After himing and hawing, we decided to hit the road and take our chances with the weather. So we left yesterday morning and stopped in the nearest big town and got an oil change for the truck and wheel bearings re-packed and brakes checked on the RV. Packed and ready to go as soon as I find where I put the charging cord for the phone. We ended up camping for the night down near the ferry terminal so we can catch a early ferry. In line for the ferry to the mainline. Overheights and over lengths are the usual fare for this run. Once on the mainland, we were trying out smart Edna - our GPS. Instead we got two trips through the tunnel. Long day so we camped early. Further updates to come.
Good luck, enjoy and stay safe. Good time to get out of town as the Blue Jay's are about to tank and call it a year.
Once again, welcome to retirement! You are fitting right in evidenced by vacation taking place the later part of the year. Which, incidentally, 99 tells me we're going on one next month. Be safe and enjoy your honeymoon!
We left the coastal area of BC and headed up into the first mountain range. We are heading east at this point. A lot of construction as we sail by a pipeline project. Crossing the might Fraser River has us heading north. Up through the Fraser Canyon, following the Gold Rush trail of 1858, we go through 7 tunnels. Some are quite old having been built in the 50s. A quick look at the Fraser again Past the Fraser we head into country that has been scarred by forest fires this year. Patches of green amid huge swatches of burn trees. One town was 90% burnt. We are now following the Thompson River into more desert like area After the desert country, we head into ranch country for the rest of the day. No real orange fall colours but the yellows are quite brilliant. Camera doesn't do them justice. My turn to drive so no more pictures for the rest of the day. Our campsite is at the site of the World famous Williams Lake stampede grounds. Fortunately no stampede happening this week.
Leaving Williams Lake, we headed west. West!? Yes, west and not north. We decided to head to the coast to a small town campinspecter spent his teenage years in. A town called Bella Coola. Here is the stampede grounds where our campground was. Heading west into ranching country. Steep terrain as we climb to the top of the Chilcotin plateau Crossing the Fraser River again. It feels like you are on top of the world here. Big sky and far away mountains. Views from a stop over. Lots of places show signs of fire from the present and previous occasions. Vivid yellow colouring from the bush and aspens. It is especially striking among the older burnt black pines. I think this was a tree farm as all the trees are about the same size. As we head west, the coastal range of mountains start to show up. Very recent burn area In the middle of the picture, there is a road cut on the slope of the mountain. We are headed there to go down the "HILL". To get to Bella Coola, we drop from 5000 ft. elevation down to 100 ft. in a very short distance. The start of the descent. The hill varies from 12 to 18 % and is gravel. Spots get quite narrow. Hard to see how steep the terrain is. You are looking at the road below at two levels. There is another section below the truck and trailer. Switchbacks are steep. Heading down into another switch back. We spend a day in Bella Coola and of course, being a coastal town it rained. We went to church and visited friends. Sunday, we headed out again. The road below us as we climb up the "HILL". Getting to the top, the sun came out and everything started to dry out. Back on top and into ranching country again. Camera doesn't do the colours justice. We stopped for lunch at this viewpoint. Trying to get a good picture of the colours. As the "HILL" was gravel and it had been raining, we looked more like locals. At breakfast, we decided to find a car wash. The trailer didn't look much better. One clean, one to go. campinspecter gets the job. Looking good again. Today was grocery shopping, laundry and of course, truck and trailer washing. For a very brief history of the "HILL", here is a link. It took a group of townspeople with grit and determination to build this. » Freedom Road – History of the Hill