Wednesday, August 26, 2009

It was a beautiful morning in Lillooet when I woke up, but that beauty was tempered by smoke in the air. The town itself was evacuated only a few weeks ago because of the Mount McLean fire that loomed above the town. The smoke today, however, was from a distant fire to the south.

After packing and a quick gas station breakfast I headed south into the Fraser Canyon. I had been looking forward to this part of the tour for several months after I decided to ride the entire canyon from Lillooet to Hope.

Towering high over the mighty Fraser to my right, the road meandered against the lofty mountain cliff edges to my left for most of the tour. A fire on the west side of the river north of Lytton filled the entire canyon with smoke, creating a majestic and haunting view of the spectacular scenery.

After several hours I reached Hell’s Gate Canyon. I needed a break so I decided to take the air tram down to the bottom of the canyon. This area was one of the most vivid memories I have as a kid when my family visited BC…I was probably about 11 years old then.

Hell’s Gate is the narrowest part of the Fraser, and the swirling waters below served as a reminder of just how wild British Columbia is. Imagine my surprise when I saw two rafts come down these waters and shoot through the canyon.

I continued south to Hope a stopped to gas up and have lunch. It was only four days since I was through here, but during that time this small crossroads town gained international recognition as the place where a suspected murdered was on the LAM and eventually committed suicide in a local motel.

I headed southeast from Hope onto the Crowsnest highway to Princeton. The ride started out cool with moisture in the air, but after crossing the Cascade Mountains I descended into the dry, hot interior. I made my way along the Similkameen River to Keremeos, where I stopped for the day. I look forward to spending more time in the desert area later in the tour, but today this is just a stopping point on my way to the Kootenays tomorrow.