We are at Denver airport right now. Markus is queuing up, there had been a technical and UA uses a smaller plane now. Hope we'll make it. Meanwhile I post our images and insights of Sept 29th.
We got up very late this morning at about 09.00 – me that is. Got dressed and immediately back on the blog ;) It was miserable outside anyways. Realized that we hadn’t checked our mails for a while and obviously missed to answer some questions of an active blog reader, my sister Gitte. Back in San Francisco we used BART and MUNI for transferring to/within the city. BART is short for Bay Area Rapid Transit, MUNI is a public transit that is operated by the municipality of San Francisco (whereas BART is run by the Greater Bay Area and not the city). RV stands for Recreational Vehicle. On a side note: we will amend the blog step by step to feature maps and more useful information once we are back in Germany.
We walked our way down Robson Street and at Thurlow turned to go down to the seaside. Again lots of construction work going on. The Convention Center is being expanded and will host the media center during the winter games 2010. We continued on to Blood Alley (there used to be a lot of butchers around) as we wanted to check out SALT restaurant, a tapas bar. Delicious food and wine (we had a Sandhill Syrah) in a very basic yet warm ambience. Extremely friendly service. They offer choices of sandwiches, salads and soups apart from the tapas. For 15,- CAD you chose three cheeses or meats or a mixture of them as well as condiments to go with them (e.g. hazelnuts, olives, relish etc..). Or have the staff make the choice for you. A little hint: should you decide to go to SALT you might want to access Blood Alley from Carrall Street (almost next to the boot store). We entered from Abbot St. as I wanted to give myself time to think about buying the boots or not. Yesterdays credit card block could have been a sign, right? Finally, the costs of the broken window and the additional money we had to pay for the 400 or so kilometers convinced me to refrain from the purchase. It started to rain heavily while we were having lunch. We decided to return to the hotel earlier than planned, as we felt quite exhausted from walking around so much the past days. Got some coffee and muffins at Starbucks and here we are ever since trying to update the blog and upload the images. The latter is quite a challenge as the wifi at the room is rather low and I didn’t manage to access with an Ethernet cable. Meanwhile Markus is getting our staff ready for our early morning departure (alarm clock at 4.30, taxi at 5.00 hrs.). Expect us to be very tired but happy upon our return.
Weather forecast for tomorrow is heavy winds and lots of rain. This makes it easier to finish our BC vacation. Although I must admit that I am also looking forward going home and relax. You might smile about the word “relax”. Honestly, we are done. Our heads are full of impressions of spectacular landscapes and friendly folks and I guess we will need some time until settling in again.
Thanks to my mentor ;) Geoff Sturgeon. He was the one recommending I signed up with blogger.com. We hope you enjoyed traveling with us. It has been a different experience writing sort of a diary during vacation. Although I enjoyed it, I am not sure as to whether I’d be doing this again. As Ingo put it, writing a blog can be a real “time vampire”. The more so if the internet connection is slow making the upload of images quite time consuming. And this is why we haven’t uploaded the past days, yet. We hope to do this at Denver or Washington airports.
Sonntag, 30. September 2007
Sept 28 – Vancouver: Hop on and hop-off
We are so lucky with the weather. Despite the forecast of clouds and rain we woke up to blue skies. Today we went on our Vancouver Trolley Tour. The tour follows a scheduled route leading to the most important places and attractions in the city. You can leave the bus at any stop and get back on one of the next buses as many times as you like. Tickets cost 35,- CAD per person, are valid for two days and also include a free Aquabus ride. We experienced three different driverguides (drivers that do provide commentary) and to be honest the information given is rather basic, focus seemed to be on entertainment. Nevertheless, the tour is really good if you want to get an overview of the city (approx. 1.5 – 2 hours if you stay on the bus the entire tour) and to save some energy when you’re tired of walking. Today we walked parts of the seawall and of Stanley Park in general. Vancouver is a great city to explore on foot. Apart from Stanley Park we hopped off at the Maritime Museum in Kitsilano. But since the weather was so nice, we decided to skip museums and walked along Kits beach (as the locals call it) and the neighborhood itself. Had a very late breakfast at the Café Zen, a cozy little café with checked table cloth and French bistro-style stools (but a lot more comfortable) – if you fancy Eggs Benedict you should definitely go there, especially since they feature organic ingredients. The word “organic” is similar to “bio” in Germany. At first we thought that everything here in BC was organic. The supermarkets feature large areas dedicated to organic products. But coming to think about it, Germany is not too different either. Products with “bio” in their description or name are popping up everywhere, too.
