Fraser River Canyon (Including Hells Gate), Hope Slide, Drone Down the Slab to Vancouver

A couple of good pictures from last night - looking NW up the canyon towards  the direction we came from .

Then  today (Thursday) - off we went - down the Fraser River Canyon, stop and see Hell's Gate, down to look at the Hope Slide, and then drone down Highway 1 to Vancouver.

A few views of the canyon as we drove down toward Hell's Gate from Lillooet. The entire drive down to Hope was just fantastic. Very reasonable to excellent road surface, lots of great corners, elevation changes, and fantastic scenery. This huge river thundering along around 100 - 150 meters below us and great huge dry pine-covered mountains disappearing into the smoke on both sides of the river. All the low ground cover was tinder dry - including tons of what I thought was sage brush - tons of it - very pretty. This is a great road - another favourite for me - because fun to drive and so so pretty. I would love to come back and see this without smoke - I bet we missed a lot.

We stopped to see Hells Gate. This is a very interesting place - lots of interesting history - the Wikipedia link tells a good part of the story. Cool cable car ride - and interesting views!

At Highway 1 - we we went a bit south and east to have a look at the Hope Slide. The Wikipedia link tells the story well - as does the sign at the memorial. I distinctly remember stopping to see this as a young lad with my parents in the late 60's - I am going to guess '67 or maybe 68. The pictures do not do it justice.

Then - the drone down Highway 1 to Vancouver. We went and met some work buddies of Laurence's - and Haley joined us - for some beers and food.

Tomorrow - we will get organized - laundry, vehicle maintenance, and that sort of thing. Then

Exit the Sunshine Coast, Enter the Fraser River Canyon

Off we went this morning from Gibsons to Lillooet.  Another 45 minute ferry crossing to get across to Horseshoe Bay from Gibsons. The first free ferry ride in BC - the guys I was talking to said that BC Ferries build the coast of the out ride into the in ride - so there you go.

When we woke up this morning - we could see that the smoke had got a lot thicker.

Even this 1st picture as we leave Gibsons shows the smoke

By the time we stopped for some more pictures half  way up the Squamish River to Whistler, you could really see the smoke.

We made it into the  Whistler Village. But -we decided with all of the smoke -  it was not worth paying to get the ride up to the top of the mountain and ride the peak to peak - in fact - it was not clear if it was even running. So - we contented ourselves with a walk around the village.

Off we went for the ride of Highway 99 to Lillooet. I love this road. But - today - we got in to some traffic. We had a couple of motorhomes going ridiculously slow. Then we had a couple of boneheads making ridiculously dangerous passes.   I finally pulled over and ranted about the **** people on the highway that day and cursed that I was out of **** cigars. About 10 minutes later, off we went, and really enjoyed the middle 1/3 of the drive - which is when you go over a really high pass - just before we got to Duffey Lake - and then started down the  valley of a couple of creeks and rivers - wow - talk about amazing country. These are fantastic driving roads - elevation changes like crazy (we were as high as 1280 meters), tons of great corners - and a decent road surface. BUT - both kinds of idiots - the ones going slow who will not pull you over and let you buy - and the ones who are 100% willing to risk their life and your with ridiculously dangerous pases. Grrr. A great road, but shitty drivers talk the edge off of it.

Here we are just outside of Lillooet

A video from the same place to give you a bit of a 360 view

The view back up the canyon from our hotel. Check out the smoke. We are at about 250 meters - and the canyon is just full of smoke!

So - tomorrow off we go down the Fraser Canyon - and end up in Vancouver tomorrow!

A Quick Tour of the Sunshine Coast

Today (Tuesday) was all about a quick tour of the Sunshine Coast. We left Powell River, headed up to Lund, and then back down to Gibsons where we are staying tonight.

Very very pretty country. Fun roads to ride - lots of twists, turns, elevation changes, and just a ton of pretty country  including mountains, huge forest right to the edge of the road and great vistas of the ocean and islands. We loved it.

Oh - forgot to mention yesterday - had a great meal at the Coastal Cookery in Powell River last night. This is for sure worth eating at again if a chance presents itself.  The local microbrewery is called Townsite - and it is delicious.

Also - we had fun sitting outside in the dark sky - and having a good look at the Big Dipper and Bootes - because that was the direction the chairs were pointed! Saw a couple of meteors. I showed Laurance how to use the pointer stars in Cassiopeia to find Andromeda - and even with the bright moon and the smoky / hazy sky - Laurence thought that he found it using the binoculars. I had had enough beers by then - and was less sure of the identification!

Anyway - back to today.

This is the old pulp and paper plant. The cool thing was the floating hulks used for a breakwater.

Then - up to Lund and Mile 0 on Highway 101.

We stopped and had a nice lunch on Powell Lake at the Shinglemill Pub & Bistro

A couple of views back at Powell River.

Down near Saltery Bay

  On the ferry from  Saltery Bay  to Earls Cove

On Highway 101 near  Sechelt.

We got parked hear in  Gibsons - and walked over to the Blackfish Pub for still another great meal - with a couple of really tasty local brews - called Persephone - it was good - BUT - the Townsite last night was better.

Tomorrow - another ferry - then up to Whistler - and maybe Lillooet.

Exit Vancouver Island at Little River to Powell River

Yesterday (Monday - the last day of July) was our last day on Vancouver Island. We really enjoyed Vancouver Island. This is a place well worth visiting - and I would for sure like to get back. I think the highlights for me were:

• My flat tire at Palmerston Beach (more of a "low" than a "high" - but it deserves to be mentioned).
• The fantastic trip to Tofino -so pretty - Cathedral Grove was spectacular - the entire drive was really really pretty.
• The visit to the BC Legislature - another tick mark on the trip's objective list! Just Ottawa to go!
• The really pretty loop out to Port Renfrew.
• The ride up to Mount Washington.
• The very pretty crossing on the ferry from Little River to Powell River.

Some pictures from yesterday, and some videos:

Looking east from near Bamperton

The view from Mount Washington

The 10th provincial crest - so that is all 10 provinces and both territories (sorry Nunavut - no roads - so could not visit). A few of them are getting pretty ragged!

Some pictures from the drive north on highway 1 near Bamperton

I think that is Mount Baker over in Washington State in the background.

The Kinsol Trestle

We went back to Lake Cowichan - and this time we could find parking and have a look around

We drove up to Mount Washington - very pretty. Looks like it might make for a good ski trip!

Looking across the Salish Sea(?) from Little River

The battery went dead on my phone- which is to bad - because I think I would have gotten some great pictures of the crossing and a really great sunset. I did get some pictures of the channel view from our hotel room this morning.

So - that is it for Vancouver Island - look for a Sunshine Coast update shortly.