THE KOOTENAYS - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 437

Food
You will find a good selection of restaurants scattered through the downtown core, but my
best picks are along the highway. Stop at Fernie Café & Coffee Co. (851 7th Ave., 250/
423-5564, 8am-3pm Mon.-Sat. 9am-3pm Sun.) for freshly roasted coffee and loose-leaf or-
ganic teas. Opposite Powder Mountain Lodge in a converted residence, the M Curry Bowl
(931 7th Ave., 250/423-2695, 5pm-10pm daily, $11-15.50) won't win any design awards,
but with delicious dishes like mango shrimp curry and a Vietnamese chicken stir-fry, it
really doesn't matter. M Yamagoya (741 7th Ave., 250/430-0090, 5pm-10pm daily, $8-14)
is a stylish dining room that offers top-notch Japanese cuisine at equally reasonable prices.
Information
Beside the highway, through town to the north, is Fernie Visitor Centre (250/423-6868,
www.ferniechamber.com , 9am-6pm daily July-Aug., 9am-5pm Mon.-Fri. Sept.-June).
Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park
Bordering Glacier National Park (Montana, U.S.) and Waterton Lakes National Park (Al-
berta), this remote tract of 10,921 hectares (27,000 acres) protects the extreme southeastern
corner of British Columbia. The park is named for its two main waterways, which flow
southward into Montana. The landscape has changed little in thousands of years, since the
Kootenay rested in the open meadows beside Kishinena Creek before crossing the Contin-
ental Divide to hunt bison on the prairies.
The only access is on foot from one of two trailheads. The longer option is from the
end of an unsealed road that leaves Highway 3 at 16 kilometers (10 miles) south of Fernie.
The road leads 110 kilometers (68 miles) into the Flathead River Valley, where trails climb
along Kishinena and then Akamina Creek into the park. The most popular and easiest ac-
cess to the park is by hiking trail from the Akamina Parkway in Waterton Lakes National
Park (Alberta).