Monday, June 30, 2008

I easily develop connections to roads.  People usually have an affinity for the street they grew up on and develop a sense of ownership, so do I with the Yellowhead Highway #16, I’ve always regarded this highway as “my highway.”

It’s difficult to see it as ‘my highway’ when I ride it to a part of the country that is completely unrecognizable from that which I have known. Riding the Yellowhead past Edmonton through Alberta’s foothills and eventually into the Rockies is certainly different than riding between the Battlefords and Saskatoon or even on to Yorkton.

The day started very early at 8:00am. After discovering that my iPod was kaput, I was forced to travel to Walmart to purchase a replacement. This was going to be a very long day and being caught without music would be unacceptable. At about 9:00 I finally hit the Yellowhead.

Although the scenery is pleasant, I find the droning ride west of Edmonton frustrating. The excitement of being so close to the Rockies is almost unbearable for the 3 hours it takes to reach Hinton. But a single view of the first mountain in the distance makes it all worth it. That old feeling always comes back- the feeling of being a kid again who was
about to discover something new. Although still in Canada, the mountains to me are an escape from the ordinary, a visit to a place that puts me out of my element.

I reached Jasper by 1:00 and stopped for a quick lunch at Subway. There were far too many tourists and traffic for me to attempt to have a quiet sit down lunch, plus I was in a hurry. Lillooet was still far away.

I pushed on past Jasper with the hot 30 degree sun beating down on my face. About 50 km past Jasper I was reminded how dangerous the winding mountain roads are. A car was overturned and I arrived before the emergency professionals had. A group of people were directing traffic. As I passed by the car that was on its side, gasoline was leaking all over the road. A small group of people were tending to two elderly ladies- one of which had a bleading head- who were lying on their backs on the road. They appeared to be alive. I was glad for that, but I couldn’t imagine how scary that must have been.  I hope they’ll be alright.

The afternoon was largely uneventful as I veered on the southern Yellowhead route through Valemount to Clearwater. This highway- the number 5- is technically still an arm of the Yellowhead until it reaches Hope. I fell in love with this stretch of the number 5 on the Easy Rider Tour in 2006. The road meanders in between the mountains on the banks of the North Thompson River. That makes for some great scenery and good roadside stops along the river.

South of Clearwater I said good-bye to “my highway”, as I headed west toward 100 Mile House on old highway 24. This highway was an old logging highway that has since been developed. The Thompson Plateau is home to numerous fresh water lakes that are easy to develop due to the environment being less rugged than the surrounding Rockies or Coast Mountains.

I continued on to Lillooet and arrived just after the sun came down. There’s one thing that the prairies definitely have over the
mountains: beautiful sunsets.  I will miss those over the next few weeks.

As I arrived at Lillooet I met up with another trade route: the mighty Fraser River. I’ve always been fascinated with the Fraser. One of the most vivid memories I have as a kid was a trip our family took to BC when I was 11 (the 1989 trip). We visited a variety of places- including the Island- and one that really stuck out was Hell’s Gate Canyon on the Fraser River. The river is the world’s largest salman spawning river, and provided the basis of trade during the Cariboo Gold Rush and the exploration of the BC Interior by so many daring explorers. It was also integral in the creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway that solidified the development of Canada as a large, indivisible nation.

It felt good to be back at the Fraser. This wild, untamed river is a haunting reminder of our Canadian history and amazing fortitude and determination it took Canadians to settle the West.

I found my motel easily and settled in for the night. I had traveled nearly 1000 kilometres in the hot sun. I was wiped.