After this little fuel-up we strolled through Kitsilano’s shopping area which mostly comprises 4 West St.. Nice little boutiques and shops, a North Face outlet store as well as interesting pubs and restaurants (e.g. one had an open glass kitchen which is nothing unusual, but this one was facing the street; at another one you could see a woman making fresh pasta). At the outlet store we heard on the radio that a Cougar had been spotted on Granville Island that morning. The girl at the store told us that she had heard this two days ago already and was surprised it hadn’t been detected yet. What do you know. At a hanf store we shared our news with the girl behind the counter and Markus thinks she figured us being some stupid tourists – number one: a cougar on Granville Island of all places in the city and number two: not being detected after two days – impossible.
I was still determined to get some cowboy boots and we went back to OK Boots on Carrall Street in Gastown. As promised two weeks again, they had received a new shipment containing small boots. (Thanks to Wendy from Tourism Vancouver for this great suggestion and for your help with our passes.) After trying four pairs I finally decided on some black ones (feeling bad as we just spent 400,- CAD on the truck camper window) - and then my credit card didn’t get through. No idea why. I did use it in other shops afterwards (some souvenirs) and it worked. And I was still determined to go back tomorrow and get these boots. I’ll be back, Baby!
After this little fuel-up we strolled through Kitsilano’s shopping area which mostly comprises 4 West St.. Nice little boutiques and shops, a North Face outlet store as well as interesting pubs and restaurants (e.g. one had an open glass kitchen which is nothing unusual, but this one was facing the street; at another one you could see a woman making fresh pasta). At the outlet store we heard on the radio that a Cougar had been spotted on Granville Island that morning. The girl at the store told us that she had heard this two days ago already and was surprised it hadn’t been detected yet. What do you know. At a hanf store we shared our news with the girl behind the counter and Markus thinks she figured us being some stupid tourists – number one: a cougar on Granville Island of all places in the city and number two: not being detected after two days – impossible.
I was still determined to get some cowboy boots and we went back to OK Boots on Carrall Street in Gastown. As promised two weeks again, they had received a new shipment containing small boots. (Thanks to Wendy from Tourism Vancouver for this great suggestion and for your help with our passes.) After trying four pairs I finally decided on some black ones (feeling bad as we just spent 400,- CAD on the truck camper window) - and then my credit card didn’t get through. No idea why. I did use it in other shops afterwards (some souvenirs) and it worked. And I was still determined to go back tomorrow and get these boots. I’ll be back, Baby!
Samstag, 29. September 2007
Thu, Sept 27 – Vancouver: return of the truck camper
This morning we took a long and very scenic tour of Vancouver on our way to Fraserway where we had to return the car at 11.00 hrs. latest. Drove thru Stanley Park – on December 22nd a severe storm hit the park and caused a lot of damage. Trees that were hundreds of years old - and some might even had been as high as that - fell like little sticks. Clean-up is still underway. The area comprises about 4 square kilometers (a little larger than the English Garden in Munich) and is Vancouver’s green lung and outdoor playground. There are beaches, trails and the seawall. The latter usually circles the park about 9 km but is partly closed due to the fallen trees. Vancouverites use Stanley Park to bike, jogg, walk or bring their kayaks and kites. In general, everyone in the city seems to be very active and on the run. You'll see lots and lots of people carrying their coffees to go, mostly Starbucks or Blenz. This reminds me: Thanks Josie for answering the question on how to manage a coffee to go without burning your mouth. Use a straw! The scenic drive led us thru very nice neighborhoods such as Kitsilano (birthplace of Greenpeace in the 1960ies) and up to Spanish Banks and the University of British Columbia.
After returning the truck camper we took the Fraserway shuttle to The Georgian Court Hotel, a nice boutique hotel opposite BC Place Stadium. www.georgiancourt.com. What a treat to have a large room and bed after having spent 15 days in the camper (apart from the two nights at Clearwater Lake Lodge). Weather was okay (only drizzle for a while) so we took the Aquabus (little water ferry) crossing False Creek to Granville Island (5,- CAD p.p. for the long ride). The station “Plaza of Nations”, although not included on the city map, was just around the corner of BC Place Stadium. It’s a very nice way to see parts of the city from the water. We really liked Granville Island (a small peninsula in southwestern downtown) with its public market. Fruits, meats, spices, flowers, herbs, breads and different flavors from BC and around the world, local pottery and mushrooms. They also have a food court where you can chose from Indian, French, Mexican, Fish and lots of other dishes, take your plates and sit anywhere you like. Granville Island also showcases some artisan shops and boutiques as well as some artisan studios.
