We hit the road about 7:30 this morning, headed west.
The roads around here are amazing. This whole area is peppered with Provincial parks and it shows. Every bend in the road reveals a panorama that looks like the pages of National Geographic. The mountains are covered in thick pine forests, the valleys are deep and steep, the rivers run clear and noisy along the sides of the highway. It is more stunning than I ever dared imagine.
It was with great regret that we didn’t head up to Calgary. We really wanted too see it, and also to head west from there, through the Canadian Rockies and right through Banff. The truth is that we have about 3000 miles still to cover and there are budget reasons, too. It is a real blow. But I suppose we have to leave something to see for next time, right?
We passed through the town of Grand Forks and continued west to Osoyoos, where we turned northward. This whole area is in the western foothills of the Canadian Rockies and while they may be foothills by Canadian standards, they are mountains by Australian standards.
Near Osoyoos, the scenery became dry and desert-like until we got near to Kelowna, then, as we turned west again, it got greener than ever.
I had threatened Pia that I would stop in Kelowna and look up Hugh Rowland, one of the guys from the TV show Ice Road Truckers. I’d heard he lived there and I know the name of his business. On another day, I might have, too. But today is Sunday, and also Father’s Day here. So I left Hugh in peace.
The highway from Kelowna to Merritt was a long, steep, grinding climb.
We have been climbing and descending over and over all day but this grade was the daddy of them all. It took about 45 minutes to climb the one grade and the poor van, Sacky, isn’t geared for mountain driving. She was lugging and hunting gears and generally unhappy. She was blowing smoke by the end of the climb.
Of course the climb came with a bit of a descent, but not as far as we had gone up.
We turned south at Merritt and joined another highway with another climb. We climber through the most dramatic peaks of the day. There was snow on the peaks and they were cloud-shrouded. It is staggering every mile and you really appreciate that this is the western edge of the Canadian Rockies.
Eventually we topped the ridge and descended through the breathtaking Fraser Canyon to the town of Chilliwack, about 100 kilometers from Vancouver.
In Chilliwack, we booked into the Camperland RV resort, which is VERY nice and well appointed. We had a beautiful dinner at the local Wildcat Grill.
Tomorrow: Vancouver awaits.
Driving down Canada Highway 5
More lovely scenery, how much more can you take.
Mark and the scenery that he loves
How's this for what we're driving into?
Any where else and there would be an overlook or a pullout, but here this is just what all the scenery looks like. Not bad huh.
It's still a little cool, but at least the sun is out.
The camp office from Creston BC, Mountain Park Resort.
Hey guys, you're so unbelievably close to my little brother. Can you make a quick stop in and kick him upside the head, and tell him to come home, I miss him :P He's in Duncan, on Vancouver Island.
ReplyDeleteCheers guys, I owe ya one..
xxx