Elkford? Should be 'Deerford'

View of mountain Elkford, BC

The two primary commerce in Elkford, British Columbia are coal mining and logging. The bold leaders of the Fording Coal organization in the 1980s decided to abandon underground mining and proceeded with one of the greatest mining endeavours ever undertaken in the world – mining Eagle Mountain from top to bottom. Jobs opened up for the adventurous and housing them sent the wildlife further up the hills.

Mule Deer resting in neighbours yard

The District's population these days is approximately twenty-five hundred humans surrounded by an overabundance of Mule Deer.

The large-eared breed travels in pairs or as a herd stroll through the town and sits casually on lawns and in parks. They saunter from one neighbourhood to another, stopping to munch on grass, flowers and leaves on trees leaving 'from behind' physical evidence in their wake. The locals prefer not to have them around. In the recent past, the common practice was to cull them by assigning the task to the Elkford District sanctioned by the British Columbia government. 

Elk antlers

This technique was halted and the deer are now captured and transported to other areas of the province. ‘Win – win’ as far as the locals and government are concerned. Considering that there are six Mule Deer sitting on the lawn of a nearby property might be an indication that it is time for another harvest.

Property for sale - includes deer

'Deerford' as Frank and I refer to it, is a district municipality in the southeast region of British Columbia in the Rocky Mountain range. It is 32 kilometres north of the junction at Sparwood, on Highway 43.

We were escorted on a backroad adventure by Frank's cousin. We viewed Josephine Falls, then took in the

Josephine Falls

town from the top of a high lookout, and witnessed the minimal growth of the industries and its workers from the comfort of a four-wheel drive truck. Most folks have at least one truck and an all-terrain vehicle. At the peak of the valley, our driver commented that the car in front of us must be driven by tourists because it was a Smart car.

"There's nothing smart about a little car like that here in a place like this," he said.

Our three-day October stay in this pristine location ended with a snowfall. Our next destination is Cranbrook, BC. We'll be staying in Big White at Walmart for a few days. Winter camping is not for the faint of heart.