COVID-19
Well, it would seem that we really are in this for the long haul. I mean, I knew that things were not going to be working themselves out back in the late spring, when I cancelled our flights to France. But we still need to have a little recreation in our lives, so we decided on another tour of BC, this time a little closer to home.
There are amazing places to see throughout BC, but due to our mountainous geography, some spots do require quite a bit of driving to get to. As such, we opted for the short loop, heading up past Whistler, clockwise to Kamloops, and back via Highway 1 to Harrison Hot Springs, before returning home.
As with our last road trip, we made like out-of-country tourists, and tried to stop at virtually every major viewpoint, attraction, or rest stop. Unfortunately, the California and Washington State wildfires were sending smoke our direction, and for the first leg of our trip, views were partially obscured.
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Shannon Falls
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One thing that both of us have never done, is zip lining; so on our way through Whistler, we did the Ziptrek tour on Whistler Mountain. As we had just entered the off-season, the lifts were no longer running to take us up to Olympic Station, so a Jeep drove us up to the start of our "EcoTour". We followed a marked trail down into the forest, where eventually we met up with our first zip line. The technician clips us onto the cable, gives a brief safety talk, and then you simply step off the platform!
The zip lines are very fun and exciting, but are only 30-45 seconds long each, and our tour had us on three lines. You end up spending most of your time walking on the trail, and up over this very cool, elevated walkway and suspension bridges in the trees. It was a great way to spend a couple of hours, and break up the short drive to our first overnight stop. Along the way to Pemberton, I recommend you stop at Nairn Falls - it's a decent 20 minute walk from the parking area to the falls area, but worth it, in my opinion.
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Nairn Falls
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While looking for a place to stay in or near Pemberton, I came across an interesting AirBnB listing for a refurbished Airstream trailer! For those who don't know what they are, Airstreams are an iconic travel trailer that started in the post-war era, and were built with aluminum skins, looking like retro airliners. This one has been significantly upgraded with modern finishings, and attached to running water and a septic system.
With a separate bath house, an screened gazebo, and a fire-pit area (propane), it was a fantastic "glamping" stay for two nights while we explored a bit of what Pemberton had to offer.
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Smoke shrouds the views along Lillooet Lake
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With September starting to bring cooler nights, the nearby campgrounds were almost completely empty, and Provincial Parks were all but devoid of visitors (mid-week).
Another activity for us in Pemberton was horseback riding - I hadn't been on a horse since the late 90s, where I was on a game farm in Zimbabwe. Our two steeds for the afternoon were Two-Socks and Blackjack, and we had a leisurely, 2-hour of the beautiful Pemberton Valley. A note to other city-slickers: 2 hours is plenty on your first ride - we could barely walk after getting down off our horses!
The highway East of Pemberton is referred to as The Duffey Lake Road - it's a windy, sometimes narrow, section of Highway 99 that takes you through mountain vistas and along beautiful lakes and rivers. Again, since the wildfire smoke obscured the distant views, we didn't get the amazing experience most travellers get along this amazing stretch of road.
Once you reach Lillooet, the landscape changes to wide open river valleys, where the lush forest gives way to semi-arid, almost desert-like conditions. A friend from London once commented that the landscape reminded her of the hills in Tuscany, but I don't see that resemblance. Anyhow, after two days visiting my parents in Kamloops, we set off for our return, taking the long route down Highway 1, through the Fraser Canyon.
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The original, now abandoned Alexandra Bridge
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The new Alexandra Bridge further down the Fraser River
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Again, stopping a few times down the road on our way back South, we ended up arriving at our next, 2-night stop, Harrison Hot Springs. It's a tiny little town on the tip of huge Harrison Lake; being the off-season, things were pretty quiet in town.
There's a short hike to a neat spot called Sandy Cove, which is accessible right from the town promenade. We only encountered a 1/2 dozen or so other hikers, but it's a little bit treacherous in some places, so others may have turned back. We also went on a nice walk through the forest just outside of town, but besides that, we didn't get up to much before heading back to Vancouver.
All in all, not a bad little jaunt around our corner of BC; probably our last till early 2021, when we head up to Sun Peaks for a brief ski getaway.
