely undiminished, and it supports complex ecosystems that bear a strong resemblance to an earlier snapshot. It is a relatively gentle waterway and offers opportunities for fishing and water recreation.
From the sign