Unfortunately the Kootenay Lake Chamber of Commerce has had to cancel the Canada Day events at Crawford Bay Park but also the most important of all, the fireworks over Kootenay Lake.
These spectacular fireworks have no distracting city lights and are enhanced by about 20 boats nearby that are setting off their own displays, all enhanced by the reflections of the water.
This attracts over 4000 viewers each year including many from Kimberley and Cranbrook which no longer have holiday fireworks.
According to Tom Lymbery, the Gray Creek Pass is likely to remain closed until about July 15th because of the Redding Creek washout, and there is no possible bypass.
Len Palajac of Cranbrook Forestry advises that a temporary wooden bridge is unlikely to be available until mid July. A Bailey Bridge would work well but none is available.
The snow at the 6800 foot pass summit will be clear by June 27th as it only had 150 feet to melt on Sunday June 21st. This creates a major problem as people continue to hope to make their way through no matter how many signs are posted.