On the Aquabus we ran into a group of people who obviously where on a team building mission doing sort of a scavenger hunt (Schnitzeljagd). It turned out that they work for an agency that produces the BC Escapes and the regional guides for Tourism BC. What a small world! They recognized the BC logo on the rucksack. Vancouver boasts so many fabulous restaurants, Sandbar on Granville Island is just one of it. Wonderful and fresh seafood. We only went there to have a beer and enjoy the atmosphere. It is very spacious, three decks which feature pub-stlye area, finer dining and very comfortable leather chairs. The terrace is still in use with gas heaters and cozy blankets. Althoug we were determined to try out as many restaurants as possible, we were getting tired and decided to have in-room dinner. We bought tasty cheese, chorizo, olives and bagles at the market and had a delicious meal.
As in Whistler and along Highway 99, there is a lot of construction going on in Vancouver right now due to the Winter Olympics 2010. Just opposite BC Place the East False Creek area is to become Vancouver’s Olympic Village.
After returning the truck camper we took the Fraserway shuttle to The Georgian Court Hotel, a nice boutique hotel opposite BC Place Stadium. www.georgiancourt.com. What a treat to have a large room and bed after having spent 15 days in the camper (apart from the two nights at Clearwater Lake Lodge). Weather was okay (only drizzle for a while) so we took the Aquabus (little water ferry) crossing False Creek to Granville Island (5,- CAD p.p. for the long ride). The station “Plaza of Nations”, although not included on the city map, was just around the corner of BC Place Stadium. It’s a very nice way to see parts of the city from the water. We really liked Granville Island (a small peninsula in southwestern downtown) with its public market. Fruits, meats, spices, flowers, herbs, breads and different flavors from BC and around the world, local pottery and mushrooms. They also have a food court where you can chose from Indian, French, Mexican, Fish and lots of other dishes, take your plates and sit anywhere you like. Granville Island also showcases some artisan shops and boutiques as well as some artisan studios.
On the Aquabus we ran into a group of people who obviously where on a team building mission doing sort of a scavenger hunt (Schnitzeljagd). It turned out that they work for an agency that produces the BC Escapes and the regional guides for Tourism BC. What a small world! They recognized the BC logo on the rucksack. Vancouver boasts so many fabulous restaurants, Sandbar on Granville Island is just one of it. Wonderful and fresh seafood. We only went there to have a beer and enjoy the atmosphere. It is very spacious, three decks which feature pub-stlye area, finer dining and very comfortable leather chairs. The terrace is still in use with gas heaters and cozy blankets. Althoug we were determined to try out as many restaurants as possible, we were getting tired and decided to have in-room dinner. We bought tasty cheese, chorizo, olives and bagles at the market and had a delicious meal.
As in Whistler and along Highway 99, there is a lot of construction going on in Vancouver right now due to the Winter Olympics 2010. Just opposite BC Place the East False Creek area is to become Vancouver’s Olympic Village.
Freitag, 28. September 2007
Wed, Sept 26 – Squamish – Vancouver
In the morning, quick shower (many cob webs on the wooden ceiling) and off to our last full camper day. There is a lot of construction work on Highway 99 as the winter games 2010 approach. The Sea to Sky Highway will be expanded to feature three to four lanes. A massive project as the engineers have to blast off part of the mountain and/or create a road where there is nothing but cliffs. Kudos! Once the work will be finished Hwy 99 should be even more enjoyable to ride, much safer but certainly not less spectacular. By then, federal and provincial governments will have spent about 600 million Canadian Dollars for these improvements.
Our first stop on the road was only a couple of kilometers further south at Porteau Cove Provincial Park RV site. This was our first option to overnight but we read that there would be a lot of noise due to roadside constructions (the campground is basically off the highway and the railway). We cannot tell whether it had been very noisy because roadside construction seemed to have reached another level and it didn’t look like they were still blasting off part of the mountains. A quaint little site overlooking Howe Sound.
