HI FOLKS:

Well the doom and gloom forecasters were right about the climb out of the Okanogan Valley, but wrong about the ability of our little RV to conquer those hills.  It taxed our little Rialta, but she chugged up and down, round and round those mountains.  Jack just put her in third and let her go, dropped into second and slowed down a few times, but no problems. We are proud of her performance.  

The drive out of Kelona was as beautiful and stunningly different as one could imagine.  Arid, land quickly changes to green, treed mountains, then back to the sagebrush covered hills.  Its an ever changing landscape and fascinating.  So we left Kelona and headed due west for Merrit, which bills itself as country music capital and has murals of stars/singers all over town.  It’s a neat little town and a great coffee stop.  Then headed north for Kamloops where we turned west again and followed the shores of Kamloops Lakem then the mighty Thompson River through more of the fascinating beige/brown landscape to Cache Creek, the entrance point to Fraser Canyon.  This is the type country often pictured in western movies. It is the type of place where ranches abound and where you can understand how come each head of cattle needs 5 acres to survive.  

In these modern times many enterprising farmers and ranchers make it by irrigating.  The lush green fields stand out like emeralds in then almost-dessert landscape.  There are loads of hay farmers in these valleys thanks to the presence of the river which makes the irrigation possible.  The sprinkler or watering systems are huge.  In some places we got a real kick out of horses and cattle, happily standing in the sprinkling water.

Just past the hodos, messas and rolling hills cut with small canyons, caves and erie looking washout, begin to change into the rocky mountains rimming the canyon.  The road hugs the walls  making for quite a challenging drive.  Russ certainly has been initiated into challenging driving.  He not only has to drive he has to follow Jack and keep up.  Not easy.  He’s done well

This day we had booked a campsite, sight-unseen, just north of Hell’s Gate.  Called the Canyon Alpine RV Park it turned out to be the nicest place we have stayed this trip.  Large level sites, tiered up a hill, surrounded by big pines, log railings with vines growing along them.  The old fella looking after the place was super friendly, and the place spotless and well cared for.  What a treat.

Next morning we navigates the twisty, mountain side road through tunnels, around switchbacks and over bridges to Hells’s Gate.  This was a place of achievement for Russ and I.  Russ doesn’t like heights wouldn’t go on the gondolas up Sulpher Mountain in Banff. Here at Hell’s Gate the gondola goes down into the canyon to a place that has a rich history going back to the gold rush day.  The Fraser River roars through here.  Its been flowing swiftly with rapids and turbulent waters for miles, but here at Hell’s Gate the mountains close in and the river narrows.  Its violent, over 100 ft deep and a marvel to see.  

In days past it was a huge challenge to get past Hell’s Gate because of the sheer rock walls and the turbulent waters.  Today there is a highway above, and rail lines have been cut into the hillside on both sides of the river.  It takes many tunnels to get through it all.  So there we are down at the bottom where you can have coffee, go panning for gold, enjoy beautiful, if small gardens, and one of the things to do is to go out on a bridge to walk across the river.  This was my challenge.  I aldo dislike heights, and I really don’t like walking on grid things that you can see through, especially  when there are whirlpools and rapids and 100 feet of water below my feet.  It took some doing, and Jack on one side and Russ on the other, but I did it.

We finished our run through the canyon, followed the Fraser River to Chilliwack where we had lunch then made the run into Vancouver.  Russ had been a bit apprehensive about the traffic, but everything went smooth.  We arrived in Capilano RV Park in the early afternoon and are very pleasantly surprised at how nice it is.  

A bit crowded, we have just a piece of grass with a picnic table between rigs. But, there are cedar hedges behind and sites are staggered so you have some privacy.  The washrooms and showers are great.  We’ve learned to appreciate great washrooms!  This is on Indian reserve land and operated by the Saanich Nation I think.  Lovely pool, internet down in the lounge.  We look forward to our 2 weeks plus here.  Oh and the weather is wonderful.  

On that happy note, More next time

Julie - Remember if you want to get in touch email us at julie@seacroftpei.com