We pulled out of our campsite at just before 8.30am and after a silly wrong turn we were soon on the 16 West out of Jasper, only to be held up in a queue for 10 minutes due to bridge construction. However after that we were soon rolling along! The views were of trees, trees, rivers, lakes and mountains. We gained an hour after we crossed the border into British Columbia (BC) and stopped at the Mount Robson Visitor Centre at around 9.0am (BC time), an hour and half after we had set off. Having seen the top of the mountain the other day, we know saw the rest of it! It is 3954 m which is 12,930 ft, a serious mountain!
We then drove on to Valemont where we stopped for coffee and to catch up on the internet. Off down the road again......
...... clocking up the kms, to stop at a rest area just north of Clearwater for lunch at about 12.45pm. The scenery had changed dramatically by now, rounded hills and fields with cattle, and hay making!!
From there we continued south on the 5 , passing through Blackpool ( not as we know it!!) and other small settlements, until we arrived at McLure 40km north of Kamloops. We pulled into the campground
here at circa 3.0pm local time, having traveled around 420km in seven and half hours including stops.
The roads are good, but most of the time they are just two lanes with occasional passing lanes. There is nothing like the traffic there is at home, however we saw our fair share of big trucks, large and small RVs and trailers (caravans). It was good to get here with plenty of time to tidy up, do a large load of laundry, change the bed etc.
The weather was a mixture of sun and cloud, the forecast is for showers, but it is much warmer than up north, about 23C . T shirts and capris again!!
Not sure how far we will get tomorrow, certainly Whister, maybe a bit further, we shall see!
Saturday 17th
After a good nights sleep we left the campsite at 08.25 hrs. We woke to a cloudy slightly damp day.....it got worse!! Down the 5 to the outskirts of Kamloops where we filled up with fuel, which always takes some time, the pumps seem very slow in comparison to ours at home. We then joined the 1 and took the freeway to bypass the town, which didn't look very interesting or enticing. We drove on Cache Creek though some very poor farmland, scrubby with brush sage, I think. It felt very much like cowboy country!
It was about 10.0 when we got to Cache Creek and we stopped at Annie's Bakery and Pizza place for coffee. They were very welcoming and had wifi! We shared a cinnamon sticky bun (thinking of you Frank Taylor!!) and coffee and caught up on Internet stuff. Shortly after Cache Creek we turned left, south, onto the 99 which will take us all the way to the coast. This road was quite an adventure! The first section to Pavilion and then Lillooet followed a wide-ish river valley with a rail track snaking its way below the road. Again this was sparse land, there was evidence of forest fire, and forest clearance in days gone by. We skirted around Lillooet and climbed out again
Fraser River. There is a bald eagle on the top of the tree below us....believe me !!!
I wish I could have taken some photos of the route, but it needed too much concentration, and there was nowhere suitable to stop, however the above photo gives a flavour of the countryside.
Duffey Lake
This is Whistler!!!!!
Looking back
Then we were on what I now know to the the "Duffey Lake Road" it followed the Cayoosh Creek for many a mile, a very narrow gorge with some steep gradients, both ascent and descent. 11% to 13% over several km at a time, with many warnings for trucks to downgear. There was one particular steep pass with several hairpins, which was interesting in Bertha! I am not keen to over rev the engine, so we climb at a sedate, but comfortable pace !!!! There is a warning in the manual that the brakes overheat easily, so I used the towhaul button several times on the way down, especially on the tight hairpin bends. We were surprised that most of the bridges are timber, but I suppose they are easy to repair when required.
As you can see, the weather was not good, it was, cloudy and damp, or wettish, or very wet!!!
We stopped at Duffey Lake, first of all because there was an excellent example of a logjam at the lake outlet
And then at the next pullout where there was a nice view, and we made our lunch. It was a soup day!!
It was still quite a drive down to Pemberton, where we had thought of staying, however the weather was not good and I was keen to push on so that we have more flexibility tomorrow. We eventually arrived at Whistler, a very well known ski resort. We turned into the village, but it was pouring with rain and the cloud was down, so I drove into a car park and out again!!! It looked to be a maze of a place!! At Brandywine Falls, just south of Whistler I saw a sign for an RV Park and took the turning! We are now ensconced high up looking down into the valley when the rain and cloud allows.
So far in the last three hours we have had two lots of thunder, pouring rain, then it has cleared and the cloud has lifted a bit to give us a hint of the mountains everyone comes here for!!
Then it rains again!!!
Maybe we will get a good view in the morning, meanwhile we are snug with a G&T and a beer and pork chops and baked potato in the oven!!!Tomorrow we will drive to the coast and take a ferry north to the Sunshine Coast, however the forecast if not too good!
Wildlife today: 1 dead black bear on the roadside, 1 golden eagle, 1 bald eagle.
Total km 366
Time on the road including stops: seven and half hours (must be my limit driving this vehicle!)
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