Our first destination before entering Vancouver was Cypress Mountain Provincial Park. We wanted to go for a hike and also see how the construction for the Winter Olympics proceeded. The drive up was said to be spectacular for its wonderful views of Vancouver and its surroundings. Unfortunately, we drove into fog but on top of Cypress at the parking lot it cleared. We decided to be easy on us and followed Yew Lake Loop (also wheelchair accessible), a loop of about 2 km that partly leads through old growth forest. We also hiked part of the Baden Powell trail to the first viewpoint but lost the signs and found our own way back to the parking lot. Seeing the construction work, left us with mixed feelings as did Sea to Sky Highway. Another impact on the environment, yet understanding for growth and expansion...
Next stop was Vancouver’s Grouse Mountain. The gondola was built by a Swiss company and can carry up to 100 persons to the top of the mountain within 8 minutes. Very smooth ride, yet no view during the ride up. Again it blew off once we arrived on the mountain. The ticket (27,- CAD p.p.) includes a rather loud Lumberjack show (fills you in all the details of the logging industry and forestry) – don’t think chainsaws, it was loud due to the female presenter and amplifier), the Theatre in the Sky (a movie on nature) and the Grizzly Bear Habitat. The two grizzly bears are orphans (one found in the Bella Coola area in 2001, the other near Kamloops, forgot which year it was, think it was one or two later). Very impressive animals and we are happy to have seen our „wild“ bear long distance. That reminds me of our animal count and numbers in general: this brings up our bear views to 5; we are about 400 km above our mileage limit and took over 2000 pictures so far. We broke two glasses and one window. Fueled up around 450 litres of Diesel (that’s only a guess). While writing this, I have to increase the number of glasses to 3...
Our last sightseeing stop for the day was Capilano Suspension Bridge and Treetop Adventure. The suspension bridge spans the Capilano River for about 140 metres (they say two Boeings 747 could pass the canyon flying wingtip to wingtip), is 70 meters deep and leads to an old growth forest with displays and explanations as well as several suspension bridges set up between the trees. It did not top Whistler and the Ziptrek Tour but if one is on a business trip with no time to go anyplace else, the treetop adventure provides a great overview on what to expect in BC forests.
Final destination today was Capilano RV Park. Took us about 3 hours to get packed and clean out a bit. You definitely hear that you are back in the big city – amplified by the plastic garbage bag covered window.
Our first stop on the road was only a couple of kilometers further south at Porteau Cove Provincial Park RV site. This was our first option to overnight but we read that there would be a lot of noise due to roadside constructions (the campground is basically off the highway and the railway). We cannot tell whether it had been very noisy because roadside construction seemed to have reached another level and it didn’t look like they were still blasting off part of the mountains. A quaint little site overlooking Howe Sound.
Our first destination before entering Vancouver was Cypress Mountain Provincial Park. We wanted to go for a hike and also see how the construction for the Winter Olympics proceeded. The drive up was said to be spectacular for its wonderful views of Vancouver and its surroundings. Unfortunately, we drove into fog but on top of Cypress at the parking lot it cleared. We decided to be easy on us and followed Yew Lake Loop (also wheelchair accessible), a loop of about 2 km that partly leads through old growth forest. We also hiked part of the Baden Powell trail to the first viewpoint but lost the signs and found our own way back to the parking lot. Seeing the construction work, left us with mixed feelings as did Sea to Sky Highway. Another impact on the environment, yet understanding for growth and expansion...
Next stop was Vancouver’s Grouse Mountain. The gondola was built by a Swiss company and can carry up to 100 persons to the top of the mountain within 8 minutes. Very smooth ride, yet no view during the ride up. Again it blew off once we arrived on the mountain. The ticket (27,- CAD p.p.) includes a rather loud Lumberjack show (fills you in all the details of the logging industry and forestry) – don’t think chainsaws, it was loud due to the female presenter and amplifier), the Theatre in the Sky (a movie on nature) and the Grizzly Bear Habitat. The two grizzly bears are orphans (one found in the Bella Coola area in 2001, the other near Kamloops, forgot which year it was, think it was one or two later). Very impressive animals and we are happy to have seen our „wild“ bear long distance. That reminds me of our animal count and numbers in general: this brings up our bear views to 5; we are about 400 km above our mileage limit and took over 2000 pictures so far. We broke two glasses and one window. Fueled up around 450 litres of Diesel (that’s only a guess). While writing this, I have to increase the number of glasses to 3...
