Canadian author Keith Powell gave a nod to his Kootenay country in 2010 by publishing “Living in the Shadow of Fisher Peak,” a book about Jack Fisher (a gold miner and Flathead-area pioneer) and the mountain named after him in British Columbia.

Powell has followed up on his beloved mountain by publishing a second book, “Fisher Peak Chronicles,” subtitled “Real stories from a tall mountain — the legacy of Mount Fisher.”

This second book Powell has written about the mountain tells the tale of the peak and the people who have scaled it. 

Powell said he believes Mount Fisher (affectionately called Fisher Peak) has a uniquely Flathead appeal to it, since Jack Fisher was laid to rest in Conrad Memorial Cemetery in 1906 in an unmarked grave.

Jack Fisher lived much of his life in the Flathead, Libby and Tobacco Valley areas. He found gold near his eponymous peak, about an hour north of Eureka, in 1864.

“As a result of my first book and the kind donations by many readers and especially the work of an aging member of the Fisher clan, a gravestone plaque was installed on Jack Fisher’s unmarked grave in the Kalispell cemetery,” he wrote in an email. 

“My new book is a more contemporary look at Mount Fisher and the attraction it holds for people in the region.”

Powell said that while recently climbing the peak, he ran into a group of schoolgirls from an independent school in Eureka. 

His book cover photo shows hockey legend Scott Niedermayer hoisting the Stanley Cup at the summit of the mountain.

Powell’s new book focuses on those who scale the 9,336-foot-high peak, relatively easily accessible from nearby Cranbrook. 

It draws hundreds of climbers a year, and Powell said it has become sort of a rite of passage for outdoors-minded folk on both sides of the border.

Powell is a lifelong resident of the Kootenays and is the publisher and founder of Kootenay Business magazine in Cranbrook. 

The new book is published through Powell’s own publishing company, Wild Horse Creek Press

“Fisher Peak Chronicles” is for sale at Eureka Office Supply, Bookworks in Whitefish and the Book Shelf in Kalispell.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.