End of an Era for Gray Creek Auto Camp

The sale of the campground has gone through, purchased by six long-term campers who didn’t want their favourite place on the lake taken over by someone else. They are from Cranbrook, Kimberley, Calgary and Vancouver… not a developer in the bunch. Nearly all of the trailers with decks have been dismantled and are gone, even the Blattas from Edmonton, 46 years of camping here. Not entirely gone, as the ashes of three Blattas remain in the Gray Creek Cemetery.

The first cabin was built in 1928 by Lawson Hepher, (who had to change sternwheelers to bring his carpenter tools from Boswell), with the intention of accommodating fishermen. As the new wharf was constructed that year, the Reilly family lived there while Russ was employed on the wharf project. Their first daughter, Eileen was born in the cabin “Green Shutters”.

April 1931 brought the new highway here, and with it the SS Nasookin’s ferry service from our wharf to Fraser’s Landing, Balfour, with the last trip leaving at 4:30pm. Any vehicle arriving after that needed a cabin, unless they had a Model T camper. Charlie Bebbington ran a meal service from a tent near the Boswell wharf for three months until further highway finishing was completed between here and Boswell. He asked Arthur Lymbery if he could do the same here, so he built a shiplap floor for his tent with a woodstove in a tiny frame kitchen behind. This worked out well, so Lymbery signed a contract with Louis Johnson and Al Nelson for a log building around the existing floor. The contract was for $100,00 that probably gave them $50.00 each for a month’s work… not bad for depression 1931. They notched and assembled the cedar logs but Bebbington completed the framing and roof, retaining the mini kitchen behind. The fireplace bricks came from Pilot Bay. The doors came from the Queens Bay church.

As the highway from the south came down what is now Oliver Road, Bebbington built a tiny 10’ by 10’ cabin easily visible from that road. Because it was in a berry patch, it was called a “Huckleberry” with a wood stove, kerosene lamp and “Winnipeg couch”. Rent was $1.00 a night. Bebbington wanted to build six more and put up a sign “Deluxe Cabins”. Another cabin was a 1908 structure, originally on the gravel rise between Cedar Grove and us, its upright larch logs dismantled and re-erected behind the log dining room. This had two rooms, with a door at each end, possibly to be able to rent to different parties, but actually used to accommodate up to eight in a family in the early 30’s. The Gray Creek Relief Camp workers built the highway directly south to the creek, from the store in 1936, so “Huckleberry” had to be moved to a site just below the road. Running water? Yes indeed. A stream flumed from Gray Creek, came under the road just by Huckleberry, and continued on through to the garden with a milk-cooling box behind the store.

Utilizing telegraph cross arms, Bebbington made an open sided shelter for a woodstove. Lethbridge families, who would pick cherries for Fred Smith canning the cull fruit to take home, often used this shelter. The cross arms were left behind by the CPR who had moved their telegraph line to this side during
the construction of the new rail line in 1930.

Much of the traffic lined up by our store, waiting for the ferry (1931-1947) was decrepit vehicles from Saskatchewan, escaping the dust and depression. They too needed a roof overnight, so the “Little Log” cabin was set up to be rented for 50 cents. Again a recycled unit, this one dated to 1894 when Redding and Gray were cutting cordwood and diverting Croasdaille Creek to flume these to the lake. Built of “oh so durable” fire killed cedar logs, these were numbered, before being skidded behind a horse to the new site in the campground. Since this one has the most history, it has been moved to the Gray Creek Hall.

From 1931-1936 the road south went through the campground, curving around through what is now the Deanes and crossed the creek before the Hall. In 1937 this was widened a little, (behind the Little Log) to accommodate the 100-yard dash, the only time that Gray Creek School hosted the annual inter school sports day. These events usually alternated between Crawford Bay and Boswell, with the latter using the highway (by the wharf and packing shed) for the races. At least three schools participated, up to six if Riondel, Sanca and La France had the eight students required for a one-room operation.

Meal service for those waiting for the ferry made it worthwhile for a couple to manage Gray Creek Auto Camp from June through September. Bebbington could handle it by himself, as did Hilary May (Harper). Others were John and Jeanie Wolfhard, the Brundrits as well as Kath and Victor Lymbery. Alice Lymbery and fellow student Lorraine Ourom ran the dining room one summer to finance their next year’s attendance at UBC. After the ferry moved to Kootenay Bay at the end of June 1947, my mother would take over the lesser demand for meals with our family eating at the camp, but still sleeping below the store. Many times, our supper would be sold to customers and we would have bacon and eggs or…? The woodstove kept a continuous pot of soup on the go, which was a staple. Before power arrived in 1952, never having had electric light or refrigeration, we didn’t miss these.

The pressure of having sheets to wash every day stopped when the Anscomb started ferry service from Kootenay Bay. Now we could expand tenting and camping spaces and rent the cabins by the week or month. The Deane family came from Rossland for “Green Shutters” every August while Bob and Murray Garvin from Lethbridge had the “Ranch House” (now Schwiegers) every July. The Garvins stopped in to see me just the other day when sister Alice was teaching in Kimberley, she would find a teenager to board with us, cleaning cabins and working in the store. Barbara Lynn Waldie came for three summers. Pat Townsend from Nelson for two, Joan and June Willis from Riondel and others whose names I can’t remember.

The Gray Creek Store is a prominent service centre for the East Shore. Tom Lymbery’s father started the business in 1913.
Photo: Tom and Sharon Lymbery, courtesy of Gray Creek Historical Society

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