Our last sightseeing stop for the day was Capilano Suspension Bridge and Treetop Adventure. The suspension bridge spans the Capilano River for about 140 metres (they say two Boeings 747 could pass the canyon flying wingtip to wingtip), is 70 meters deep and leads to an old growth forest with displays and explanations as well as several suspension bridges set up between the trees. It did not top Whistler and the Ziptrek Tour but if one is on a business trip with no time to go anyplace else, the treetop adventure provides a great overview on what to expect in BC forests.
Final destination today was Capilano RV Park. Took us about 3 hours to get packed and clean out a bit. You definitely hear that you are back in the big city – amplified by the plastic garbage bag covered window.
Sept 25 – Whistler to Squamish
Today is the day! We conquered the trees and heights – despite our little vertigo. But before that we enjoyed a walk to and around Lost Lake. There are several trails to choose from and in winter the area becomes a haven for cross country skiers or snow shoers. Right now, Whistler is constructing a new nordic site in preparation for the 2010 winter olympics. Apart from the Nordic disciplines, Whistler hosts all alpine and sledding events but ski freestyle and snowboarding (these will be hosted at Cypress Mountain near Vancouver). Back to our little walk: it is amazing how many people take advantage of Lost Lake as a recreation area. Although not too many took the nature walking trail as we did, you could tell that people were around.
Back to the Village, just had some time left for a coffee and muffin and off we went on our zip tour with Zip Trek Eco Tours. Exciting! We are thrilled! There you are in a harness, with your helmet and fly from one tree to the other. While on your zip trek deck, the guides talk about the environment, mankind’s impacts on it and what we can do to minimize them. The most thrilling and exciting experience was the second zip line – we litteraly stepped off into nothing but a creek about 30 to 50 metres beneath us for the next 330 metres. This line is also known as the „Hollywood Line“ – your picture is being taken from an opposite deck, so you try your best to look good and not too scared. Unfortunately there are only four lines on the so called „Bear Tour“ – I didn’t think I would ever write „unfortunately“ in this context. On our way to the first zip deck (transport by van, we were a group of 8) we passed the bob sled construction site which will be open to public use after the 2010 games.
Now we had earned ourselves a hearty meal – juicy burger and sandwich at the Amsterdam Pub. And yet again, it was time for us to hit the road, Highway 99 to Squamish. I mentioned the Klahanie campground before. Free wifi was very nice. Apart from that, the campground was a bit chaotic. It had a few sites with spectacular views though, but these are unserviced. The office was closed and we had to self register. Since many sites had been taken already, it was rather time consuming to find a site with power and water as they were hard to tell apart from the unserviced ones.
Back to the Village, just had some time left for a coffee and muffin and off we went on our zip tour with Zip Trek Eco Tours. Exciting! We are thrilled! There you are in a harness, with your helmet and fly from one tree to the other. While on your zip trek deck, the guides talk about the environment, mankind’s impacts on it and what we can do to minimize them. The most thrilling and exciting experience was the second zip line – we litteraly stepped off into nothing but a creek about 30 to 50 metres beneath us for the next 330 metres. This line is also known as the „Hollywood Line“ – your picture is being taken from an opposite deck, so you try your best to look good and not too scared. Unfortunately there are only four lines on the so called „Bear Tour“ – I didn’t think I would ever write „unfortunately“ in this context. On our way to the first zip deck (transport by van, we were a group of 8) we passed the bob sled construction site which will be open to public use after the 2010 games.
Now we had earned ourselves a hearty meal – juicy burger and sandwich at the Amsterdam Pub. And yet again, it was time for us to hit the road, Highway 99 to Squamish. I mentioned the Klahanie campground before. Free wifi was very nice. Apart from that, the campground was a bit chaotic. It had a few sites with spectacular views though, but these are unserviced. The office was closed and we had to self register. Since many sites had been taken already, it was rather time consuming to find a site with power and water as they were hard to tell apart from the unserviced ones.
Donnerstag, 27. September 2007
Sept 24 – Lillooet to Whistler
When you least expect it free wifi access is available. While writing this and the Lillooet part we are already at Squamish’s Klahanie camground. Didn’t have much time in Whistler for writing and we would have had to register with yet another operator for 10,- CAD. We were just clearing the RV’s pipelines at Cayoosh Creek RV in Lillooet, guess who waited in line behind us, yes, Esther and Jim – next destination Whistler.
But before arriving at Whistler we – again – had a spectacular drive ahead of us: Duffy Lake Road on Hwy 99. Today we arrived early at our destination for the day, around 13.00 hrs. We checked in and bumped into Esther and Jim on our way out.
The campround is quite different to the ones before. Bigger and in better shape, cabins for rent available plus a store and game room on site. More expensive (50,- CAD per site –– no free wifi or showers). Most of the RV sites/campgrounds we stayed at cost around 27,- CAD, full hook-up. Settled in and walked to Whistler Village (passing Esther and Jim), first stop was Tourism Whistler to say hi and thanks to Vanessa and Darlene. Then off to Whistler Mountain Guest Services – their computers are connected to several on mountain webcams – who helped to make up our minds and postpone our gondola ride.We strolled through the quaint village with its nice shops and cafés. It was amazing to see the amount of young people here. During summer Whistler becomes a mecca for mountain bikers. Definitely enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere (and buys). I was just about to take a photo of Markus and the bear in front of Rocky Mountain Chocolates when Esther and Jim left the shop. The picture you’ll see was the last one for that day as the four of us headed to the Dubh Linn Gate pub just off Blackcomb Mountain gondola. Esther and Jim rented the camper in Calgary and spent some time in the Rockies but left earlier due to colder weather. Same as us, they will spend the last two to three days Vancouver. The city offers a large variety of accommodation. Hotels, B&B, campground, hostels, motels and so on. Don’t take my word on it, but I would say that there are about 14.000 hotel rooms or 97 properties one could choose when in Vancouver. And just guess where they will be staying...your're right, The Georgian Court Hotel.
After two pitchers we split – Markus and I hadn’t had dinner yet and Esther and Jim went for some groceries – only to find us arriving at the same time in two taxis at the campground. Markus and I almost walked back to the RV park. At Blackcomb Way/Nancy Green Drive crossing we decided not to walk any further. There are no lights on the walking trail to the campground and Whistler is located within bear country – and we didn’t take the flashlight with us.
But before arriving at Whistler we – again – had a spectacular drive ahead of us: Duffy Lake Road on Hwy 99. Today we arrived early at our destination for the day, around 13.00 hrs. We checked in and bumped into Esther and Jim on our way out.
The campround is quite different to the ones before. Bigger and in better shape, cabins for rent available plus a store and game room on site. More expensive (50,- CAD per site –– no free wifi or showers). Most of the RV sites/campgrounds we stayed at cost around 27,- CAD, full hook-up. Settled in and walked to Whistler Village (passing Esther and Jim), first stop was Tourism Whistler to say hi and thanks to Vanessa and Darlene. Then off to Whistler Mountain Guest Services – their computers are connected to several on mountain webcams – who helped to make up our minds and postpone our gondola ride.We strolled through the quaint village with its nice shops and cafés. It was amazing to see the amount of young people here. During summer Whistler becomes a mecca for mountain bikers. Definitely enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere (and buys). I was just about to take a photo of Markus and the bear in front of Rocky Mountain Chocolates when Esther and Jim left the shop. The picture you’ll see was the last one for that day as the four of us headed to the Dubh Linn Gate pub just off Blackcomb Mountain gondola. Esther and Jim rented the camper in Calgary and spent some time in the Rockies but left earlier due to colder weather. Same as us, they will spend the last two to three days Vancouver. The city offers a large variety of accommodation. Hotels, B&B, campground, hostels, motels and so on. Don’t take my word on it, but I would say that there are about 14.000 hotel rooms or 97 properties one could choose when in Vancouver. And just guess where they will be staying...your're right, The Georgian Court Hotel.
After two pitchers we split – Markus and I hadn’t had dinner yet and Esther and Jim went for some groceries – only to find us arriving at the same time in two taxis at the campground. Markus and I almost walked back to the RV park. At Blackcomb Way/Nancy Green Drive crossing we decided not to walk any further. There are no lights on the walking trail to the campground and Whistler is located within bear country – and we didn’t take the flashlight with us.
Mittwoch, 26. September 2007
Sun, Sept 23 - Merritt to Lillooet
As we say in Germany: a lot of roads lead to Rome, and there are a certainly a couple of them leading to Lillooet, especially when you plan to include Chasm Provincial Park. We weren’t too sure in terms of road and timing so we asked our host at Claybanks and followed his suggestion to take Hwy 97c via Logan Lake and Cash Creek on to Hwy 97 to Chasm. Great suggestion! Again we saw diverse terrain and Hwy 97 lead thru the largest mining area of Canada (Highland Valley Copper Mine, 17 km west of Logan Lake). What looked like huge cascade shaped mountaineous terrain at first, resulted in the cascades being roads for humangeous machines. A resting area provides a good overview of the mine as well as the wildlife (they even get winter ticks up here).
In Clinton, an old Western town established during the Gold Rush days of the 1860 serving as a roadhouse, Hwy 97 c turns into Hwy 97 which we followed up north for about 30 minutes. GyPSy was d’accord with us to pay Chasm Provincial Park a visit. It is a huge canyon displaying layers of red, brown, yellow and purple produced by lava flows and revealed through erosion over the past 10 million years. Our camera (and the weather conditions) couldn’t quite catch the impressive views. Talking about views: We saw a lot of ground squirrels here in BC, and they love to pose for a photo.
We took the same route back via Clinton and prior to reaching Cache Creek turned right onto Highway 99 direction Lilloet. But immediately after the turnoff we stopped at Historic Hat Creek Ranch (chances were they sold cowboy boots – but they didn’t) which seemed rather abandoned until we ran into a tour guide and 5 other guests. HCR was also established as a roadhouse in the 1860ies and catered to miners, wagon tracks and other travellers up to 1916. They also have a display on the Shuswap First Nations who first settled in this area and keep playing an important role in nowadays community life. And it was at HCR where we ran into Esther and Jim, a Scottish couple on their way to Lillooet. They toured HCR the Scottish way, in a carriage.
Back on Hwy 99 and on to Lillooet the road started to be winding again. We briefly stopped at Marble Canyon RV and picnic area. Although it is right off the highway, this non-serviced area boasts spectacular views of the mountains as well as a quaint lake. So if one doesn’t need power, water and/or a sani-dump, well worth an overnight stay. Soon after we saw parts of the mighty Fraser river winding its way through deep canyons before entering Lillooet. Stayed at Cayoosh Campground which was really nice (but always keep in mind that you are directly off the highway and there is traffic). We went for a stroll down to the creek at the campsite where we saw salmon (dead and alive) and the fishy smell in the air reminded us that we are still in bear country. So we headed for a (psychologically spoken) more secure viewing point before setting in for the night (as were Esther and Jim).
In Clinton, an old Western town established during the Gold Rush days of the 1860 serving as a roadhouse, Hwy 97 c turns into Hwy 97 which we followed up north for about 30 minutes. GyPSy was d’accord with us to pay Chasm Provincial Park a visit. It is a huge canyon displaying layers of red, brown, yellow and purple produced by lava flows and revealed through erosion over the past 10 million years. Our camera (and the weather conditions) couldn’t quite catch the impressive views. Talking about views: We saw a lot of ground squirrels here in BC, and they love to pose for a photo.
We took the same route back via Clinton and prior to reaching Cache Creek turned right onto Highway 99 direction Lilloet. But immediately after the turnoff we stopped at Historic Hat Creek Ranch (chances were they sold cowboy boots – but they didn’t) which seemed rather abandoned until we ran into a tour guide and 5 other guests. HCR was also established as a roadhouse in the 1860ies and catered to miners, wagon tracks and other travellers up to 1916. They also have a display on the Shuswap First Nations who first settled in this area and keep playing an important role in nowadays community life. And it was at HCR where we ran into Esther and Jim, a Scottish couple on their way to Lillooet. They toured HCR the Scottish way, in a carriage.
Back on Hwy 99 and on to Lillooet the road started to be winding again. We briefly stopped at Marble Canyon RV and picnic area. Although it is right off the highway, this non-serviced area boasts spectacular views of the mountains as well as a quaint lake. So if one doesn’t need power, water and/or a sani-dump, well worth an overnight stay. Soon after we saw parts of the mighty Fraser river winding its way through deep canyons before entering Lillooet. Stayed at Cayoosh Campground which was really nice (but always keep in mind that you are directly off the highway and there is traffic). We went for a stroll down to the creek at the campsite where we saw salmon (dead and alive) and the fishy smell in the air reminded us that we are still in bear country. So we headed for a (psychologically spoken) more secure viewing point before setting in for the night (as were Esther and Jim).
Abonnieren
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